If you are planning to surprise your toddler with some kind of an entertaining toy, the various online stores can provide you with a plethora of quality educational and interactive toys that can help children of all ages develop their motor skills and brain functions more quickly. And while babies can benefit from and play a lot with any kind of baby toys online Australia stores offer such as rattle toys, knitted animal toys and stacking towers, toddlers can really appreciate having something more adequate to their age, like a doll house or a bicycle for example. When it comes to bicycles, there are two main types from which you can choose for your toddler – the extremely popular balance bikes and the traditional training wheels.
For those of you who aren’t in the know, balance bikes are two-wheeled pedal-free bikes that can teach a toddler as young as 18 months to balance on two wheels. In order to move forward, the child should push off the ground with his/her feet, and the usual “ride” starts by walking while sitting on the saddle. This action is followed by running and then gliding their feet off the ground, and the moment when they start to cruise along with their feet up, they have learned the lesson to balance and are ready to learn pedaling. When it comes to coming across a great deal on such bikes and other baby toys online Australia experienced parents usually go for the power of three – specs that promise safety and quality, affordable prices and reputable stores.
The old classic type of kids bike with pedals, training wheels, cranks, chain, front and rear brakes is a type of bike that allows kids to learn to pedal first. Ones you remove the training wheels from it, your child should try to learn the whole balancing process while pedaling at the same time. This is precisely what makes the old types of bikes the second choice when compared to the balancing ones, according to a lot of studies. The theory is pretty simple, if your kid learns to ride a bike with the help of pedals and training wheels, he/she won’t develop their balance which in fact is crucial for learning to ride a bike. Additionally, with the learned skills from a balance bike, a child can transition to a regular kids bike without the need of training wheels.
The main downside of a balance bikes is that they can be used by children between 18 months to 5 years. This means that once your child turns 5, you need to buy a new bike (this time a regular one) which is more pricey. In light of that, investing in a regular bike with training wheels is the more cost-efficient option.
