By Mayoor Patel

Not every child will have this problem, of course, but its a pretty good bet that if its the first time a child has had a motorized riding toy, its going to scare him at first. While you and I might not think of a childs riding toy as particularly powerful, think about it from the point of view of the child for a moment. This vehicle is moving forward on some power other than his; it isnt as easy for a young child to connect let off on the accelerator with stop as it is for him to connect stop pushing this scooter with stop, for instance. If a child gets into a motorized toy without knowing exactly what it will do, how to make it do it, and how to make it stop doing it, the child is going to feel that the toy is out of control (even if its only out of control at two miles an hour and youre right there with him), and hes going to be a little frightened.

The best cure, of course, is prevention; take the time to explain to him what it will do, how to make it go, how to make it stop, what kind of noise it will make, how fast it will go, et cetera. You may wish to have the child sit in the passenger seat and use your hand to press the accelerator to begin with, until they can see how pushing down makes it go and letting off makes it stop. If you could somehow drive it the first time and have the child in the passenger seat watching you, that would be best, but unfortunately, that isnt really possible.

If the child has already tried to ride it on their own, though, and been so scared that they wont touch it, it will probably take time to get them used to it so that they feel comfortable enough to try again. Encourage the child to just sit in the toy without moving at all; have them make motor sounds and perhaps turn the steering wheel. Next, have them sit in the toy while you push it. Again, have them make motor noises (and make them with them if you possibly can) and turn the steering wheel. Demonstrate, first with them watching from the sidelines and later with them in the passenger seat, how pushing the accelerator makes it go and letting off makes it stop. And above all, be patient with them. Eventually, in their own good time, the child will feel comfortable enough with the toy to want to try it on his own. And once he does, its a good bet that he wont stop.

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