Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide: Day 30
Riding a two-wheeler is a huge milestone in a child’s life and one that puts fear into the hearts of most parents. That’s why we do crazy things like keep them on tricycles for longer than we should and adding training wheels to their big bikes. My husband even went so far as to suggest wrapping our children completely in bubble wrap when they first are learning to ride. As much as this seems like a great way to recycle our packaging, it also makes for difficult playdates and days on the bike trails.
Since bicycling is a way of life here in the Northwest, we needed to come up with a solution for cycling as a family that didn’t include training wheels… or packing materials. That solution is of course a balance bike, so now the trick was to find one that was practical for our riding conditions. When we found KaZAM Balance Bikes, we knew we had finally found the perfect training bicycle.
If you haven’t heard of a balance bike before, you’re not alone. Literally every time we go out with the KaZAM, we get a crowd of parents wanting to know why on Earth our bike doesn’t have pedals. Although it’s hard to explain the benefits of biking without pedals, it’s not hard to see them once you witness a KaZAM in action.
Instead of having to learn to balance, work the pedals continuously while steering away from danger, and master the brakes all at once, the KaZAM bike lets your child begin with the fundamentals of balance. Allowing your child to sit on a bicycle seat and keep their feet flat on the ground, it gets them used to the idea of being on two wheels safely.
They start out “walking” the KaZAM around while seated and then as they get more comfortable they can begin striding on the bike, leaving more and more time when their feet are not on the ground. Kids usually pick up the idea of the KaZAM pretty quickly and most are coasting fairly soon after hopping on, something you would never see on a first try on a pedaled bicycle.
Braking is also really intuitive, you simply place your feet on the ground to stop. This makes it great for children who can’t manipulate hand brakes and is easy to explain to kids. Since they feel so in control, it makes it easier for them to relax and get the balance part down as well as helping them figure out steering and the coordination required to ride a traditional bike.
What’s great is that once your child gets really confident in their abilities, they can use the integrated foot rests on the KaZAM frame to rest their legs while cruising, a feature I have not found on other balance bikes. This also goes a long way in preparing them for riding because they get used to the idea of their feet resting on something instead of keeping them down while they are riding.
As well as integrated foot rests, the KaZAM stands out in other ways as well. One thing we really love is that the KaZAM looks and rides like a real bike. It has a nice lightweight metal frame, is available in multiple colors, has full steering, hand grips, and even has real bicycle wheels – shiny spokes and all. This makes your kid feel more like they are really riding a bicycle and prepares them for what to expect with their big-kid two wheeler.
Having mastered balance on the KaZAM, the idea is that the transition to a two wheeled bike will be so much easier. Better yet is that it’s also safer for your child, as well as being packing material-free. My ultimate hope for the KaZAM is that it allows our children to keep up with us on the trails earlier than most kids are able. Instead of putting training wheels on our children’s bicycles that teach them to rely on extra wheels which we will eventually remove, the KaZAM teaches them to rely on themselves.
To read more about the KaZAM Balance Bike that has been collecting awards since it was released, head over to http://www.kazambikes.com/ and check out these awesome bikes and even watch some customer submitted videos to get a better idea of how it works.
One lucky Rave and Review reader will win a KaZAM Balance Bike of their very own!
To Enter: Simply visit KaZAM and comment below with something you learned about the company or the balance bicycles and what color you would like
And, as always, there are extra entries available!
1) Subscribe to Rave and Review, top of right sidebar (2 extra entries, must be verified to count)
2) "Like" KaZAM on Facebook (2 extra entries, just leave FB name in comments)
3) Tweet about this Giveaway using @raveandreview and #giveaway with the link to this post (http://bit.ly/eKWjWb) after following (daily Tweet, just post link here)
4) Blog about this Giveaway with links back to this post as well as the www.raveandreview.com homepage (just post the URL where I can find your writeup)
5) Place my button or logo in your sidebar on your blog or website (2 extra entries must have an active link to R&R)
6) Comment love. Enter any of my other Giveaways and/or comment on any non-giveaway post!
7) Email love. Share this Giveaway with friends and family via email and cc Leanne (at)raveandreview (dot) com (I will never, ever contact your email recipients)
8) Vote for Rave and Review on Top Baby Blogs, logo in right sidebar (daily entry, just tell me what rank R&R has)
On January 20th at 11:59pm PST a winner will be drawn, announced here and notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to contact me or a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway open to US Addresses.
Winner, winner! This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to all who entered and congratulations to: #318 brandy nelson said... I like KaZam on fb
brandy leigh nelson
A big thank you to KaZAM Bicycles for providing the sample for review as well as offering a giveaway to our fabulous readers. All opinions are 100% ours and no form of monetary compensation was received in exchange for this Rave Review.
