[AD – This blog post contains affiliate links. Micro Scooter sent me a scooter to review and all views are my own.]
Every weekend, when we visit the local park, I can’t believe how many scooters we see. They’re everywhere! Our park even has a couple of little scooter stands where kids can park their scooters while they play. When our daughter turned two, we suggested to one set of grandparents that they might want to get her a scooter as a birthday present. Because I’m nice (*cough* a control freak) I did a bit of research. The choice? We could either go for the brand-du-jour Micro Scooter or a much (much) cheaper alternative. Rather than suggest to my in-laws that they spend loads on a present, I sent them a link to the £20 My First Scooter, which they bought. It looked sturdy and the ability to start with four wheels, and reduce to three wheels, then two, as the child gets older, appealed to me.
Fast forward six months, and the toddler loves her My First Scooter. She’s gained confidence and has really picked up the knack of ‘keeping-one-foot-still-and-the-other-foot-moving’ (not easy for a toddler!) But I often find myself looking wistfully at the Micro Scooters used by other kids in the park, and wondering if we made the right choice. I’m also a sucker for buying whatever is popular, and didn’t want her to feel left out that her scooter was different (I know. I KNOW!)
In the last couple of months, we’ve had the chance to roadtest a Mini Micro Scooter, and decide whether we were right to plump for the cheaper scooter or not…
What I love about the Mini Micro Scooter
The size of the range – you can get so many colours and customise your scooter with lights, bells, bags, dinosaurs, rainbows and bottle holders. Our neon orange version looks SO COOL. I also love how light it is – they’re designed so that children can lift them and carry them. Great if they get bored of scooting.
What I don’t love about the Mini Micro Scooter
The steering mechanism. Unlike the My First Scooter (which has a steering mechanism like a bike), the Mini Micro Scooter turns when the child leans in the direction they want to go in. But we didn’t realise this, and the scooter came with no instructions, so when it arrived, and the toddler tried it out, she found she couldn’t steer. We faffed around for a while until we eventually worked it out, but the uncertainty put her off using the scooter for a few weeks, despite our encouragement. She still hasn’t mastered the steering, and prefers to walk along, wheeling the scooter alongside her. The lack of instructions is a problem, not only because we had no heads-up on the steering, but also because apparently the scooter also has a brake (I only know this because a fellow blogger mention this to me in the pub one night.) I still haven’t worked out where the brake is or how you activate it. Instructions would help!
To be fair to Micro Scooter here, the Mini Micro Scooter is labelled as being suitable for ages 3-6, so perhaps they don’t expect a two-and-a-half year old to be able to steer it.
But, for now, we’re back to using the My First Scooter. We encourage her to try her Micro Scooter whenever we go out to the park – and hopefully, she’ll get the hang of the steering soon (after all, I do see kids her age and younger whiz along merrily on Micro Scooters, so it must be possible). I really want her to get the hang of it, because her Micro Scooter looks SO COOL. And I love stuff that looks cool.
UPDATE (August 2014): The now nearly four-year-old asked today if she could use her Micro Scooter and we took it to pre-school. I explained to her how the steering worked and shouted “blue!” or “pink!” at her (the colours of the handles) every time she needed to lean one way to avoid a wall/car/tree. She got pretty frustrated five minutes in and demanded we swap the scooter for her pink one (the £20 one) but I encouraged her to persevere and we got to her pre-school. I think this is what they call a breakthrough…
UPDATE 2 (January 2016): She’s five now and LOVES her Mini Micro Scooter. She has totally mastered the steering and whizzes along merrily. Honestly? I think 2 and a half was just too young to try her on it, so I recommend you wait til your child is three before you buy one. As a parent, I LOVE her Mini Micro – it’s so easy to pick up and carry, when she decides she wants to walk.
UPDATE 3 (April 2021): The toddler is now 10-years-old and after mastering her Mini Micro Scooter, we bought her a Micro Scooter Maxi which she loved using for years. So handy for getting her to school and back when we’re in a hurry. She’s recently progressed onto this Rockboard Scooter which is a lot of fun. She now has two-year-old twin sisters, and I’ll be buying them a Mini Micro Scooter when they turn three.
So I guess, to answer my original question, eight years ago: Are Micro Scooters Really Worth The Money? YES! (But don’t expect a two-year-old to get the hang of it – or buy them the 3-in-1 ride on Mini Micro Scooter which is designed for toddlers up to age 5.) Happy scooting!
We adore our micro scooter!! Isaac had a three wheeled one (two wheels at the back) and really struggled with it as he kept catching his heels.
One of my mindees has a micro scooter and was super fast and so confident it made me invest in one and after having it just three weeks we are in love and saving to get one for his little sister.
