Kids scooters are an excellent gift option for a child, whether it’s their birthday, Christmas, or even a ‘just started school’ present. Not only are they fun to ride around on, but they are also a great way to encourage your little one to be fit and healthy.
Whether they use them to get to and from school every day or for exploring the great outdoors on a weekend, the possibilities are endless.
Check out these interesting scooting facts that are sure to leave you head over wheels about them!
1. The importance of learning to ride a scooter
According to our survey of 2000 parents, 47% of them believe that learning to ride a scooter is just as important a rite of passage as learning to ride a bike. Riding your scooter is often a symbolic milestone in growing up, a step that shows your child is developing their independence and sense of adventure. Learning a new skill, such as scooting, also reinforces resilience, confidence, and perseverance, in turn boosting self-esteem.
Parents see learning to scoot as a vital part of understanding freedom and the basics of road safety and awareness, which is extremely significant in itself. Learning to ride a scooter can also be less daunting than a bike, as you can keep a foot on the floor, so it can act as a bridge towards learning how to ride a bike too.
2. Riding a scooter improves balance
The same Halfords survey also revealed that 25% of parents have seen their little one’s balance and sense of direction improve. As a child learns how to ride a scooter, they:
- Shift and coordinate their own body weight.
- Navigate turns and anticipate and steer around objects.
- Judge distances.
- Learn to adjust their speed.
All of these build up to increase and benefit your child’s motor skills, which will help them both on and off of their scooter.
3. Scooting can improve hand-to-eye coordination
Learning how to use a kids scooter requires concentration and a level of good hand-to-eye coordination.
In fact, 20% of parents say that they’ve seen a vast improvement in this area since their child has started using a scooter.
4. Scooting can lead to higher school performance
Interestingly, if concentrating is something your little boy or girl struggles with, scooting may actually help in that department too.
Our survey also found that 10% of parents had seen better concentration levels at school by simply letting them use a scooter! Physical activity boosts cognitive functions by improving their attention and concentration skills, which are vital for classroom learning. By stimulating and moving their small bodies, they’re likely to release mood-boosting endorphins and increased oxygen to the brain.
5. The environmental benefits of scooting
How much do you think you spend on petrol taking your child to school every week? Well, according to Micro Scooters, if all 500,000 users travelled just one mile each way to school every day, that would save parents across the UK a combined total of £130,000 in petrol costs.
This is not only great for everyone’s back pockets, but it can save over a tonne of CO2 carbon emissions per family in the process too!
6. Scooting is here to stay
If you think a kid’s scooters is a present that’ll be forgotten about in a few months, think again.
There are many ways to prolong the use of them, although there are also calls from parents to bring in further incentives in schools too. Most notably, 35% of parents believe there should be incentives to encourage children to scoot to school in the form of vouchers.
Just like riding a bike, scooters are a permanent source of eco-friendly, cost-efficient travel – so much so, that adult scooting is becoming more and more popular too.
What to consider before buying a scooter
We’ve established that, kids scooters are an ideal way for your little one to get from A to B, helping your child:
- Develop good motor skills.
- Encourage more exercise.
- Get your little one outside.
- Build confidence and social skills.
However, before you scoot on down to your nearest Halfords to buy one, you might want to read our top buying tips below.
Two and three-wheel scooters
Whether you’re buying a three-wheel scooter for kids or a regular two-wheeler, your child needs to feel comfortable on it. For instance, if your little one can’t ride a bike without stabilisers, they might struggle to balance on a two wheeled scooter. For this reason, a 3-wheel scooter can be a great option for younger children, before progressing to a two-wheel or even a bike.
Three-wheel scooters:
- Give your child more of a surface area to balance.
- Often use a lean-to-steer design for more intuitive steering.
- Focus on fun and ease of use.
- Build confidence and get the ball (or wheels) rolling on their scooting adventures.
When you visit your local Halfords store, get your child to test out our range of kids scooters and see how they balance and push off from a stationary position. This might give you a better understanding of what type of scooter they need.
The weight of the scooter
Kids scooters vary in weight due to the different metals used to create them. A heavier kids scooter will require more effort to move and make it harder for some to transport.
Get the weight wrong and you could see your child’s interest in scooting be over in a flash. So, consider getting a model that’s easy to carry and convenient to store.
Where will your child use their scooter?
While testing in-store, think about where your child will use their scooter the most. Down the park on bumpy services? On a smooth road around your house? Or on a long journey to school?
Once you’ve established how frequently they’ll use it and the kind of terrain they’ll face, you’ll get a better understanding of how much you need to spend on one.
Scooter style
While performance might be important, style is what will initially draw your child in. There are lots of different colours and designs to choose from, so you shouldn’t have too many problems finding the perfect one.
Here at Halfords, we have a huge range of kids scooters – from their favourite characters to baskets and flashing wheels, there’s a scooter for everyone.
As you now know, there are so many advantages to getting your little one their own scooter. From health benefits to independency, a scooter is the perfect gift for every child.
Need a hand picking the perfect scooter? Then you may find our essential guide handy.