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Bicycle Safety Activities for Preschool Kids

Preschool is an ideal time to teach children about bicycle safety, because good habits learned early often stick with children for life. Teaching children about the importance of helmets and responsible riding practices will help them ride safely, and help them resist the temptation to ride recklessly as they grow older.

  1. Measure For The Helmet

    • Helmets are useless unless they fit properly. Luckily for adults, children love to know they're growing and love to be measured. According to the National Highway Safety Transportation Administration, parents should measure the child's head and buy the corresponding helmet, then adjust the pads and straps to ensure that it fits. Helmets should be worn flat, about two finger-widths above the eyebrows. They should not rock side to side, and the wearer can test the fit by yawning; if the helmet stays snug and pulls down on the head, it's a good fit.

    Presenting The Helmet

    • Helmets are perhaps the most important piece of bicycle safety equipment you can give a child. You can make it fun by giving the helmet as a present, explaining how it gives the head super-strong protection, and inviting the child to decorate it with paint or stickers. Children who love certain characters will wear anything that bears those characters' images, so this is a sure way not only to make the child wear the helmet, but make him want to wear it.

    Driveway Derby

    • According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, children should not ride on the streets until age 10. Preschool children are likely too young to ride on the sidewalk, so use your driveway (or a public paved area where there are no cars) and make a roadway just for them; set up orange cones and have the child ride laps. Encourage her to use her imagination and pretend she's in a race. You can help by being the announcer.

    Teach By Example

    • Install a child seat on your bicycle and take the child for a real ride on a trail or on your neighborhood streets. Make sure you're both wearing helmets. Show the child the right way to signal turns, and to obey the rules of the road. (Bicycles must follow the same rules as cars--stopping at stop signs and lights, riding with the flow of traffic, etc.) Explain the rules to the child, then have him play navigator, keeping an eye out for stop signs, lights and other traffic signals.

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