There's a huge range of scooters out there to bear in mind. These can vary from safe 3 wheelers to the more robust stunt scooters and they all have their pros and cons. So here's a short guide for getting buying your kid a scooter online.
2-4 Year old kids
Stability at this age is very important, as you want to minimise scuffed knees. So the more wheels the scooter has the greater the stability. With the easy steer, three wheel, tilt and turn variety you can be sure your kid will get the hang of it quickly and safely. Most consist of soft foam handgrips and anti-slip footplates. Additionally there is the three wheel or tri wheel scooters that are more like the older balance scooters. Although kids can use these perfectly well with practice they aren't quite as quick to learn and not as stable. Safety is of course important and at a minimum a simple colourful helmet will be cool and fun as well as practical.
Kids 4-9 years
From the age of about four kids can get started to use the more normal balance style of scooter. They'll be able to go faster, hold their own balance and use the brake. It's also where you must consider safety because depending on the personality of the child they can now be going quite fast. Again the helmet is a minimum. Things to watch for are a good 50kg weight allowance, sturdy aluminium construction, a sliding stem so the scooter can grow with the child and suitable grip surfaces for feet and hands. If you're considering taking your kids to the local skateboarding park then also think about just how much clearance there is under the scooter because going up curved ridges means that low riding scooters can catch.
9 Year olds onwards
Now things really get going. Kids love to mess around doing flips, bar spins and 180 tail whips so the scooter is going to take some punishment. You should be looking for one-piece handlebars, 100mm aluminium core wheels with ABEC bearings and full-length grips. If it's getting rough it really is worth getting knee and elbow pads, sometimes hard to convince kids to use them but with pro's wearing such kit children now beginning to be easier to convince.
Safety Clothing
There isn't any rocket science with this. As kids get bigger, they get taller and will start to bounce less. They'll also take more risks, get pier pressure and just make mistakes. Getting kids into safety gear at an early age helps get their outlook straight towards safety. They need to see their parents wearing it to though otherwise as they get older they'll want to forget about it. So if you're out and about a helmet is the minimum you should be considering. As soon as they start doing spins and jumps they ought to be getting some padding on and at least wearing long sleeves in order to help with bruising and grazes.
Buying advice for purchasing from an online store
Check for good online purchase policies so if once you get the scooter from your web store they won't have any quibbles about taking it back should your little one not like it. Most stores will do this and in the UK you're protected by the "distance selling regulations" that mean you can return the merchandise in up to 7 days.
2-4 Year old kids
Stability at this age is very important, as you want to minimise scuffed knees. So the more wheels the scooter has the greater the stability. With the easy steer, three wheel, tilt and turn variety you can be sure your kid will get the hang of it quickly and safely. Most consist of soft foam handgrips and anti-slip footplates. Additionally there is the three wheel or tri wheel scooters that are more like the older balance scooters. Although kids can use these perfectly well with practice they aren't quite as quick to learn and not as stable. Safety is of course important and at a minimum a simple colourful helmet will be cool and fun as well as practical.
Kids 4-9 years
From the age of about four kids can get started to use the more normal balance style of scooter. They'll be able to go faster, hold their own balance and use the brake. It's also where you must consider safety because depending on the personality of the child they can now be going quite fast. Again the helmet is a minimum. Things to watch for are a good 50kg weight allowance, sturdy aluminium construction, a sliding stem so the scooter can grow with the child and suitable grip surfaces for feet and hands. If you're considering taking your kids to the local skateboarding park then also think about just how much clearance there is under the scooter because going up curved ridges means that low riding scooters can catch.
9 Year olds onwards
Now things really get going. Kids love to mess around doing flips, bar spins and 180 tail whips so the scooter is going to take some punishment. You should be looking for one-piece handlebars, 100mm aluminium core wheels with ABEC bearings and full-length grips. If it's getting rough it really is worth getting knee and elbow pads, sometimes hard to convince kids to use them but with pro's wearing such kit children now beginning to be easier to convince.
Safety Clothing
There isn't any rocket science with this. As kids get bigger, they get taller and will start to bounce less. They'll also take more risks, get pier pressure and just make mistakes. Getting kids into safety gear at an early age helps get their outlook straight towards safety. They need to see their parents wearing it to though otherwise as they get older they'll want to forget about it. So if you're out and about a helmet is the minimum you should be considering. As soon as they start doing spins and jumps they ought to be getting some padding on and at least wearing long sleeves in order to help with bruising and grazes.
Buying advice for purchasing from an online store
Check for good online purchase policies so if once you get the scooter from your web store they won't have any quibbles about taking it back should your little one not like it. Most stores will do this and in the UK you're protected by the "distance selling regulations" that mean you can return the merchandise in up to 7 days.
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If you want to buy a scooter online then visit this kids scooter shop for more information.
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