Summer may be winding down, but that doesn’t mean kids will be hanging up their scooters anytime soon. In some neighborhoods, we’re even scooting to school and hopefully safely.
Our partner Micro Kickboard (we love them so much!) is a brand we all have trusted and loved and owned for years, which is why we are thrilled to work with them again. (And apologies to our kids, but no, this doesn’t mean “we can get another one.”) Micro Kickboard also knows a thing or two about scooter safety for kids, because they really care about them. Hey, a lot of them are parents too. So on their behalf, we’ve put together a few scooter safety tips to help keep all our children safe and happy as they’re zipping down the street.
Â
1. It’s all about the helmet. Of course the most important piece of safety equipment is a helmet. Head injuries are the real deal, and so wearing a helmet is even the law in many states. But even if it isn’t, you should get ahead of it. There are a number of children’s helmets on the market with fun colors and designs that kids will be more apt to wear. (Ours fight over theirs, ha.)  Find the right fit and strap it on!
 2. Protect elbows, knees, and hands. It may sound obvious, but these are always the first to hit the ground when a child falls. Pads for the elbows, knees, and hands are available as easy slip-ons and can be kept in a school backpack, desk, or locker when not in use. And yes, we are totally aware that there is one more area that often hits the ground, but that side comes with its own padding. Actual padding may vary. Let’s just say us moms have a little more of it.
3. It’s gotta be the shoes. Shoes aren’t just about fashion, they also protect feet from stray wheels and any number of random things on the ground that could poke, cut, or tickle the toes of your scooting child. The best shoes to wear while riding a scooter are closed-toed, thick in the sole, and should have some support in the ankle. If the shoes also happen to look really awesome, well, that’s just a bonus. It’s amazing how many kids we see scooting in flip-flops, flimsy sandals, and the ubiquitous plastic shoes which shall not be named.
4. Size matters! Not all scooters are created equal. Definitely check the height and weight suggestions or restrictions of the scooter you buy, to be sure it is the perfect one for your child. Using the right equipment is the first step in scooter safety for kids (and lots of other things, too!). Scooter manufacturers generally provide their safety suggestions based on a child’s age, with the assumption that the majority of children in that group will have similar height and weight, but we say, don’t go on that alone. Plenty of our kids fall outside those numbers, which means maybe that 3-5 year old scooter will be ideal for your six-year-old.
5.  Learn to stop on a dime. This sounds cool, but it’s also an important part of scooter safety for kids. Before your kids head into high traffic areas, be sure they have the ability to stop suddenly, make quick turns, and avoid older people on walkers or carrying large bag of groceries on the sidewalk–something we once learned the hard way. (Eep.) Start slow and practice in a paved parking lot or driveway, or on a low traffic cul-de-sac before sending them out into the real world.
There’s time for learning a bunnyhop, ollie, or kick-out later. But first? Stopping.
6. There’s safety in numbers.  This is always a good rule of thumb, the more the merrier and all that. Whenever possible send kids off on their scoot to school with friends, siblings, or assorted classmates. Not only is it fun to spend time with other kids, but it also makes the children much more visible to those cars. Also, the pack looks out for its own, and yes, we just compared kids to a group of wild animals.
7. Handle street and sidewalk traffic with your eyes, not just your body.  Things may be quieter where you live during the summer, but once school starts up, the neighborhood does too. More people on the sidewalks means more obstacles, but don’t let that keep you from scooting like the wind. Shouting a friendly on your left! before passing a pedestrian can help keep bumps, bruises, and a few choice words to a minimum.
One of the tricks we teach our own kids, whether they’re crossing the street on foot or on two or three wheels, is to make eye contact with the driver at the stop sign. You see the driver – the driver sees you. Then you can give a little wave to acknowledge “hey thanks, I’m going to cross now” and be sure that you’re both on the same page. Smiles help too.
Thanks to our sponsor Micro Kickboards scooters and helmets, which are built kid-tough for fun and safety.Â
Would love a pink or purple. Jump in the grass to stop, learned this can still be quite a rough landing.
Hard to pick a color, but I’ll go with silver followed by green as second choice. Strangest safety “advice” was when a stranger in a department store offered to go scare my daughter who was wandering away from me. She thought she was doing us a favor. I told her not to.
#1 Purple
#2 Blue
An old lady in the grocery store once told me that my baby would get her death of cold because she wasn’t wearing a sweater. In the summer.