Yes, it took a long scoot down the beach to get the hang of the steering but now he’s got it he is zooming off. The brake was obvious to me, but then I have older kids and they have scooters with brakes in the same position, however Isaac still prefers to use his feet scraping along the floor to stop. It is a feature that will take time to get the hang of and from experience even teaching them to use brakes on bikes is a challenge!
I adore the accessories and we pimped outs straight away and am planning on some more bits for his stocking at Christmas.
Eliza has tries the mini micro but at two needs the smaller one which is more pricey as comes with two handles – I think it’s worth it though!!
Author
I think we should have tried the version for 1-3 year olds but having used her My First Scooter successfully since she turned 2, it didn’t occur to me that a Micro Scooter would be harder to steer than the one we had.
We will keep trying!!! 🙂
We are massive fans of the Mini Micro Scooter! Princess got a standard Disney scooter for her birthday a. Purple of years ago (when she turned three) and couldn’t steer or move particularly well on it. I swapped it for a Mini Micro Scooter and within a couple of days she was whizzing around like a pro! The steering seemed much more intuitive than a regular scooter as they just lean into it rather than having to use their tiny arm strength. Also they are so light and with the aid of the detachable pull strap you can order it’s easy for me to carry home from school. Lol yeah I’m a total mini micro fan!
Author
The detachable straps look great – I love all the cool accessories you can get for a Micro Scooter. It just seems surprising that they don’t come with instructions that tell you basics like how to steer and brake.
Another micro scooter fan here. Though it took my slightly nervous son a while to get used to it, he now whizzes everywhere on it, and it has really worked wonders for the pre school run. His friend has a cheaper copy with the same steering mechanism and brake, however it runs much less smoothly and he is always asking to try out my son’s mini micro. Little sister is just 2 and has mastered the steering, hence us buying the micro maxi for our son’s birthday next week (using a discount at jojo maman bebe on at the moment!). I really can’t recommend this product enough, plus I think it has helped my son to master his balance bike faster… Also think the steering and braking really intuitive, can’t see you would need instructions, but there are videos of kids on them on the website for those who need to see them in action.
Author
I guess what is intuitive for one person isn’t necessarily so for another! Because the My First Scooter steers like a bike (and like all the scooters we grew up with), it wouldn’t even have occurred to me that a scooter would steer in a different way. And videos on websites are all well & good but try saying to an excited toddler “hang on darling, Mummy just needs to fire up the laptop, and look for an instructional video before you try out your new toy!”
Don’t get me wrong, we worked out how to steer after a few minutes but because our toddler saw us confused and trying to fathom how to steer the scooter, it knocked the confidence out of her – such a shame.
This comment is rude, and should be removed. It’s useless and insulting and doesn’t belong on a lovely blog like this.
Author
Hi, it was a spam comment, linking to an insurance site so I’ve deleted it 🙂
We love ours too. Out of all the toys we’ve bought over the last five years, the micro scooters are probably the best buys and the things we have got the most use out of.
That said, thinking back, we got them the Christmas before their third birthday and it was a good few months before they came into their own.
So could be worth persevering!
Author
We will, Louise. The message I seem to be getting from lots of parents is that kids do need to be older to use the Mini Micro Scooter with ease, compared with other brands. I’m so keen for Grace to crack it!
My daughter was bought a micro scooter for her first birthday, the kind that started off with a seat attached, and she’s been slowly getting used to the whole thing for about 6 months. She mostly loves just wheeling it around the house but has tried scooting very, very slowly along!
Can’t wait to get her outside on it!
Hello there,
Our son had micro mini since he’s 2nd b-day. It took him four days to figure out the steering and it took us another three weeks to discover the break! So YES instructions would come handy but it didn’t stopped him in mastering it in a week time…
The steering used here we find better because it teaches balance uses more muscle groups and promotes good posture. It prepares kids for surfing,snowboarding and it’s fun! We switched to maxi version this morning! All in all for us this was a money well spent.
Thanks for the review. I googled “What’s so special about Micro Scooters” and up you came!
My girls (4 &6) both have normal (and cheap!) scooters but like you I do rather like them to have the ”in’ thing if possible – I don’t want them to feel different. Perhaps Father Christmas might push the boat out this year and save up!
Author
Oh yay! I’m so glad this helped you, Beccy 🙂
Another thing to factor in is that although they are pricey, the resale value is pretty good. I just sold my son’s mini-micro (the blue one, bought from John Lewis 5yrs ago for £50 or so) for £36 on eBay – I wish my car had that kind of depreciation!
Author
Yes, really good point. Most kids’ stuff holds its value and can be sold on for a decent price.
I assume ti depends on your child but all three of my children just got on their scooters and seemed to ‘get it’. We didn’t even try to show them ‘how’ to ride or steer.
They had seen other kids with them, so perhaps they absorbed what they saw.
One of our boys has [mild] left-sided Cerebral Palsy but that hasn’t hinmdered him save he can’t go as quickly as his siblings.
