Anyone looking for the best kids’ bike helmet is a lover of cycling. If cycling is important to you, that's something you want to share with your kids, and in the beginning it might be balance bikes and trailers but as they grow, it's a wonderful thing to see them grow with the sport of cycling.
As they grow, they get bigger and more capable bikes, and in turn, they go farther and faster. Extend the timeline long enough and parents hope that their kids are eventually too fast for them to keep up with. As a parent, you have the opportunity to build a lifelong love for the sport of cycling when kids are young.
Part of a lifelong love of cycling is keeping kids safe on their bikes, and a large part of that comes down to choosing the right helmet. Just like an adult helmet, it should be comfortable to wear and it should fit securely, and a helmet that looks good doesn't hurt the chances of your child being happy to wear it.
We put together a list of some of the best kids' bike helmets available right now. Keep scrolling down to see our list or jump to the bottom for what you need to know when choosing.
Best kids' bike helmets
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Day or night, one of the best ways to increase visibility on a bike is with a light. A rear light integrated into a helmet makes a lot of sense for urban riding. The Specialized Shuffle Youth LED is a mountain bike style helmet that addresses the need without costing a fortune. The light is a little tough to press to turn on, so it's best turned on before putting the helmet on, but once you get the hang of it, it does the job well.
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.
My kiddo has the opportunity to give his opinion on a lot of helmets, and his general attitude is resignation and apathy. He checks them out, gives an opinion and moves on, but 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. 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.
When it comes to fit, 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.
You need a helmet at every stage of a child's life on a bike. For the very smallest toddlers, the Giro Scamp MIPS is a great option but it's only a little smaller and its biggest contribution is an integrated visor. If your child is big enough to manage the slightly bigger Giro Dime MIPS then you'll get to enjoy a longer usable age range. When it comes to the kids' sizes, the XS Dime at 47mm is one of the smallest options.
Otherwise, the Giro Dime is another skate style of helmet and that means you get extra coverage on the back and side. Like the Nutcase helmets above, a plastic outer protects the EPS liner from bumps and small drops.
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 takes the same design as the non-youth version and sizes it down. If your child is mountain biking rather than road biking, it's worth grabbing a helmet that matches the activity and that's where the Mainframe makes sense. The Specialized Shuffle above is also a mountain bike style helmet but since the Fox mimics the adult helmet, it's got a bigger visor and it’s a little bit lighter also.
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.
Using Zipmold+ foam technology allows for a thinner helmet with the same shock-absorbing ability. Thinner is lighter and that's a good thing in a helmet. The Nino 2.0 is also worth a look if your child is out in the cold on their bike. Adding a hat to a helmet can make it hard to get the fit right. Especially as kids grow fast and the fit changes. With the Nino 2.0, Bern has accessory liners available to help keep kids warmer without needing an extra hat.
So far, every helmet on this list has had a MIPS liner. Rotational impact protection is an important development in helmet safety. At one time it was a rare sight with a pricing disadvantage but at this point, it's possible to find it across a wide range of products at various price points.
MIPS is the best-known provider of this protection, but Lazer has its own technology and it's got the advantage of not needing the liner that can sometimes snag hair. The way Lazer has solved the challenge is by creating what are essentially crumple zones moulded into the EPS foam. In a crash, the protrusions will break off to provide rotational impact protection. This technology carries the name Kineticore and it's available in a range of helmets including a youth size and an even smaller toddler size. Given the chance, the one thing we’d love to see change is the addition of a pinch-proof buckle.
This is another option without a MIPS liner but this time with a different visual style and a different technology. Bontrager went all-in on its WaveCel technology being a gamechanger. 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. By using one technology to handle both problems the helmet avoids any fit issues that can occur because of MIPS. Compared to the Lazer option, what Bontrager offers is everything you've seen in other skate-style helmets. That means more coverage and a better ability to handle the bumps and knocks that kids put helmets through. It doesn't hurt that the colours are deep and rich with an uncomplicated design style.
Closca is a high design helmet with gorgeous detailing and a beautiful feel. More than that though, it’s a folding helmet.
If your kid needs to pack their helmet away, there’s nothing else like it on the market. For kids, Closca offers the same great design but with a unique colour, stickers packaged with the helmet, and in their two smallest sizes. That means all the features of the adult helmets are still there. You get an NFC chip for storing emergency information in an easy-to-read format, or for renting bikes, as well as choices for visors. There is no specific rotational impact protection however as the helmet moves in ways a non-folding helmet does not, Closca claims "the impact is optimally dissipated thanks to micro-movements that are better distributed over the entire surface." It's impossible to know if that is as good but if you must have a folding helmet, Closca offers an option.
