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Luxury gifts for kids

Dec. 02, 2008 |

Before they're old enough for two pedals, there's the LIKEaBIKE, a "balance bike," which gives your preschooler lots of mobility without training wheels. The child walks -- and then runs -- with the bike, learning to balance and coast, before graduating to a pedal-bike. Parents love this bike, too, because it means less pushing of their progeny in the stroller or pulling them in the bike trailer on local trips. And as a bonus, you'll be indoctrinating those tykes into the joys of self-powered transportation, which could be practical in their oil-constrained, greenhouse gas-limited futures. The high-end, German-made LIKEaBIKE retails for about $315 on Amazon, but there's also the very popular Skuut Balance Bike, which goes for $81.99 on Amazon.

-- Katharine Mieszkowski, Amy Reiter