Plans for an affordable, therapeutic PVC trike now available

The White family poses with a PVC trike made from the plans
that are now available on Instructables.

Warmer weather is coming! A bike ride is a great way to pass the quarantine. And this year, UATP volunteer Mike Stokes has found a way help young children who are working on their walking skills to join in the fun.

A therapeutic trike can cost thousands of dollars. For those families who are not able to use insurance to purchase one, 

plans for a PVC therapeutic trike are available on Instructables, an open source website. They include directions for cutting and assembling the PVC, plus links to sites that sell the needed materials. They also include Solidworks files for parts that require fabrication.

The PVC trikes are rated for children up to 50 pounds, and they can be built for around $400.

The trikes help children work on skills like walking and crawling in a way that doesn’t feel like work. Graham White is still working on his walking skills, and he loves to use a trike. “We’re trying to train his brain as well as muscle memory, and the bike is the best way to do that,” said his mother, Brandy.

Interested in building a therapeutic trike? Here are your options.

In Utah:

Purchase the items listed in the Instructibles directions. Feel free to reach out to UATP in Logan (Dan O'Crowley) or the Uintah Basin (Cameron Cressall) for assistance in putting it together.  

Outside of Utah:

You can download the instructions. If you need help with the parts that are more difficult to fabricate, your state assistive technology program may be able to help. There’s a directory of state AT programs on the AT3 website.

UATP thanks volunteer Mike Stokes for helping develop this project, and the JR Stokes Foundation for supporting its development.