How to Wrap a Bike & Surprise Your Child
How to Surprise Your Child With A Bike
Whether it's a Christmas gift for your child or a birthday, a bike is a great gift! To amp up your child’s excitement and make it that much more surprising, we put together this guide.
How to Wrap a Bike
Once you’ve decided to surprise your child with a bike, you may be wondering about the logistics. How do you wrap a bicycle? What do you do when it’s time to wrap the handlebars and the brake lever? Read on to find out.
The Box Method
Simple yet dramatic, the box method involves wrapping the bike in an oversized appliance box (leaving the bottom open if necessary) or simply keep that bike inside your Guardian Bike box. From there, watch as your child’s expression turns from curiosity to pure joy.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- An oversized box
- Wrapping paper
- Double-sided tape or a glue gun
- An oversized bow and optional large roll of ribbon
- Measuring stick or measuring tape
- Pencil or pen
How to Wrap a Bike with the Box Method
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Take the measurements of your child’s new bike, specifically the height and width (including handlebars).
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Find a large box. If you ask your local home appliance stores, chances are they’ll have large cardboard boxes tucked away in the back from things like refrigerators or washing machines. If you explain you’re going to surprise your kid by wrapping up a bike inside a giant box, store employees will probably be delighted to help you. Using your measurements, double-check that the cardboard box will be big enough for the bike.
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Keep the box in the garage or at a friend’s house until the day before Christmas. Once your child has fallen asleep, it’s time to wrap the box!
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Tape or glue the wrapping paper to the box. If you have a large roll of ribbon, glue or tape the ribbon in the middle of each panel so it runs vertically to the top.
- Tape or glue the oversized bow to the top of the box. Then, while your child is out of the room, roll the bike out of its designated hiding spot, put out the kickstand, and place the box—open side down—over the bike. Your child will come in and see a giant wrapped present. When you want to reveal what’s inside, you or your child can lift the box up and reveal the shiny new bike within!
The Scavenger/Treasure Hunt Method
Ditch wrapping your bike all together and wrap up clues to send your kids on a fun scavenger hunt using our FREE jumbo printable puzzle pieces. We have a feeling this treasure might just be the coolest one they have ever found!
How to use the Scavenger Hunt Method:
- First, download our Free Jumbo Bike Puzzle from our website.
- Print and cut out each puzzle piece.
- Write up clever clues on each puzzle piece (6 total pieces) and wrap them up in some fun packaging to hide them around the house or neighborhood. Let your kids know they have a very exciting treasure waiting for them at the end of their hunt.
- To start the hunt hand them their first puzzle piece with their written clue on the back. This clue will lead them to their second clue. Once they have found their second clue/puzzle piece, this will lead them to their third clue/puzzle piece. This will continue until they have found their last and final clue.
- On their final clue lead them to their treasure. It's shiny and colorful, and full of fun! They've found their NEW BIKE!
The Surprise Method
If you want to really impress your kid on Christmas morning or a birthday, you can wrap individual parts of the bike. At first your child will be confused. “You got me pedals?” Soon enough, your kid will know exactly what you got them for the special occasion. Then they get to enjoy unwrapping the remaining parts!
Essentially, you’ll use strips of wrapping paper of varying widths to wrap up individual parts of the bike.
You’ll need:
- Two full rolls of wrapping paper tape
- A full roll of wrapping paper
- Zip ties
- Scissors
- Clear plastic kitchen wrap
- Plenty of time and privacy so your kid doesn’t walk in on your surprise!
Cutting wrapping paper into strips and wrapping it around a bike seems simple—but not every part of the bike is easy to wrap. These instructions will show you how to gift wrap a bike, including those complex parts.
How to Gift Wrap a Child’s Bike Using the Meticulous Method
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First, make sure your child will be out of the house for a while, this whole process takes about 90 minutes—or more.
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Use zip-ties to fix the wheels in place to the bike frame (so it won’t roll away while you’re wrapping).
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Next, it’s time to break out the wrapping paper. Wrap the frame, including the seatpost, seat tube, top tube, down tube, and head tube. Your best bet is to use wide strips for the large parts of the bike.
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Move on to the tires—this is the most time-consuming step. Cut wide strips of wrapping paper to wrap the tires between the spokes. For the first strip, try and estimate the width of the bike between the spokes and cut a strip about that long. If it’s too wide (or too slim) adjust for the remaining strips. Then, do the same for the spokes using long, thin strips.
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Now it’s time to wrap the gears. Cut a circle out of your wrapping paper roughly 2-3 inches larger than the gears. Use plenty of tape to wrap it over the gears. Use smaller strips of wrapping paper for the chain and the smaller parts of the gears.
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Time to move on to the pedals. For the pedals themselves, cut out a rectangle that’s about 3-4 inches wider than the pedal. Center the rectangle over the pedal and fold the edges under, just like you would wrap a book.