Green please and The only other color i saw was purple. If there is yellow or an orange color that i missed that would be great
as for safety advise. My mom wanted me to hold their hand on the scooter. I said they needed both hands to steer haha
My First Color Choice For The Maxi Micro Would Be “Green” My Second Color Choice For The Maxi Micro Would Be “Blue”. A Strange, Yet Dangerous Safety Tip I’ve Been Told Was To Not Where Helmets When Riding Bikes A Friends Mom Told Me It Could Cause More Damage.. Thankfully I Never Followed Her Advice.. And It Made Me Say “WHAT”!?
1st choice : Purple
2nd choice : Green
The strangest safety advice I got was from my dad saying , ” Don’t buy them anything to ride because they would get hurt. They will have an accident”…. I was like ,”whattttt??? “. Seriously, the strangest advice ever 🙂
Red or green
My grandmother put tin foil on my bike helmet when I had to ride to school. She said it was to make sure I was reflective but I think she just got a kick out of me riding around that way. As I got older I began to understand her awesome and twisted humor. 🙂
#1 silver
#2 bronze
Safety advice: Don’t ride/walk under coconut trees.
Purple; green
Wear a helmet when biking and skating.
1. Black 2. Silver
I don’t recall any strange advice but I’ve seen some kids riding on scooters without helmets because parents assume since it has 3 wheels and is low to the ground that their kid won’t fall.
1st choice:silver
2nd choice: gold
The strangest safety advice I’ve ever received was from a person walking by on the sidewalk who said we should always cross the street with our right foot first!
purple or green
a person told me dont hold my daugter’s hand
I like the green, then blue.
I had someone recently warn me about “slide burn” at an indoor playground that has a few inflatables. This turned out to be pretty good advice — my two-year-old accidentally went down face first and got a nice red “burn” on his face. Good times as always!
Love the gold or silver one!! Didnt ever get it but someone told me about Potty Mitts – Disposable hand covers to protect from germs on the toilet for little kids! Smart but so impractical 😉
1st choice silver, 2nd choice green. One parent told me that helmets don’t help with scooter injuries. I said, “What?”
First choice blue, second green –awesome giveaway!
Not strange advice, but “solo or no-go” for playground slides (to avoid leg injuries) was new advice to me when my oldest son was a toddler.
This would be perfect for my 5 yr old! He desperately wants a cool scooter like his big brother’s! He would like green or orange (the brighter the better and safer right?!) The strangest advice I received was from an older neighbor. He said not to even bother with training wheels, to just have my son get on the bike and push him down the hill on our street. He insisted that after a few crashes, he would get it. btw, he’s also the same one that tried to tell my oldest that when riding a bike or scooter he shouldn’t be riding on the sidewalk, he should always ride on the street. The sidewalk is for walkers!
#1 Purple #2 Green
My dad always said, “If you’re falling, tuck and roll!” I was infatuated with Wonder Woman and figured if I made power bracelets out of tin foil I would be pretty much invincible. Ha.
Purple or pink
Someone told me once that there was a study that proved people driving cars are somehow attracted to (or maybe it was distracted by) safety helmets. I think I’ll take my chances…and stick with the helmets.
Would love red (1st choice)or silver (2nd choice)!
Weirdest safety advice: I was once told, “If you think you are going to fall or crash…go limp and you won’t be hurt as badly.”
Huh? Wha?!?!?!
Um, the limited edition green metallic scooter please? That is amazing .Second choice, in coral.
The craziest safety advice I’ve ever gotten was from a Drive Thru employee at a local fast food chain: my family and I were trying to walk through right before they closed and he told us, “Sorry, we don’t take orders on foot.” 🙂 Dangerous when no cars are involved I suppose?
Blue or silver please!
My MIL said to “take his helmet off so he can see better”. Seriously???? I think we need a smaller helmet!
1. orange
2. green
I once had an old lady scream at me that I was a terrible mother because I pushed the stroller across the street against the light. Seriously – I was at the crosswalk, no traffic anywhere visible…the baby was sleeping, he wouldn’t even see my bad example! Oh well.
Would love a Micro scooter for my youngest who pitches a fit, throws herself on the ground shaking and crying when she sees her big sister riding her scooter.
1st choice: purple, 2nd choice: pink
I haven’t received any bad safety advice, but I thought it was weird when someone yelled at me for calling them during a lightning storm. Turns out though, it was good advice – on average, one person is killed a year by getting struck by lightning while talking on the phone. nuts.
1. Bronze 2. Sliver
This just popped into my head: at a nature class, the volunteer told my then-3 year old that it was ok to pet bumblebees. She was not able to discern a bumble bee from a yellow jacket, though!
