How to Accessorise Your Child's Bike

 

A bike is one of the first things entirely owned by a kid, making it important in their journey to self-expression. Testing out different colours, garlands, and stickers will help you and your child better understand their tastes. 

Are you struggling for inspiration on how to decorate your kids bike? Well, you've come to the right place! We've compiled a list of our favourite ways to, in the immortal words of Ginger, Scary, Sporty, Posh, and Baby - spice up your bike!

It doesn't matter if it's for their tricycle, balance bike with basket, or first big-kid bike. Your little rider will be in awe of all the exciting ways that they can make their prized possession even more special.

Baskets

Basket's give bikes undeniable pizzazz. Adding a bike basket helps you experience the same cycle route you've been taking for years in a new way. Whether that's being able to pack a picnic up or bring your dog along, it's for the better!

There's also a huge range when it comes to bike baskets. You can get them as:

• D Shaped: like our Gingersnap kids basket - with the side closest to the bike flat while the other curves.
• Ovular: shaped like a squashed circle, for instance, the Bobbin Allotment baskets.
• Rectangular: The Cambridge basket is our example of a basket shaped like a rectangle.

Choose from metal or wicker bike baskets. Come with handles or not come with handles. And, sometimes, they can even sit on the back of a bike. Choosing which shape basket to fit on your bike can make it your own.

Many of our kid's bikes come with a basket included! It gives you the chance to decorate your child's bicycle to suit their personality. With a bit of extra help from our upcoming tips.

And, the bikes that don't already come with a basket can easily have one of our kids bike baskets attached. We've even created one specifically for teddy to hop into, so they don't miss out on any of the fun!

Bike Stickers

Bike stickers are a great way for your child to express their interests. You can get generic designs like flowers, stars, and smileys, but you can also find stickers of your favourite movie characters.

It can also be a good idea to have a sticker of your child's name on their bike. It will help them identify it amongst the mound of bikes in the playground.

Almost like marking 'Andy' on Woody's cowboy boot. It creates a sense of loyalty to their bike and can mean that they treat it with more care.

 

Bicycle Bell or Bike Horn

You may be thinking that this is hardly a way of personalising a bike, but more a practical item for safety. While it's essential, it's also a great way to introduce some individuality to a bicycle.

You can buy a kids bike bell in a range of colours depending on your child's preference. The same goes for classic bike horn's. You can get the classic squeeze bike horns. Or, if the aggressive sound of a standard horn is too much for you, opt for an electric horn.

Memories of endless entertainment ding-donging your bicycle bell should be able to convince you of their value. If not, the safety it provides when cycling should seal the deal.

Basket Garland

Garlands are wreaths that can be worn or hung up. For a basket, a garland wraps around the outside as a form of decoration.

These bike accessories can be an arts and crafts project to dive into and decoration for your kid's bike all at once.

Garlands come in all sorts of designs - from pom-poms to flowers to flags. Threading the garland with your child makes the final result individual to you. It can be something you can remember each time you go out cycling.

Or, if you want to ensure neatness and durability, you can buy a pre-made garland to decorate your basket. Either way makes for a great end product to become your latest kids bike accessory.

Spoke Beads

What a blast from the past! Spoke beads may be right behind butterfly hair clips in the battle for the most 90's item ever, but there's a reason why they were so popular back then.

They're fun accessories that will mesmerise the other kids as the bike wheel spins. As the bike turns, the colours of the beads blend to become one brightly coloured blur.

Plus, they make that satisfying clicking noise as the beads hit each other when you pedal. Spoke beads are an experience of satisfying sounds and dazzling sights. No wonder they're gaining popularity once again.

 

Reflective Strips

Plastering reflective strips over your bike is usually considered a safety measure. This is because of the extra visibility it can grant you in the dark. It's a relatively cheap and easy method to help motorists spot you at night.

Yet, they don't only have to be a practical item. Glowing in the dark is pretty cool if you ask us.

You can shape your reflective lights into patterns or wrap them around the inside of your wheels. Go crazy with it. It will only make you more visible, which is never a bad thing.

Bike Lights

Alongside reflective strips, or as an alternative, you can buy bike lights. These lights come in a range of different shapes and sizes.

Popular types include bike wheel lights and front and rear lights. These usually use LED light to make you more striking to oncoming traffic.

At Bobbin, we offer the button light set that you can attach to any part of the bike frame. It comes with white lights for the front of the bike and red for the rear, giving visibility of up to 700 metres. A light like this is essential if your kid rides their bikes at dusk.

 

Taping the Frame

Usually, bike tape intends to increase the bike handlebar grip. But, you can find it in fun patterns and re-purpose it as decoration for your whole bike.

This redecorating could be a exciting option if your kid's bike is a hand-me-down or a colour they dislike. Bike tape comes in a wide range of colours and patterns, so there's bound to be one your child loves.

This change can give an old bike a new lease of life, transforming it into your child's dream bike.

Handlebar Tassels

Kids bike streamers are ideal biking accessories for kids with a need for speed. 

As your child picks up speed, they get caught in the wind, blowing up the tassels and exposing an array of colours. Watching them waft in the breeze is sure to put a smile on you and your child's face.

You can attach handlebar tassels to a range of kids bikes. The streamers make even the plainest bike frame look special when they fly in the wind.

Time to Accessorise!

Now you've heard all the options, will it be the:

• Basket
• Bike Stickers
• Bike Bell or Horn
• Basket Garland
• Spoke Beads
• Reflective Strips
• Bike Lights
• Taping the Frame
• Handlebar Tassels

...Or all of them! 

The great thing about bike accessories is that it's an the more, the merrier situation. Accessories help to reflect the fun that your child has on their bike to the outside world.

Are you excited about the endless possibilities? Shop kids bike accessories with Bobbin today!