Cycling Fun!

Summertime offers an abundance of opportunities: water fun, outdoor play, barbeques, fireworks, and more. What else is ubiquitous in the summertime? Tricycle riding! It is fun, it is inexpensive (once you’ve purchased your cycle), it is “green,” and it makes for some great memories.

Another great thing about cycles is that they do not require much preparation. Grab your kids, trikes, and some sunscreen, and you’re set!

Karen Miller, author of The Outside Play and Learning Book, offers some fantastic ideas for tricycle play:


· Angle parking: paint lines on the sidewalk to look like parking spaces. Encourage children to park their tricycles in the spaces without going over the lines or bumping the tricycle in the next pace
· Staying on the road: draw a road with chalk for the tricycles on your sidewalk area. Put in curves and corners. Challenge children to ride the tricycles without crossing the chalk lines
· Obstacle course: with the children’s help, mark out a course for the tricycles using milk cartons or cones. Use chalk to make a line indicating where riders must go (this line could be straight or zigzag). Children must ride their tricycles and maneuver the course without knocking over the obstacles (Miller, 1989, 66-69)

On Thursday The Adventurous Child will add something fun to the driving mix to teach children about safety on the road. As always, we understand if you’d like a head start… just click here!