How to choose the best kids' bike helmet
How do I make sure the fit is right?
Everybody buys clothes big and lets their kids grow into them. According to kid's bike manufacturer Isla Bikes, a kids bike typically lasts for three years but is only optimally sized for one. The first year they are too small for the bike and the last year the bike is too small for them. Only during the middle year does the bike fit a child perfectly. All that is to say everything your kid owns only fits for a short time but a helmet has to be right all the time. Don't buy a helmet too big and let them grow into it. Also don't let it stick around too long when it's too small.
The helmet should sit low on a child's head in the front and should be stable once properly adjusted. If it sits too far back or flops around, it's not the right size. It should also be comfortable, so if it’s too tight it’s not the right helmet. There's a good amount of adjustability in a helmet so you should be able to find one that will last for a while. But never buy one that doesn't fit. A helmet that doesn't fit isn't safe.
Some helmets come with multiple pad sets with different thicknesses, so you can alter the fit as your child's head grows. All will have a rear cradle that lets you adjust the fit for the circumference and depth of their head.
Does your child's helmet need MIPS?
Helmets are really good at keeping you from a head injury in the event of a crash. At one point in time, saying that would have been a big deal, but at this point, it's kind of the baseline requirement. Any helmet on the market will meet a variety of minimum requirements in order to be sold in a particular country. But it turns out there's a lot more to keeping you safe than that baseline.
When an impact occurs at an angle, which it almost always does, if your head stops moving very abruptly it can cause your brain to move or stretch within your skull. Your child can experience a traumatic brain injury, more often referred to as a concussion, from the brain moving inside the skull. The current thinking is that the best way to solve this is to allow for some movement between the helmet and the skull.
MIPS is a brand name that stands for Multi-directional Impact Protection System. It is one brand's solution to the problem and the technology is licensed by various helmet brands, but there are other solutions to the same problem with other brand names applied. On our list of the best kids' cycling helmets there is MIPS, Lazer's Kineticore, and Bontrager's Wavecel technology represented but there are others as well.
If you are purchasing a helmet for your child, or for you, it should have some form of technology designed to allow for angular rotation. It is not a guarantee that the wearer has complete protection against concussion, but right now, the general consensus of research suggests that this type of technology is helpful.
While it's not an exact science, the thing that makes it a must-have inclusion is that so many manufacturers have made it easily accessible. Across every segment of helmets, including the best kids' helmets, you can find the technology at virtually every price point. There are so many choices and no downsides which makes the choice to have it on the helmet you buy your child an easy one.
Does your kid's helmet need a visor?
A visor on a helmet is both a fashion choice and a functional choice. If your child has a very upright bike, a visor makes sense to help keep the sun out of their eyes. Bikes that keep the head lower mean that a visor will get in the way of visibility. A visor may also help stop branches and other obstacles hitting them in the face.
In practical terms that means road bike helmets don't have visors and mountain bike helmets sometimes do. If the bike your child has, as well as the style you and your child are going for, match up with a visor then they are helpful depending on the design. Many kids think the visor looks cool too.
Does the buckle style matter?
The short of it is that a good buckle is worth shopping for. No parent wants to hurt their kid and it's easy to hurt them with the wrong buckle. When you help a child buckle their helmet you are often above them making the area under their chin difficult to see. Even if you get down on a knee it can be hard to judge where the buckle is in comparison to the skin. Not only that but it's a sensitive area and skin pinched in the buckle will hurt!
As a parent you'll go through a lot to make sure you don't catch your kiddos skin in the buckle. That might mean lots of extra time being careful but it can also mean making the strap looser so it's less of an issue. A strap that's too loose means the helmet is less effective and all the extra time isn't fun for anyone. Instead, look for a buckle that makes life easier with some kind of no catch system.
How do we test the best kids’ bike helmets?
My son is 10 now, going on 11. He started riding when he was just big enough to lift a balance bike. He has always worn a helmet on every ride, no matter how long or short. Through the years he's had lots of helmets and many of those are here in this list. When he was young, he had a Giro Dime and as he's gotten older he's worn the Specialized Shuffle Youth as well as the Bontrager Jet Wavecel. These days he's absolutely loving the options from Nutcase and the larger size fits him well. If we hadn't tried a helmet prior to this article, he tried them on and we both checked how it worked from his perspective and from mine as a parent. He's too old for some of the options now and in those cases I relied on my past experience. This is a collaborative article and a list of options we both feel represent the best on the market.