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For the bike seat, cut out a wide triangle—large enough to overlap the seat itself. Tuck the edges under the seat and tape to the seatpost.
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All that’s left are the handlebars, brake cables, and kickstand. Cut inch-wide strips of wrapping paper to wrap every remaining piece.
- Sit down and take in the incredible work you’ve done—don’t forget to take a picture!
Bag of Surprises
If you’re looking for an efficient and effective way to disguise your child’s gift, you can’t go wrong with a bike gift bag. Available in a variety of colors, patterns, and themes, you can simply bag up your child’s new gift.
To add a little extra delight, here are a few ways to make it extra special:
- An oversized birthday card – A big gift deserves a big card! Look for oversized cards to pair with the gift to amp up the wow factor.
- Supersized bow – Although you’re only giving your child a two-wheeled gift, top the bag with a large car bow. They’re theatrically big and will immediately excite your little cyclist.
- Bike streamers – Decorations can be fun and functional. Tie up the bag with something that can be used as an extra gift for your child—colorful bike streamers.
The Classic Bow: The Simplest Option
Simple, elegant, and iconic, a giant bow right on the handlebars is a classic and effective bike gift wrapping method.
Simply tape the bow to the center of the handlebars and watch your child jump up and down with excitement.
How to Hide the Bike
Kids are inquisitive and curious, so you may have to channel your inner spy to keep a bike off your child’s radar. Here are a few ways you can keep the bike a surprise until the big reveal:
- Black contractor bags – Place your child’s bike in large contractor bags. Then stuff the bag with blankets.
- A relative or friend’s house – Ask a loved one if you can keep the bike at their place—ideally, this loved one doesn’t also have children that would spill the beans to your kid.
- Your neighbor’s house – There are three reasons why stashing a bike at a neighbor’s place is a genius plan—location, location, location. Before it’s time to reveal the present, say you need to run over to your neighbor’s to borrow “a cup of sugar” and return with something a lot sweeter. They’ll never see it coming!
How to Build Up the Surprise
Half the fun of surprising your child with a bike is in the presentation. Sometimes, a new bike just calls for a bit more effort to really play up the fun of the moment. Here are a few ways to excite your kid even more about their new bike.
Fun Flourishes for Christmas
Christmas might be the most special time of year for your family, and a brand new Christmas bike calls for some seasonal surprise techniques.
- Guardian Jumbo Printable Puzzle - Kids love to unwrap presents right? Print out our printable Jumbo Bike Puzzle, cut it out, and wrap it up under the Christmas tree. When your child opens the gift they will have to put the puzzle pieces together to figure out what their gift is. Once they've finished the puzzle let them know something is waiting for them outside. After they've had their fun riding their new bike bring them back in and enjoy some creative time while coloring their new Guardian Bike puzzle together!
- Bag of coal – If your family is full of pranksters, add a playful joke to your child’s Christmas present. Find a white bike bag, a large blank card, label the card “COAL” and attach it to the bike. You can even take some charcoal and smudge up the bag for extra authenticity. When your child opens up the bag, they’ll be delighted to find that they were actually very good this year.
- Save the bike for last – After all the gifts are open, your kids begin to settle into the lull of post-present time. Just as the wrapping paper is all cleared away and the cocoa is being refilled, excuse yourself for a moment and come back into the living room with a brand new bike for your child.
- Ask Santa to make a special delivery – If you have the means (or know someone with a Santa suit who owes you a favor) ask them to present the bike to your child. Your Santa can say that the elves couldn’t fit the bike on Santa’s sleigh, so Santa had to ride all the way from the North Pole to make sure your child got their bike on Christmas day. Your child will treasure the memory forever.
A Special Birthday Surprise
Your child’s birthday is a celebration of who they are and how far they’ve come. Adding a bike to the mix will make the day even more special.
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Scavenger hunt – Hide the bike ( a helmet, bell, or bike streamers) somewhere in your house. Then, leave a path of fun riddles to help your child uncover the location of their gift(s).
- Warmer, Colder – No other game amps up anticipation like “Warmer, Colder”. Hide the bike somewhere in your house and help your child look for a “clue” to your gift. Start as far as you can from the actual hiding place and say “Warmer” when your child is getting closer and “Colder” when they’re a little off track.
Surprise Your Child with a Smoother Ride and a Safer Bike
Your child will remember the way you surprised them with a bike for years to come—they may even steal a page or two out of your playbook when they have kids! What could be better than a surprise gift? Years of fun and safe bike rides on that gift.
Built with kids in mind, Guardian Bikes are made with premium, lightweight materials and patented SureStop brakes. This innovative brake system helps prevent head-over-handlebar accidents.
Give your child the gift of fun—and give yourself the gift of peace of mind—with Guardian Bikes. And don't forget to order with our "Holiday Delivery" option so it ships just in time and you don't have to hide it for weeks on end.
