Ride on Vehicles

Children love ride on toys because they love the sense of movement they feel from riding and because ride on toys allow children to imitate the adults in their lives. Ride on toys are also important for perfecting children's balance and coordination, as well as giving children the physical exercise they need.

Ride on toys are divided into two main categories: battery-powered vehicles and non-motorized vehicles. Non-motorized vehicles can further be divided into these following categories: rocking horses / rocking toys, pedal ride on toys, and push ride on toys.

It is important to look into the age-appropriateness of the particular ride on toy you are going to buy. Several things determine the age appropriateness of a child ride on. To have a better understanding of which ride on is right for which age group, please review our Ride On Toys By Age Guide.

Here is a list of things to consider before making your purchase:

First, size and shape of the ride on vehicle. Determine whether the toy is going to be too big or too small for your child; how easy it is going to be for your child to get on and off the toy by him/herself; the width of the vehicle. The more widely spaced the wheels are, the easier it is to balance. Therefore, any ride on vehicle for small children will need to have wheels which are widely spaced.

Second, skills required to operate the ride on vehicle. Two things to consider when trying to determine the appropriateness of this kind of toy: Speed of the vehicle; child ride on toys which move fast are obviously more difficult to handle and are only suitable for older children. And methods of propulsion; pedaling requires more skills than just rocking or moving, therefore, buy your toddler sit-on riders, or rocking horses / toys, but don't buy your young toddler pedal toys which requires pedaling.

Third, level of realism/details. Usually older children will love to have toys resemble the real things. Therefore, car, ATV, and motorcycle ride on toys appeal more to older children.