Best kids’ bike helmets 2025: Safe helmets that children will actually want to wear

Learning to ride a bike is one the key landmarks in childhood. Regardless of whether your child is a natural on two wheels, wobbling on a balance bike, or just scooting to school—the best kids' bike helmets will keep your child safe as they learn to ride.

As a parent and lifelong cyclist, few things are more rewarding than watching my son discover the joy of riding bikes. Over the years, we've tested countless kids' helmets, whether my son was riding in a bike trailer or racing around on one of the best kids' bikes. And while your child's interests may shift from road bikes to BMX or from scootering to skateboarding, safety will always be a priority.

My son has always worn a helmet on every ride. Making that a reality has meant finding helmets that weren't a punishment to wear. Just like choosing the best road bike helmet and the best gravel bike helmet for yourself, the right kids' helmet needs to be comfortable, well-fitting, and durable enough to handle real-life use. Of course, style matters too and your child is far more likely to wear a helmet that looks good too.

With that in mind, our top picks for this guide cover a range of categories such as Bern Nino 2.0 MIPS for cold weather, the Fox Racing Youth Mainframe for mountain biking, and the Nutcase Little Nutty for standout style.

If you're still struggling to narrow down the best kids' helmet for your child's needs, check out the How to Choose and Everything You Need To Know sections at the bottom of the page for further guidance. 

Quick list: Best kids’ bike helmets 2025

Best kids’ bike helmets 2025

Best overall

One challenge with skate-style helmets is the weight and lack of ventilation. With the Nino 2.0 Bern has taken a look at exactly those issues. You can still expect the greater coverage of a skate-style helmet but they've lightened it and there is more venting than some of the competitors. 

Part of that drive for a light and durable helmet is something Bern calls. Zip Mold+ foam technology. The outer layer of the helmet uses a durable PVC that’s tough enough to minimise its weight. Inside of that is a proprietary Zip Mold+ liquid-injected foam that allows the brand to use just enough foam and not more. The effect is a helmet that’s both tough enough for everyday bumps when off the head as well as light enough to remain safe and comfortable on the head. 

The feature that really sets the Bern Nino apart though is the accessories available. Specifically, Bern offers a cold weather liner that allows kids to stay warm while riding when it’s chilly. You could use a hat in any helmet but this way the fit isn’t compromised and it’s one less thing to worry about keeping track of. What would be really nice is if Bern also added a magnetic buckle to the mix, as standard buckles can be difficult for kids and require adults to take care not to pinch any skin. 

Best Value

Fox Racing is one of the biggest and best-known brands in mountain biking. The brand offers a wide range of products for mountain biking including helmets. Among those offerings is the Speedframe as a general-purpose mountain bike helmet. To make sure kids are covered with the same great quality, the Fox Racing Youth Mainframe takes the same iconic design of the Speedframe and sizes it down.  

Adult or kid, helmets designed for use on a mountain bike have a couple of differences. Like skate-style helmets, they come down a bit farther in the back and on the sides. They also use a much bigger visor to help shield the sun as you sit more upright on a mountain bike. On top of functional reasons, there's some amount of style involved as well. The Fox Youth Mainframe MIPS brings those advantages to a kid in a helmet that at 337 grams feels quite light and certainly looks the part. 

There are some disadvantages carried over from the adult helmet as well. MIPS is a great technology to have on a helmet but MIPS technology has been updated over the years. Both the adult Speedframe and the youth Mainframe still use the older style MIPS though. For many, it won’t matter but it can catch long hair. There’s also no vertical adjustment in the rear cradle limiting overall adjustment. 

Although there are some small details that could use massaging, the Fox Racing youth Mainframe does a great job of mimicking an adult mountain bike helmet. It’s light and airy with a quality visor. If your kid is on a mountain bike this is a great option. 

Best Style

My kiddo has the opportunity to give his opinion on a lot of helmets. His general attitude is resignation and apathy. He checks them out, gives an opinion and moves on. When the Nutcase Little Nutty arrived, it was a totally different experience. He opened up the Watermelon w/MIPS and his eyes lit up. He thought it was hilarious and wanted to go for a ride right away. That helmet is gone now but the brand is constantly rotating in new styles. When it comes to helmets, fashion matters and Nutcase makes great-looking helmets that are fun to wear. 

Even with the emphasis on style though, there's plenty of safety on board. The skateboard style means extra coverage on the sides and back and while many helmets need replacement in the event of a drop Nutcase helmets hold up to kids a bit better. The thick plastic exterior means light bangs and drops don't turn a nice helmet into trash. There's also MIPS on board. Unfortunately, all that does add up to a helmet that is on the heavy side. 

When it comes to fit, the Little Nutty Youth is on the large size and works for kids who could move into an adult small. The Little Nutty in toddler size will work for smaller kids and for the smallest riders, there's also the Baby Nutty.

Best Visibility

Day or night, one of the best ways to increase visibility on a bike is with a light. I also handle our guide to the best bike lights and I’m a big proponent of putting tons of lights on everyone's bikes, especially urban bikes and bikes for kids. My son has pedals with lights and there’s normally a front and rear light on his bike. At the same time, I know all that stuff is kind of a hassle and not everyone is going to use it. Including an integrated light on a helmet makes adding visibility easy. 

The Specialized Shuffle Youth LED is a mountain bike-style helmet that addresses the need without costing a fortune. In the rear of the helmet, you will find an integrated light that turns on with only a press of the lens. It is a little tough to actually press so, at least at first, it’s probably a good idea to press it before putting the helmet on a head. 

