IS AN EXERCISE BIKE FOR CHILDREN REALLY A GOOD IDEA?

Every so often, some new toy out of the traditional comes to market, causing opinions divided between parents. Many times we asked ourselves what the manufacturers were thinking when they decided it was a good idea. Perhaps it was a marketing mistake and they did not think deeply about the possible negative points that their new product could have or simply did not do their previous research well.

The most recent toy that is being heavily criticized is an exercise bike for children. In principle it sounds like an idea with good intentions - that the children exercise - but the fact add a tablet and that can be connected to the television while using it, you can turn it into something negative.

The new Fisher-Price proposal: Think & Learn Smart Cycle

In the recent Consumer Electronics Show held the first week of January in Las Vegas, Fisher-Price presented its new star toy: an exercise bike for children.

His name is Think & Learn Smart Cycle, and it is basically an exercise bike made to measure for children between 3 and 6 years. So far it looks like a bicycle like the ones we know. But the particular characteristic of it is that It can be connected to a tablet or TV via Bluetooth (At the moment it will only work with Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Android TV), making it a physical and digital gaming experience, according to Fisher-Price.

Through a series of educational games designed exclusively for this new bike, children pedal and drive while reinforcing their math and reading skills. The first game pack is free, and you can buy other popular cartoons to download and use with that bike.

What do parents think?

The reactions of course did not wait. On the one hand, some think it is an excellent idea. In a reality where many children spend more than the recommended time using a tablet or watching television, it is possible support to help keep them active and avoid problems like childhood obesity.

On the other hand, there are those who think just the opposite: that promotes the excessive use of tablets and television, and more than helping to solve a problem, it ends up justifying that children spend more time inside a screen, when we already know that the recommended is the shortest possible time.

On that side I agree with them, since what we should do is encourage children to play outdoors or with educational toys that keep them physically and mentally active, without being absorbed in front of a tablet.

An earlier version already existed

Now, this exercise bike is neither revolutionary nor new. Fisher-Price had presented an earlier model that was connected only to television almost 10 years ago, but I suppose that as before it was not so common that we all had a profile on networks and there was still little talk about the consequences of spending long periods using tablets or in front of television, The reviews were not so hard.

According to Jim Silver, a toy industry analyst, that first version was very popular as it encouraged children to perform physical activity at a time when childhood obesity began to be worrying.

Personally, I can't convince myself and I lean more towards the group of parents who don't think it's a good idea. My reason is as follows: Why offer a conformist solution to a problem that is truly serious? There has been much talk about what can cause children to be exposed for a long time to a game on a tablet or to a television program.

While it is increasingly difficult to limit screen times to children, this seems to me a lazy solution and an easy way out to not feel as bad as parents by allowing prolonged use of these devices.

Yes, it is not the worst in the world and probably many parents think that if their children are already going to be glued to a screen, then at least they exercise, right? But as I comment, It is not the best solution to the problem. Ideally, physical and recreational activities should be promoted outdoors.

The Think & Learn Smart Cycle bike will go on sale in the summer, priced at 143 euros ($ 150 dollars).

What do you think of this new product? Would you buy it from your children?