Skateboard for 4 Year old-Tips & Recommendations

Kids.... can also fall onto the front, of their face/head or fall off and break their arm/leg.

Your son is 4. He wants one. Sure, head pads and knee pads and what not, are required.
But they can still get hurt.
I know a 7 year old boy... that fell of his skateboard... (was wearing protective gear), and still, fell on his face, lost his front teeth, etc.
I know another older kid, that fell off and broke his arm.
Pads... do not protect against falls. Just certain body parts. But a person can still get... hurt or broken body parts.

At 4 years old, they are going to most probably, just use it as a push toy or they will sit on it and roll themselves forward. Not full on ride a skateboard like a 10 year old, would.
My son is 5. He is very athletic. We have a skateboard. Have had it since he was 4 years old. We have protective gear. My son can stand on it and push with his leg to propel himself and "surfs" the skateboard, and has very good balance. But sure, he has fallen off before... and even my 9 year old has fallen off.
And yes, they do HATE wearing the protective gear. But, it is needed.

For a 4 year old, definitely knee and elbow pads, and no...a bike helmet won't offer the full protection he will need.
For my kids, the rule was....helmet AND knee and elbow pads or no using the skateboard. Period. Elbow pads are much more comfortable than having your arm in a cast for 8 weeks because you've broken your arm.

For a child this young, I would go to a skate shop and get a deck that's the right size for him with wheels and trucks for beginners. He needs something he can learn to balance and maneuver on without hurting himself.
Also, ask about hand/wrist protection.

Best wishes.

You need an "all sport" helmet that would protect the back of his head if he falls. A bike helmet does not provide that protection.

I'd go with pads as well - my 6 year old wants a skateboard for his birthday in March (he's already plotting for it) and I expect to buy a good supply of safety stuff.

J.

I think it's good to set te habit of wearing pads. And he is probably likely to fall a lot even though he isn't gong very fast or far. My 3 year old fall out of her tricyle of all things when she was learnign to ride and got an awful gash on her elbow.

I know that ttens/adults use different helmets sometimes, but I think for his age, his bike helmet would be fine.

Go to a pro skateshop that deals with kids, and ask them.

My boys are a little older than yours, and pretty skilled for beginners and they ASK for their pads and won't go out without them. They also wear wrist/hand guards, elbow and knee pads, and use the same helmets used for snow boarding. We couldn't find the type specifically for skateboarding but they are very similar to the ones used for snowboarding, so we went with that.

You don't want to use a bike helmet if you can help it, though "something" is better than nothing at all. The difference is that the snowboarding/skateboarding variety cover the entire back of the head and ears and temple area. You will find most of the falls in the beggining are back or side, not so much frontal...because of the way the board will slip from under their feet. And usually when they fall backwards, their heads will hit the ground because they don't have their hands out to break their fall.

When they do fall forward, the hand and knee guards are very important for obvious reasons. We've saved alot of pants with knee guards too. We know kids who only wear helmets and at one time or another, they wind up with severely bruised knee caps and even busted wrists and elbows. Cement and tar are so unforgiving, and all of those small rocks in the street can really cause a lot of havoc if you're not comfortable on the board yet.

So in short, yeah, get him the full set of pads. It's a good and safe habit to get into.