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Ac knowledgements
I want to thank The Olympus Academy Trust for supporting me in completing this book.
I would like to thank the staff, children and their families of Charborough Road Primary School for participating in this journey.
I would like to thank Steve Fox from Fox Cycling for sharing his expert knowledge. Also, a special thank you to Gemma, Jude and Bonnie Davolls for all your love and support.
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Introduction
Bikes, trikes and scooters are generally very popular within the Early Years. Each morning, across the country, children will participate in a 100 m sprint to be the first to get onto a wheeled vehicle (perhaps, only when an adult flings open the doors and announces that ‘the outside area is open!’). The race winners will enjoy play that develops them physically, but what else might be developed? If they are already a competent rider, what new skills can they gain?
This brings us to the question: why should we have bikes, trikes and scooters in an Early Years provision? Yes, learning to ride these vehicles encourages physical development, balance and spatial awareness, but what do they offer once a child has developed these skills? Potentially, very little (apart from working on your personal best for the morning sprint!).
As is well-known, the environment is ‘the third teacher’ so it is vital that we look at vehicle play in a new light. We need to appreciate vehicles as a tool for learning – a way to support a child’s development in the absence of an adult. 50 Fantastic Ideas for Bikes, Trikes and Scooters has ideas on how to do this and links the activities to all seven areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). It uses vehicles to encourage creativity and imagination,
provides opportunities to explore numeracy and literacy and to develop communication and language skills, as well as showing ways in which children can explore the world around them. The book also highlights the characteristics of effective learning – in bold throughout – which are key to making children lifelong learners. By encouraging children to take risks, explore independent problem-solving and devise their own ideas in vehicle play, we are developing key characteristics to support the children throughout their entire lives.
Some settings are concerned about their limited space and resources to allow children to fully enjoy vehicle play. Throughout this book, we will change this perception by providing ideas for settings of all shapes and sizes, from those that are well-resourced to those that are not. The ideas do not require expensive resources to be bought; instead they utilise items that can be recycled, such as toilet roll tubes and aluminium cans and items that can be found on free-to-collect websites, such as repairable vehicles.
The activities in 50 Fantastic Ideas for Bikes, Trikes and Scooters are inclusive. The majority of the ideas include an ‘adaptation’ section, as well as a focus on skills progression, to ensure that children of all abilities and needs can access them.
Safety Issues
When children use bikes, trikes and scooters there is always an element of risk. I would always advise and encourage children to use helmets during vehicle play. Even when wearing a helmet correctly, children can fall and hurt themselves. However, as we know from the characteristics of effective teaching and learning1 (DfE, 2023), taking risks is a huge part of child development. If a child can take a risk when engaging in bike play, they will develop the core skills needed to be effective lifelong learners. Similarly, if we want to build a ‘can do’ attitude to learning, why not enhance an area that is loved to encourage this? Remember, as Alistair Bryce-Clegg2 (2017) says, ‘High-level engagement is what gives you the potential for high-level attainment.’
2Bryce-Clegg, A. (2017), Effective Transition into Year 1. London: Bloomsbury.
How to use this book
The pages are all organised in the same way. Before you start any activity, read through everything on the page so that you are familiar with the whole activity and what you might need to plan in advance.
What you need lists the resources required for the activity. These are likely to be readily available in most settings or can be bought or made easily.
What to do tells you step-by-step what you need to do to complete the activity.
Top tips are helpful hints to make an activity work well and have been learned from experience!
The Health & Safety tips are often obvious, but safety cannot be overstressed. In many cases, there are no specific hazards involved in completing the activity, and your usual health and safety measure should be enough. In others, there are particular issues to be noted and addressed.
What’s in it for the children? tells you (and others) briefly how the suggested activities contribute to learning.
Adaptation provides a focus on skills progression and other ideas for adapting enhancements, ensuring that children of all abilities and needs can access the activities.
Templates that accompany some activities are available to download via the QR codes in the text or from the Bloomsbury Education website: bloomsbury.pub/50fantastic-bikes.
From this point on, any text that is in bold is a link to the EYFS framework and/or the Characteristics of Effective Learning.
A progression of vehicles
Understanding what you have on offer
What you need:
• Bikes, trikes and scooters
• A camera
• A computer
• A printer
• Pens or pencils
• A class list
What’s in it for the children?
This activity helps practitioners regularly assess the children’s ability and support their physical development . It also allows practitioners to routinely check the vehicles in the setting and see which ones they may need more of.
Taking it forward
• Create a skills progression document or scan the QR code below for a template.
• Share the skills progression display or document with parents and carers so they know the benefits and progression for each vehicle.
Scan the QR code for a skills progression template.
What to do:
1. Individually photograph all of the bikes, trikes and scooters in the setting.
2. Print the photographs taken.
3. Bring all of the adults together in the setting after the children have gone home.
4. Put the vehicles in order from the easiest to the most challenging to ride. For each vehicle, discuss and record what muscles can be developed, the level of risk from each vehicle and what is most popular.
5. Display the document in the staff room.
6. Regularly review the children’s riding ability by printing off a class list with the name of the vehicles running along the top. If a child can ride a certain vehicle, give them a tick on the sheet. If they can’t, leave it blank (no one wants a cross by their name!).
7. Review the vehicles in the provision and make any necessary changes. For example, if 80% of children are capable trike riders and there are more trikes in your provision than other vehicles, the children need to be encouraged to explore more challenging ones.
8. Review the children’s riding ability regularly throughout the year.
Top tip
Use free-to-collect websites to find balance bikes, pedal bikes, scooters and trikes and ask parents and carers if they have any vehicles that they could donate.
Limiting space
Getting those arms working
What you need:
• Bikes, trikes and scooters
• Items to limit space, such as boxes, benches and blocks
What’s in it for the children?
The children’s spatial and physical development and risk awareness will be tested by limiting the space that can be used. There will also be inevitable crashes, during which the children’s self-regulation and ability to manage emotions will be challenged.
Taking it forward
• Add obstacles to the limited space.
• Create multiple small spaces but with set vehicles in each zone.
Adaptation
• Some children may find riding with others in a small space intimidating. Try allowing them one-on-one time in the space with obstacles to manoeuvre.
• Consider what colour rope is used to ensure it can be seen.
• Use colour semantics/emotions cards to support discussion.
What to do:
1. Discuss and agree with your team where to limit space.
2. Collect various items from around the setting that can be used as a block or look at the natural and constructed blocks available, such as walls, fences and ridges.
3. Use the items collected to create a smaller space. Ensure the objects used are at a suitable height as they may be bumped into.
4. Place the vehicles in the smaller space and explain to the children that they can only ride within it.
5. Model positional language. For example, ‘I can see you are going forwards. Why don’t you turn left?’, ‘When you are riding next to someone, you need to make sure that you both don’t turn into each other.’ and ‘[Name] is riding behind you.’
6. Verbalise how the children might be feeling to develop their emotional intelligence. For example, ‘I can see you are feeling cross. Can you tell me why?’ or ‘Can you see that [Name] is upset? Shall we ask them why?
Limiting vehicles
Promoting turn-taking and sharing
What you need:
• Bikes, trikes and scooters
What’s in it for the children?
This activity will develop the children’s social and emotional skills. With limited vehicles, conflicts will occur and relationships will be tested. In turn, the children will communicate with each other and develop their speech, understanding and listening skills. The children will engage in turntaking, sharing and being patient . Taking it forward
• Be selective about which vehicles are being removed from the environment. If all the children are confident in riding scooters and are ready to use the balance bikes, remove the scooters. Use your skills progression document to support this activity (see page 8).
What to do:
1. Remove several vehicles from the provision.
2. Be on hand to support the children through any emotionally challenging situations, such as disagreements over whose turn it is to use the vehicle.
3. Model language to the children and remodel their feelings and emotions. For example, ‘I can see that [Name] is feeling cross. Why do you think they are feeling cross?’
4. Encourage positive behaviour traits, such as offering to share the vehicle or asking another child to join them on a vehicle.
Adaptation
• Ensure practitioners have colour semantics/emotions cards with them to support discussion.
• Use a ‘now and next’ board.
Pedalling
Making the wheels go round and round!
What you need:
• A trike
• A box to prop up the trike
Adaptation
• For children struggling to keep their feet on the pedals, tie two loops of string. Place one of the loops over the child’s foot and pedal on each side, ensuring there is room for the child to move their foot away if wanted.
What’s in it for the children?
The children will be using their core, hip, knee and ankle muscles. They will develop their confidence and understanding of pedalling and will be encouraged to ‘have a go’ It will also help them understand cause and effect
Taking it forward
• Once the child is confident in pedalling in the correct direction, move onto ‘Which way to turn?’ (see page 13).
What to do:
1. Place the box underneath the bike or trike in order to prop up one half of the vehicle, so that the pedalling wheel is in the air.
2. Encourage a child to climb onto the bike or trike and to place their feet on the pedals.
3. Hold the child’s feet and support them in moving the pedals.
4. Vocalise what the child is doing. For example, ‘Keep pushing the pedals around and around’ and ‘Don’t stop moving the pedals’ as this will give the child a deeper understanding.
5. Ensure that you support and supervise the child at all times for health and safety reasons and to build confidence.