We were able to persuade him to scoot with his ‘grumpy’ leg as well, so enamoured was he of the scooter. This helped strengthening of his left leg. It takes stress off his right leg and improves the operation of the left side.
Perhaps being a ‘control freak’ [your words] isn’t good. Sometimes best just let them work it out themselves. Ours were up and running in seconds with no input from us.
they soon learned how to operate the brake, though often also use the toes of their shoes [argh!] or the flats if I shout at them for scuffing!
Author
Great that your kids mastered it themselves – you don’t say how old they were, but presume they might have been older than 2.5?
Oh and btw I’m a control freak when it comes to helping my in-laws select presents, not when it comes to parenting 🙂
I have had both scooters and really think the micro scooter is worth the extra. My youngest daughter has just mastered hers at 2 years 2 months but her sister took a while to get the hang of hers at 3.
Author
We keep suggesting our LO tries the Micro again (she’s 3.5 now) but she’s not keen!
I love micro scooters, they’re so fun 🙂
I was online looking to buy another micro mini scooter and stumbled across this blog. I couldn’t help but read it all, truly enjoyed it. I am a big micro mini fan as well. My son has had his since he was 2 but it took him a while to get his confidence in it (too steep a climb outside our old place). He is almost 5 now and doesn’t go anywhere without it, it even comes on holiday with us as its light and comes apart easily. My daughter will be two in a month and has just figured out the scooter for herself and will definitely be getting one for her birthday.
We are huge fans of micro in this house. My 4 year old had a mini and now has moved onto a maxi and my 3 year old has had her mini since she was 1 but now prefers to use her sisters maxi. Maybe it is because your daughter has got used to another type of scooter that she is struggling? My two both mastered the technique when they were 2 but it did take a fair few goes. Now I do not know what I would do without our micros we use them daily for the school run. I thought the brake was pretty obvious but that’s just me. But like most it seems they prefer to use their feet anyway! I would definitely persevere. I’m sure once she ‘gets’ it there will be no stopping her!
We’re currently looking at the same two scooters for our daughter who’s two, 6 weeks before Christmas
Our older 2 children have Y-flicker scooters and never had any micro scooters. I tend to steer away from having what every other child has and so do the older children hence them choosing the y flicker over the micro scooter a few years back but seemingly lots of friends now choosing the y flicker over the micro so thinking are the micro scooter loosing their appeal?
My son got his micro scooter shortly before turning 3, loved stroking it and walking with it, but didn’t get the hang of scooting, partly because he was too short.
He only really mastered it when he started school ages nearly 5, copying friends. At this point it came into its own as we walk 1.5 miles to school, as do many other kids. By Christmas it was noticeable that many of the cheaper scooters had broken as they couldn’t cope with prolonged abuse from five and six year olds, and many micros arrived after Xmas, still going strong a couple years later and being passed down to younger siblings.
If you just want a scooter for a bit of fun in the park or on a short walk, a cheap one is probably fine, but if you want it to go a couple miles every day, micros are worth it.
I got my sons micro scooter 4 months ago and he will not use it! He got used to the cheaper ones first and wants to go back to that one. I’ve even tried the scoot and pull and while using that he manages. He’s 3 now and while he was using his old scooter it was so much easier to do the school run whereas now he refuses to walk and I refuse to get the double buggy out ( I have a 19 month old too) I will be getting my younger daughter the one for her age so that she can get used to it. Life is so much easier with scooters!
My son is 5 and refuses to use a 2 wheel scooter, everytime he lifts it up it swings round and hits him in the shins, I’ve thrown out his rusty 3 wheel Thomas scooter to try and encourage him to learn but he hates it.
I’m thinking of buying a micro scooter as it’s just not cool to have a “baby scooter” (his words) but I’m anxious due to the price will he be able to do it?
My boy got his micro when he was 18months old. He managed to understand (with a bit of my help) how to steer and within 2 weeks he was riding by himself very nicely. Winter came…he got back on it, it took him 1-2 days to get back to where he was and at 2y2m, he rides very well, can break and steer easily whenever he want or need.
All kids are different, some will get it sooner, others later, but I consider the sterring mechanism safe and easy to use, once you understand it. It is actually very natural, like a skateboard.
We are looking to buy a mini micro scooter for our two years old, but there is the regular and then there is the deluxe (adjustable one) and also the 3 in 1 option (from seat and ‘O’ bar) , could someone please give me some pointer which one to go for?
many thanks in advance!
Hiya. Thanks for the review. I found this article whilst googling Micro Scooters (yay the system works) despite already being an avid twitter follower. Particularly like the staggered time delayed updates. Great idea.
We found it tool our little one 2y9m now about 3-4 months to master it after he turned 2.
But now he doesn’t go anywhere without it!!