1- red
2- blue
When I was pregnant with my first a person I work with told me that a family friend was paralyzed from an epidural…. As if I was already not scared enough;)
what rad scooters! i would choose orange first, green second.
with newborn in car seat on my arm, i had a stranger come up to me with a lot of concern about my baby being bounced a bit as i walked… i had to re-assure her that it was okay for the baby to bounce and rock a bit while strapped in.
Silver or green (any color really!)
I was once told that everyone would be safer if they rode in vehicles backwards (like infants do). Hmm…that may make it a bit difficult to see where you’re going.
Oooh my first color choice is Black and second is Blue (not very adventurous, huh?!)
I’ve heard that children can break their legs if their foot gets stuck in the side of a slide. I’m sure it could happen, but I always watch my son when he’s playing on a slide, you know, *just in case*
#1 Red (Spiderman-ish!)
#2 Blue
Don’t take bath/shower during a storm. Especially with candles. (Really? I thought that was a staple for relaxing bathtime!)
The blue, or the green would be awesome!
Best safety advice- have your child touch the gas cap on your car until ready to walk away from car- keeps him outta traffic and it has saved us from any squashed fingers too!
Red!! The weirdest saftey tip i ever got was to not take my babies out too early in the morning because dew would cause breathing problems.
love the silver!
“don’t make the carseat straps tight because baby will be uncomfortable!” ok, because loose straps are totally safe.
1st Choice: Bronze
2nd Choice: Orange
From my own son’s active little mind: “You should always wear your helmet with your scooter because if you fall it could really hurt your body and your brains might leak out. Actually, your brains will fall out of your body.” Let’s hope not!
I like green and orange equally.
A seller at my local growers’ market warned me to NEVER feed my kids raw fruits or veggies. “Always cook them THOROUGHLY or your kids will DIE.” All my kids were with me and my oldest, age 9, turned to me and said, “So you’ve been trying to kill us all these years??” Yes, and the authorities never would have realized it was the carrot sticks and apple slices that did it…
First choice pink, second would be purple.
I haven’t received any strange safety advice.
1. Green
2. Gold
When riding your bike, if you can’t stop, try to jump off into a “soft” spot.
Green or blue
Strangest advice was to make sure never to overdress the baby, god forbid they get cold – they’ll catch a cold.
Green or blue!
My best advice for toddlers is to yell “car” whenever a car is coming… And then have them run in the Grass until it passes… Give them the fear of cars!
Bronze, red
My mom always says ‘you never wore helmets and you turned out fine’. Which is terrible rationale.
Red or silver.
Strangest advice: I work as a physical therapist, and when I was pregnant with my son, I don’t know how many older woman told me that I was going to hurt the baby by working until my due date. It cracks me up that they used to think that pregnant women shouldn’t do any activity!
The black color is my favorite and silver is my second choice. The weirdest safety advice I’ve ever heard was swerve my bike when going down hill to keep speed down. I lost control and crashed!
The limited edition metallic purple is my first choice and the regular pink is my second!
Advice: Never wear flip flops. Too bad I didn’t listen and broke my foot : (…
1st blue
2nd red
Someone told me when I was little don’t step on a crack or you will break your mothers back. I spent most of my childhood avoiding cracks and I sometime still do.
#1 red
#2 green
Someone once snatched a fiber one granola bar out of my kids hand b/c they said it would hurt her stomach.
Purple or pink would be amazing!
#1 purple
#2 green
Someone tried to stop my daughter from doing the monkey bars- She said it was “too dangerous”. My daughter kindly looked at her then me and continued to do the bars- just like she does everyday 😉
Red, pink. Daughter was told if she falls off her bike,to let go of the bike.
Silver or gold.
That using someone else’s helmet was a good idea
The green is great and would match my son’s helmet. I play roller derby so I’m very “safety first” about all our adventures and sports. I think the most surprising safety tidbit I’ve heard is that kids need concussion baseline testing before sports. I personally think that is critical to our kids’ long-term health and I’m so excited about it.
1: purple!
2: green!
To drag your foot to help you slow down? Hello, newly open-toed shoes!
Red! It’s not really safety advice, but my son’s preschool teacher told us that we should turn his car seat to forward-facing so he could climb into his car seat and have more leg room. And that all the other kids are forward-facing. I just told her that it’s safer for him to be rear-facing for as long as possible.
1st choice: purple
2nd choice: blue or green
The strangest advice that I’ve ever received was to try and not tense up right before an impact/crash of any kind because I would sustain more injuries that way. It’s a little difficult to follow that advice, but supposedly there’s some truth to that.
#1 Silver
#2 Gold
My kids thought I was giving bonkers advice when I wanted them to test ride a bike before purchasing it. They would not test it because I did not have a helmet on hand for them to wear.
