Introduction
As the weather gets warmer, more children and families will spend time outside riding bikes. Riding bikes is a great way to exercise and a great activity to do as a family. Most of us have fond memories of receiving our first bike, and the independence and fun it gave us. Your family can help other children locally and globally by recycling your bikes and/or staging a neighborhood bike rodeo for fun and to share tips on bicycle safety.
FamilyCares Bike Roundup -- Recycling Bicycles
Check to see if there is a bicycle recycling organization in your area. Some programs, like Bikes for Kids in Connecticut , trains kids to fix bikes, which are then donated to children in need. The benefits go beyond the recipient. As the International Bicycle Fund states, “Bicycle-recycling programs teach young people a vocation, personal management, and business management. They …teach the participants a skill and give them self-esteem, and they also create healthy habits by promoting bicycling and diverting good bicycles from the land fill and are often a venue for very positive intergenerational activities.” Your family can give your bikes another life and encourage other families to do the same.
Materials Needed:
Materials will depend upon the scope of your project. If you want to gather more bikes from your neighborhood- you will need to make flyers and/or posters.
Steps Involved:
Check to see if there is a group in your area that recycles and repairs bicycles to give to children and adults in need. Yes, adults! Some adults use a bicycle to get to and from work. Some groups send bikes overseas to developing nations. Other groups give to children in foster care, or raise funds to buy special bikes for children who are physically challenged.
If there aren't any groups in your area consider these organizations:
The International Bicycle Fund is an excellent resource and has an extensive list of youth bicycle programs listed by state. Website: www.Ibike.org
Pedals for Progress retools bikes for desperately poor developing countries. For example, in Africa less than 1% of the population own cars. Most of Africa cannot afford highway construction and maintenance, imported oil or cars. Food production, health care and education are limited by a lack of transportation. Your old bicycle could be the main means of transportation for doctors, teachers and other adults. A bicycle raises the living standard in these countries where transportation is difficult or non-existing.
Website: www.p4p.org
Recycle-a-Bicycle (RAB):
Offers bicycle maintenance and repair workshops to youth between the ages of 10 - 18. They offer kids the opportunity to participate in a sweat-equity "Earn-A-Bike" program, in which extra work in the shop is credited toward acquisition of a bicycle. The majority of the bikes not earned by children are donated to community organizations. RAB endeavors to return cast-off bicycles to the streets in good working order and to improve the mobility of disadvantaged clients.
Website: www.recycleabicycle.org
If you decide to open up your bike roundup to the neighborhood, you will have to decide where the bikes should be dropped off. If brought to your house or to the “Rodeo” the bikes will have to be transported to the receiving organization. A Bike Rodeo would be a fun event to stage at the same time as the Bicycle Roundup. Your family can advocate for bike safety by creating your own bike safety tips flyer or by printing out a FamilyCares Bike Safety Tip Flyer and distributing them to participants.
Materials Needed:
- Measuring tape or yard stick
- Chalk or tape
- Cones
- Clipboard
- Road Signs (i.e. Stop Sign, Caution Sign, etc.)
- Score Sheet and Pencils
- Stopwatch
- FamilyCares Bike Safety Tip Flyer
Steps Involved:
- The Bike Rodeo would probably work best if you join with other families. Check out the Bike Rodeo Event Ideas .
- Get necessary approval from a local school or church parking lot to hold your bike rodeo.
- Have a family discussion about how you could set up your rodeo, make traffic signs and review bike safety tips. FamilyCares Bike Rodeo Bike Safety Tip Flyer .
- Plan your course of action.
- Give your children meaningful and age appropriate responsibilities
- Make flyers with safety tips or print project tip sheet to distribute to participants.
- Provide water for the participants.
- Review the games with participants. Distribute flyers with safety tips.
- Make sure everyone rides with a helmet. See FamilyCares Helmet Safety Tips .
- Let the rodeo begin!
Family Cares Bicycle Roundup & Rodeo Resources:
