As a kid I spent countless hours on my bike. Not only was it fun and freedom, but riding a bike is a great way for kids to challenge themselves, test their limits and learn about responsibility.
Unfortunately, my older son (8yrs) doesn't have this same affinity with his bike. Sure he likes to get on it occasionally and will ride up and down our driveway a couple of times, but that's it. I do wonder if my concern for his safety on the road is what's holding him back from enjoying his bike, so as part of our scouting activities I decided to set him some bike riding challenges.
DS was really excited by the idea and eager to get onto his first mission. Mission one involved riding 50m down our street, crossing over, taking a photo of the creek there and riding back home. I set him five missions in all, getting progressively more daring, with the final mission being to ride to the end of our street (about 600m, involving a couple of crossings including one small roundabout) and marking a chalk X on the pavement, then riding home.
DS completed 4 of the missions yesterday afternoon! I was expecting he'd do them over a couple of days. He really enjoyed the missions, and what's more both he and I now have a sense that he is capable of riding safely in the vicinity of our house even when I cannot see him. This is a big step!