We would love the 1.Purple then 2. Coral.
Safety advice – before crossing the street look right, left, then right again! Then cross 🙂
I’d choose the green as first choice, and blue for second.
No real advice was given to our toddler except to always wear the helmet even while running
purple.
silver
1st choice: pink!
2nd choice: purple!
Best safety advice: leave plenty of following room between you and the car ahead of you.
We *LOVE* our mini micro scooter, but alas my daughter is about to turn 7 and needs a bigger size! She’d love a PINK or PURPLE maxi.
The weirdest safety advice: “You don’t need a helmet for a scooter, just for a bike.” Say wha….????
We like Black (second choice Red or Purple) – Hard to say the strangest advice given – But there’s the 3 second rule while driving to use a landmark and it should take at least 3 seconds before you reach the same thing for a safe distance.
#1 green
#2 blue
A friend recently told me not to use sun screen with any chemicals that it causes cancer. I guess we are screwed either way.
First choice – Purple Metallic
Second choice – Silver
Strangest Advice – Not to let kids play outside when it’s raining or cold.
I love the green so it can be gender neutral! My weirdest advice is to always wear socks because I have a uterus. 😀
Purple or pink
that it was ok for a toddler to wear a sunhat at the beach and not a sunshirt….hmm, so we protect their HAIR, but not their skin? color me confused at that advice!
We love the red or silver. The oddest and possibly worst safety precautions I was ever privy to was my brother duct taping pillows to every part of my body as he kicked me in the head while saying “a red Ryder bb gun? You’ll shoot your eye out kid” and I tumbled down the basement stairs. I do not recommend this to ANYONE. good luck everyone.
Purple is the first color choice followed by Pink!! The strongest safety advices I ever got was to Listen!
We are a visual society. But our listening skills really need fine tuning and can save you life you must listen to your surroundings, cars, trucks, busses, yelling, laughing, and crying. Just listen as well as look and your basic safety is covered.
Love the purple and silver.
Strange safety advice –
Not “safety” per se – more like “non-Safety!”. Right after my first child was born, a co-worker advised that when Baby cried during the night, I should put her crib (with her in it!) out on my deck (!!) overnight — the night air would help her sleep through the night, and I would sleep better because I wouldn’t hear her crying. Ummm, No.
My first choice would be purple, second silver! I am still taking the cut up your kids hot dog safety advice seriously. Still prefer to cut it and my kids are 11, 9 and 6!
Green or blue! I was once told to have my kids chew on an onion while they slept to keep the demons away. Um…
#1 red
#2 green
People think I’m nuts every time I tell them that my boys aren’t allowed to wear crocs or flip flops due to safety concerns. After 10+ years of watching kids play outside while working in child care, I am adamant that nothing good happens while wearing them!
Orange, Purple
Watch where you are going, or look straight ahead!
Great advice from grandma when my daughter was learning to ride her bike without training wheels. It was amazing how quickly she would look away from where she was going and cause herself to fall or crash into something. This simple advice should come in handy when she gets her learners permit years from now! 🙂
The red color is awesome! Second choice would be silver. My over protective mom always said “just don’t do it and you won’t get hurt.” To this day I’m still uncoordinated and can barely ride a bike! I’ve also heard “if you can do it sand, you can do it on land.” Cuz everyone wants to ride a scooter on sand. lol
my fav color is gold. then would come silver. !!
strangest advice from someone was “watch out for the crows. they remember your face.”
#1 Green; #2 Purple
Based off our recent experience with our youngest breaking her arm while riding a scooter… make sure that the surface you are driving on is even. Sidewalks that are old or have a lot of trees growing under them make for lots of trip hazards.
#1 Red #2 Blue
The weirdest advice we’ve recieved was to not sit under near the AC vent when feeding your baby because they will be too cold to eat. We lived in the Palm Springs area where temps are over 100 every day!
The colors are all awesome and my boys would love any of them. I would say first choice gold, second choice silver.
I was once told that because I am so tall, I should always duck under doorways even if they seem tall enough. I am 6′ tall, not 8′. It made me really self conscious at the time.
1. Silver
2. Blue
It’s not really advice exactly, but I keep hearing things like “When I was a kid, we didn’t wear helmets or sit in booster seats and we survived.” Maybe that’s true, but it doesn’t mean it’s a good idea!
Red or black
“It’s better to lose one minute in life, rather then a life in one minute.
All the colors are great… but I guess red or green.
Hm, my mom always gives strange baby safety advice. Like how I shouldn’t leave the house for a month after giving birth.
The pink is my favorite and purple is a close second!
