Do you know the advantages of riding a scooter, especially if you are a kid? You’ll find more info here as we’ve looked at why scooters are good for toddlers and whether they have some drawbacks, plus all the other things you may want to know about such a device and activity when it comes to children.
Which questions should you ask?
We can agree that picking a scooter for a child is more difficult than picking a scooter for an adult such as yourself. Among the questions that you need to have an answer to, before making any sort of investment, we are going to mention: which scooters are more suitable for a kid? What age is proper for a kid to start riding a scooter? Two wheels or three wheels?
Of course, we can continue the list with many other things (should the scooter be bigger or smaller?), but usually, you’ll get the answers to these questions alongside the answers for the previously mentioned ones so you needn’t worry. Still, any question that you have is perfectly valid to ask the salesperson.
The health of your child
As soon as your child starts to walk, health associations recommend that the period of time in which the kid spends sitting should be reduced, while their walking should be more encouraged. Even while they are still young, the kids should be busy with physical tasks for about three hours/day. This means you have to encourage them to exercise.
Health associations are also worried about the high intake of sugar when it comes to children as fewer parents focus on developing a healthy eating habit. While the food industry should take this more seriously as well, while we wait for that to happen, we can still control what our children eat.
Sugary drinks and cereals are among the major causes that make children overweight and their marketing says almost nothing about that. It is no wonder, then, that 1 in 3 children these days is considered to be obese or overweight when they finish primary school – a problem older generations didn’t have to face.
Top benefits of scooters
The first steps taken by a baby are nothing short of a miracle for the parents. But, as soon as they are able to walk properly, parents should focus on helping them develop the hand-eye coordination that will result in them having better muscles and bones as they start to grow up. A buggy may be good at that, but a scooter excels at it!
Using a scooter as a young child gives them more time to understand the principles of how to move the arms and legs in what we call “perfect harmony”. Learning how to read depends on several factors, one on them being our ability to understand direction.
In the English language, we read from left to right which means that if kids learn directions from a young age, they are more likely to understand how to read faster, as well. Plus, if the kids let go of the physical limitations of the age, they’ll help you vacuum the house faster, but that’s more of a little extra benefit for you.
Stop relying on that buggy
As mentioned, all children under the age of five are encouraged by doctors to reduce the sitting around time and use more of their bodies for various physical activities, as well. Naturally, the recommendation remains even after the age of five. In their developing years, kids will follow you around, usually riding something and even going out by themselves.
Now, choosing between a scooter and walking is a no-brainer, as almost all children will want to ride a scooter when they have to take a ride to the store or go out with some friends. Even for you, it’s easier than using a pushchair if you teach the child how to ride a scooter from an early age.
Scooters are also easier to get past some places, while a buggy simple doesn’t fit through. This means more peace for you as the children will not throw a tantrum over having to leave the buggy somewhere and walk the rest of the day. So far, it seems that a scooter brings benefits for both you and your child!
Learning how to be healthy from a young age
If your child learns to perform physical exercises from early on, the chances of them developing this as a habit are quite high. By no means do we mean to push them over the limits or do things that aren’t appropriate for their age. Check with the child’s physician what is the normal level of physical exercise for each age.
Even a small amount of exercise is beneficial for them to learn how rewarding exercises are. The level of exercise and the amount of time spent doing them will grow as the kid grows and one great way of making them be involved in this activity is to buy them a scooter. If they learn how to scoot now, just for fun, they’ll keep on doing it as they grow older.
Yes, that means investing in a new scooter in a couple of years, again, but the health benefits are truly worth it, because the things for which you form a habit as a child, if you keep them up as a teenager as well, you will most definitely keep them as an adult, also!
Helping our children develop a healthy attitude toward their well-being means that, in the long run, they are less likely to start developing any serious health issues. Fat can lead to heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, while keeping fit reduces the chances of your kid to develop them.
If such diseases run in the family, then it is even more important for you to teach the children how exercising is fun and great for your health! A scooter brings just the right amount of fun and health that a child needs. It is well-known that children in America are among the least active in the world and fall in the obese or overweight category before becoming teens.
It is not at all healthy for a preschool kid, aged three, to spend four to five hours looking at a TV, tablet, or laptop screen. Many kids at the preschool age have their own laptops, tablets, or smartphones and while they do come with benefits, this doesn’t mean they have to be used at the expense of physical exercising.
Since we all wish for our children to have a healthy and long life, we must help them sometimes to achieve those goals, especially at ages in which they are highly likely to be impressed by other activities such as spending time playing computer games.
Again, not to say that PC games don’t have their share of good influence if you know what to pick for them, but devoting hours on end, every day, to a computer game just to pass a level, when physical health can suffer a lot, it’s plain wrong, and this is why relying on something as fun as a scooter can help you persuade them to go outside and play!
Relieves stress
It is wrongly assumed by parents that children don’t have stress levels. “You are too young to be stressed!” While the stress level felt by an adult can be much higher, this doesn’t mean you should ignore your child’s mental health. We forget, but being a young child can be pretty stressful which brings mood swings, anxiety, and anger issues.
Your child watches you do everything and they wish they could do the same. Unfortunately, they can’t, as they are still depending on you to tie their shoelaces, to teach them how to write and read, to eat – all of the things that your child watches you do with ease and this makes them frustrated. Exercising helps them relieve that level of stress.
The age to learn faster
During the first three years of our lives, we learn the fastest than we ever will at any given point in our lives. Harvard Med School has shown that exercises stimulate nerve growth in the brain of young children, which, in turn, improves the short-term memory, the reaction times, plus it makes them more creative!
With so many great benefits, why not help your child grow with a scooter? Just make sure they ride safely and they will ride toward a great and healthy life!
