Scootering For Kids – 8 Health Benefits You Can Get While Having Fun!

Everyone knows that physical activities, especially cardiovascular ones, provide many benefits for human health. However, being active is particularly beneficial for children whose organism, still in its genesis stage, is still very malleable.

Swimming, dancing and skipping are just some of the useful and fun aerobic exercises that boost not only muscle building but also motor skills, coordination and cognitive performance.

In addition, there are sports that have all these advantages while allowing you to move through space! Cycling, skateboarding, or scootering from a young age is beneficial in more ways than one. The below article from Go4Prep explains the top 8 benefits of the child scooter!

Children’s scooter and balance improvement

Learning to keep balance is essential to the development of any kid. This is why the children’s scooter is brilliant in its simplicity. It requires the child to stand and balance on one leg while kicking with the other.

Some models for toddlers have a “lean to steer” feature that allows for more steering control by leaning your body slightly in a turn.

Development of motor skills

Riding a scooter requires the rider to use their arms and legs independently of each other. This kind of sport for children allows him to improve his gross motor skills. One foot on the plate, performing repetitive motions to propel the scooter, hands on the handlebars to steer it in the right direction… All this happens with your head held high and your eyes on the road at all times to identify and avoid possible obstacles.

If the child wants to stop, he will use the free foot to press the brake, slowing down enough to be able to descend safely. Many nerve centers and muscles are activated at the same time, aren’t they?

Children’s scooter and muscle toning

Maintaining balance and moving the scooter forward requires good muscle strength in the torso, arms and legs. So, the children’s scooter strengthens the muscles every time the little ones use it, even if they don’t realize it.

When the child rolls, the ankle, calf, hamstrings and glutes are all engaged. They are then re-engaged with each kick aimed at gaining speed. Even by simply balancing on the plate, the abdominal muscles and the lumbar muscles are active!

Optimization of coordination

Being able to guide, kick, balance and brake when needed do wonders for a growing child’s coordination. When kids move from a 3-wheel scooter to a 2-wheel toddler scooter, coordination development will also take it to the next level.

Thanks to this evolution, they will learn to perfectly synchronize their movements in order not to break their momentum, keep their balance, avoid obstacles, brake and stop when necessary.

Training of decision-making mechanisms

Believe it or not, riding a scooter requires being able to critically analyze the situation at all times. Much like driving a car, this multivariate process enhances decision-making skills. Every child on the move is responsible for making choices and they must make them quickly so that they are wise. When to slow down, when to stop, when to turn, how much to lean into the bend to avoid falling…

Not to mention scanning the path for obstacles and deciding the best way to avoid them! These are all great examples of the benefits of scootering when it comes to quickly evaluating your options.

Promotion of cardiovascular endurance

Once the child is bored with the 3 wheel scooter, they will want to go faster by operating a 2 wheel child scooter. Much depends on the child itself, but this process will take place around the age of 4.

Going faster means kicking harder and more frequently, which on its part means the heart needs to pump more blood to the lungs and muscles. This aerobic work aimed at transporting enough oxygen where necessary provides a great health benefit: it improves cardiovascular endurance. And it’s fun too!

Children’s scooter and the acquisition of social skills

Logically, children who ride scooters look for other children who practice the same hobby to do it together. It’s a great way to train your social skills, optimize your communication tools and boost your self-confidence. Whether at the playground or in the nearby park, these are valuable human interactions!

Riding a scooter equals spending more time outdoors

Finally, here is a benefit of the child scooter that seems quite obvious in itself, but is worth mentioning. Any sport to be practiced outdoors is more pleasant and beneficial! Most parents agree that they want their kids to play more outside and less in front of the screen. So, young and old, get off the couch, get some fresh air, go play outside!

Please always equip your child with a helmet, knee pads, elbow pads and wrist guards