The strangest safety advice I ever got was to not fall asleep with the fan blowing on your face because it can cause death.
1. Orange
2. Blue
Best safety advice: go to your nearest car seat safety check to make sure it has been installed correctly.
I like orange, or blue.
I tell my daughter she has to wear tennis shoes. Can’t think of any strange safety advice.
I would love a silver scooter with pink as a backup.
I’ve seen a lot of kids in public places with their parents phone numbers written in permanent marker on their arm. In case they get lost.
I don’t remember the explanations given but do remember being told my baby should always face out in a carrier one day and then hearing the exact opposite “advice” by a different stranger the next day. I learned very quickly to not give unsolicited advice after being the recipient a few times.
Our colour choices would be silver or orange. Thanks for chance to win!
I’d love the green or orange! “Whatever you do, protect the face”
I like it in gold or silver.
As for advice, after I fell off my bike and broke my arm as a kid, mom my insisted I get back on the bike so I wouldn’t be afraid. A week later I fell again (since I only had one arm to hold the handle bars) and broke my other arm. It was a difficult summer to say the least.
#1 green #2 silver
I was standing under the tree in our front yard as my son climbed and a man driving by in his car slowed down and yelled to my son to get out of the tree. Not sure if he was concerned about the tree or my son. I just laughed at him and then told my son to keep climbing.
#1 Blue, #2 Green My son would love to be able to get one of these. Thank you for all your wonderful ideas and this is just the best website for Mom’s!
1st choice: blue; 2nd choice: green
I haven’t gotten any strange safety advice yet (knock on wood!)
#1 Purple, #2 Pink for my two girls!
The strangest advice I’ve gotten is that if you are relaxed when you are going to fall off of a bike, you won’t get hurt as badly.
1st choice: orange
2nd choice: bronze
No strange advice, but we always tell our kiddo to aim for a grassy patch to come to a stop completely and quickly.
Silver is awesome. Blue, too.
I’ve also heard the “go limp” before a crash advice. The person was adamant that it’s why the drunk driver lives but others in the crash lose their lives. Ummm, what? Bizarre on so many levels.
1> orange
2> black
Best advice? If you can’t stop, fall and roll. Others have said go limp and it’s the same philosophy. Hard to teach kids that but we work it on the grass and sand and mine have used it once or twice when they lose their footing on bikes or scooters.
1. silver
2. blue
No strange advice, but we really enforce the wear your helmet rule.
#1.Silver #2. Red
Have your hands out during a fall so you can stop yourself from a face-plant.
My sons bday is next week and I was just thinking of buying him one of these! His fave color is red, then blue. The advice I got was to dress your child head to toe in one color, bright or fluorescent. So you Can spot them easily!
First choice: silver
Second choice: bronze
I can’t think of any strange safety advice I’ve been given. But when I took motorcycle training, I was asked to leave the class–by the local motor patrol officers, no less (who happened to be teaching the class as a side job)–because I was and I quote, “a danger to [my]self and others.” 🙂
Colors: red or black
Strangest advice: wait an hour after eating to go swimming. C’mon, who didn’t hear this as a kid?
My first choice would be the black and my second the gray.
I honestly haven’t received and strange advice.
1 – Purple
2 – Green
I can’t think of any strange advice I have received, but once I saw a kid playing on the sidewalk with a helmet and they didn’t have a bike, scooter or anything with them. It made me wonder if perhaps their parents made them wear a helmet to play on the sidewalk as well!?
First choice purple and second choice silver.
The most ridiculous advice “there weren’t helmets when I grew up, and I ended up fine”.
1: Black
2: Bronze
Safety tidbit: keep your dryer door closed especially when the kids play hide ‘n seek as they’ll get stuck in there (and die) because you won’t find them (yes, because I’m not participating and NEVER dry clothes *lol*) although I did have one kid who OPENED (by herself) and climbed in for the fun of it (I never dropped her but sometimes I wonder if her dad did LOL kidding)
Color choices are red & orange as a backup!
I was told by someone to only let my son play with certain kinds of paper, to avoid paper cuts! Insane!
Blue
Green
I got an email distribution at work about not letting your dog sit in you lap while driving . . . the weirdest part of the email was not about how the dog would get in the way of your driving or that it might be a distraction, but that it might jump out the window!
black or orange.
I was once told to never drink too cold of water because it can make you choke.
#1 Green
#2 Bronze
The most surprising thing I came across was the large number of injuries/ER visits due to kids having accidents (running into things, falling down stairs, etc) while walking and drinking out of a sippy cup at the same time. I became the crazy lady always telling my kids to stand still while using their sippy cup!