Benefits Of Cycling To School
Cycling to school is a fun and healthy way for your child to commute to the classroom and September, for many, marks the time of year where children start heading back to school. This means that it might be the perfect time to try it!
Read below to find out why cycling to school might benefit you and your child!
CYCLE TO SCHOOL SAFELY…
Firstly, it is important to make sure your child cycles to school safely. Children should always ride to school with an adult, unless they are comfortable with riding and their parents believe they are responsible enough. Below we’ve listed a few more safety musts when cycling to school:
1. It is essential that children (and adults!) wear a helmet when cycling. It is also a good idea for your child to wear some high visibility clothing, especially as it is very busy around schools with cars!
2. Adults should ride behind their child when accompanying them to school, this way they can keep an eye on their child.
3. It is also important to make sure that your child’s bike has fully working lights, especially if it starts getting dark in the winter months!
CYCLING ENCOURAGES INDEPENDENCE
Cycling to school will give your child a sense of independence as even though you might be cycling behind them, they are still taking themselves to school. This will help increase their confidence which will help in the school environment.
Furthermore, with training and a safe route your child may start cycling to school with a friend instead as they get older. This will encourage their independence and give them some responsibility which is important as they get older!
PHYSICAL AND MENTAL BENEFITS
As we have already mentioned in previous blogs, which you can check out here, cycling has huge physical and mental benefits to an individual and this is no different for children. It is no surprise that cycling to school will increase your child’s fitness, however, in addition it also provides an active start to the day. The NHS guidelines (in the UK) suggest that children should exercise for around an hour a day, so, cycling to and from school will put your child on the right track to achieve this!
Cycling to school will provide your child with the perfect start to the day and has been scientifically proven to help your child’s concentration which will benefit them in class! It will give them an extra boost of energy in the morning which will stop them feeling lethargic. It’s a win win… keeps them active as well as bettering their schoolwork!
ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
We all know how bad the school run traffic gets… so why not avoid it all by cycling to school? This not only stops you from being stuck in heavy traffic, it also helps the environment by lowering emissions. In fact, 1 in 5 cars on the road at rush hour are participating in the school run which causes an increase in car emissions and this is harmful to the environment.
Cycling to school will also help you save money on petrol costs as well as helping the environment!
Here at Reid we also have our own environmental pledge, so if you purchase one of our Reid bikes not only would you be lowering emissions by cycling instead of driving, you will also be planting a tree. That’s right, with every Reid purchased we plant a tree! Find out more by clicking here.
CYCLING IS A CHANCE TO SOCIALISE!
Socialising is important for children and cycling to school can help create new peers. Finding a friend to cycle to school with can create new friendships in school which will not only make the commute to cycle more fun, but also increase their confidence in school.
Cycling increases communuication skills, team work and allows them to socialise with those with similar interests. It’s always more fun cycling with friends!
FINALLY…
Cycling to school can provide many benefits to your child, as well as parent, which helps to maintain an active lifestyle and high performance at school. This is not always possible to do for everyone, as schools are sometimes too far to cycle, however if you are able to why not try cycling to school with your child? It may save you a lot of time and money!
If you’re interested, why not check out our awesome range of kid’s bikes? All our kids bikes have been designed with comfort and safety in mind so, they are the perfect choice to cycle to school with.