The light isn’t the only feature worth noting either. There’s also extended side and rear coverage as well as a visor. The side straps don’t have an adjustable Y-connector which could limit adjustability but, since Specialized got them in the right spot, also means there’s no need to bother kids while you fix it for them. For older kids, who might be off on their own, the Specialized ANGi Crash Sensor is compatible with this helmet for even greater parental peace of mind. 

Just a note about sizing on this one. There is actually more than one size available but the name is different. If you need a smaller size look for the Shuffle Child LED and for the smallest size you can turn to the Mio MIPS although it does lack the integrated light of the larger two.

Best Versatility

Skate-style helmets are both a style choice and a protection choice. On one hand, the thicker outer and extended coverage that a skate-style helmet provides means more coverage and the ability to stand up to everyday abuses that kids put a helmet through. On the other hand, there’s a pure style element that some kids prefer. If both of those are what you are looking for, then the Bontrager Jet WaveCel provides.

The other thing that this Bontrager helmet provides is rotational impact protection, like what MIPS provides, but without the MIPS liner that can snag long hair. In this case, the technology in use is called WaveCel. It's a material made up of an open cell structure that looks a little like a bunch of straws held next to each other. It replaces EPS foam in the construction and it does double duty as a replacement for a slip plane technology as well. 

Bontrager also puts one of my favourite kid-specific technologies into this helmet, the magnetic buckle. You can also find the Fidlock magnetic buckle in some adult helmets but either way, it uses magnets to attach instead of a buckle. That makes it impossible to pinch the skin and very easy for hands with less strength to get open. 

The only downside to the Jet helmet is that, as with other skate-style helmets, it’s a bit heavy. 

Best for small heads

Parents know that sizing for kids is overly complicated and confusing. Actually, maybe not all parents know this but I’m sure I’m not alone. There are multiple different size scales and it can be difficult to figure out what scale we are using and when. Plus, especially in bike helmets, there seems to be a rather limited range of time you need specific kids' sizing. Bottom line, kids need bike helmets from the time they are old enough to go in a trailer all the way up when they move to adult sizing but it’s difficult to find helmets for the littlest kids. 

I wanted to make sure to include a quality helmet for the smallest kids using balance bikes or riding with an adult. Predictably though, it’s not a simple thing. The very first helmet you might need is going to be the Giro Scamp MIPS. As the name suggests there is MIPS but there’s also a pinch guard buckle and perhaps useful, there’s an integrated visor. Given that the visor is structural, it’s enough to protect the upper forehead even when they trip. There’s also a bunch of fun colour options. 

Now while the Giro Scamp MIPS starts at a 45cm head size, the Giro Dime MIPS is only a little bigger at 47cm for the XS. Both are great helmets, but the skate-style Giro Dime MIPS is likely a more usable range for most kids, plus the skate-style design should hold up better given the heavy plastic outer. You’ll have to do some measuring but for my child, the time he was actually on a bike aligned better with the slightly bigger Dime. Just be prepared to get down low and make sure you aren’t pinching your kid's neck because there’s no magnetic buckle in this helmet. 

Best for long hair

Most of the helmets on this list use MIPS. MIPS stands for Multi-directional Impact Protection System and is a technology that allows for rotation of a helmet, around the skull, in a crash. Part of the early generation of MIPS technology is a liner and not everyone loves the feel of that liner and long hair can catch in it. At the same time, MIPS is also a specific brand and there are other options. 

One of the options is what Lazer uses and it’s called Kineticore. Kineticore doesn’t use a liner but instead builds what are essentially crumple zones right into the foam of the helmet. You can’t feel them but you still get the benefit of rotational impact protection without any chance of long hair catching. 

The Lazer Nutz Kineticore and Lazer Pnut Kineticore are the Kineticore options that Lazer makes available for younger riders. Along with Kineticore the Lazer Nutz also increases rear and side coverage as well as offering eight different designs. For the adults who have to buckle helmets, Lazer has moved the placement of the buckle to the cheek to minimise pinching issues. Unfortunately, the buckle used is still a standard, non-magnetic, design. 

If your kid has long hair the Lazer Kineticore helmets are an excellent option.

How to choose

Everything you need to know

How we test?

We take testing seriously at Cyclingnews—especially when it comes to critical safety equipment such as kids' bike helmets. For this guide, we tested eight helmets across multiple months and riding conditions, including pavement, gravel, school runs, and family trail rides. Given how crowded the category is, we focused on several key criteria to carefully shortlist the best kids' bike helmets available today.

Of course, safety standards were an absolute imperative. We started by shortlisting helmets that met key safety standards such as CPSC (US) and EN 1078 (EU). While we can't crash-test the helmets ourselves, we can simulate wear and tear and durability by dropping them, storing them in bags, and exposing them to sun and rain.

We also prioritised helmets from trusted brands with a history of quality and made sure to include a mix of budget, mid-range and premium options—some with MIPS, others without—to suit a range of needs and price points.

Each helmet was assessed for true-to-size fit, how well it stayed in place during riding, comfort over longer rides, how easily a child could put it on or adjust it themselves, and general durability. We paid special attention to strap adjustment systems and dial retention mechanisms since proper fit is vital to safety.

Testing is the backbone of our tech department, and we always aim to provide reliable, unbiased advice. Check out our how we test page if you'd like further information.