Teach Your Children to Bike Safely
Biking can be great for kids. It’s good exercise, gets them out in the fresh air, sharpens their balance and coordination, and teaches them responsibility.
As a parent, you can help your children reap these benefits by teaching them safe cycling before you ever take the training wheels off their first two-wheeler.
Start with a helmet. It’s one of the most essential pieces of safety gear. Teaching your children to wear one whenever they mount up should be one of the first habits you try to instill.
Add a few simple tools. You don’t need to have a bike shop’s-worth of wrenches, vices, lubricants, and other implements to be able to keep your child’s bike in good condition. A small toolbox will hold what you need and will save you from running to the local bike shop for expensive repairs. Plus, working with your young rider to master simpler jobs, such remounting a chain, adjusting a seat post, or putting on new brake pads, can be a confidence-builder. Your basic bike repair kit should contain:
- Allen and Torx key tools. These are necessary for many adjustments you may want to make to the family’s rides. They’re often incorporated into a folding multi-tool that drops easily into a pocket or saddle bag.
- An adjustable wrench to loosen or tighten nuts on the bike’s frame
- A small bottle of lubricant formulated especially for bikes
- A standing pump to allow you to top off the tires without running to the gas station’s air compressor. Many pumps come with a pressure gauge incorporated into the unit.
Patch things up. Few things will end a bike ride more quickly than a flat. Asking your child to help you fix a blowout can boost their confidence in DIY fixes. Bonus: you’ll look like a hero when you get things rolling again.
Get the right fit. A bike with a seat that is either too high or too low makes for an uncomfortable ride. Have your child stand astride their bike. With road bikes, there should be at least 2 inches of clearance between a rider’s crotch and the bike’s top bar. For mountain bikes that distance should increase to 4 inches. When your child is seated, their knee should be slightly bent at the bottom of a downstroke on the pedals. Finally, the handlebars should be at the same level as the bike’s seat.
Send clear signals. Once they’re on the road, your young rider should know how to use hand signals. There are three basic signals: left arm down at a right angle when you intend to slow or stop; left arm extended straight out to the side before a left turn or lane change; and right arm extended straight out to the side before a right turn or lane change. However, there are seven more signals you may want to check out as well. Most of these are useful when biking with a group of other riders. Practice them with your youngsters and make sure they know never to make a move in traffic without using them properly.
Be a rule-follower. Bike riders are legally allowed to share the road with motorized traffic, but they’re also subject to all the same laws. For instance, some states and municipalities ban bike riding on sidewalks, and even where it’s not absolutely prohibited, it’s just good manners to respect pedestrians. Be sure your kids know and obey the applicable traffic laws in your area.
Look sharp. Any time a bike and an automobile meet, the bike rider is inevitably the loser. Even when a rider has the right of way, the safest bet is to yield to motorized traffic. Also, while hazards such as potholes, uneven pavement, broken glass, wet leaves, or muddy or icy surfaces can be annoyances for those in cars; for cyclists they can be deadly. Hammer home the need for your kids to maintain a high level of situational awareness when they’re on public streets.
See and be seen. The only safe assumption for a bike rider is that oncoming traffic doesn’t see them. This is particularly true at night, of course, but dusk and dawn can also be dangerous times to be riding. Think about having a curfew on biking after dark. If a young rider is going to be out and about during low-light hours, there are some accessories that can increase their visibility to motorists. Consider investing in bright reflective clothing and tricking out their ride with after-market lights and reflectors as well as easily obtainable reflective tape.
Be predictable. Kids can also make sure motorists see them on the road by only entering traffic flow from street corners, never from between parked cars. Drivers entering intersections or leaving driveways may not be watching for cyclists, so it pays to approach them cautiously. A better choice would be sticking to specially established bike lanes or bike paths, and — where there are no bike lanes — to steer in a straight, predictable line, close to the curb.
Avoid road-rash — or worse. No matter how easy YouTube or TikTok make fancy bike stunts look, they’re a good way to get familiar with the inside of an emergency room. Pro trick riders have special equipment and typically have put in long hours of practice to acquire the skills they use to make their stunts look effortless. Tell your kids to keep both hands on the handlebars always, and to leave the trick riding to Evel Knievel.
And finally, what kind of example are you setting? You know the old saying: a parent is their child’s first teacher. Be aware that your kids are watching you all the time, and what you do, they’re likely to try. Be sure you wear all appropriate safety gear and are scrupulous about following the rules of the road.
Sources: bikemn.org; bikeleague.org; nhtsa.gov
The information included here was obtained from sources believed to be reliable, however Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company, SI, and its employees make no guarantee of results and assume no liability in connection with any training, materials, suggestions, or information provided. It is the user’s responsibility to confirm compliance with any applicable local, state, or federal regulations. Information obtained from or via Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company, SI, should not be used as the basis for legal advice and should be confirmed with alternative sources.
9/2026