What comes to mind when you think of a scooter? The nostalgic red models? The ones inventive children of the 1930s made out of orange crates? Perhaps the sleek styles of today? Different as they may be, they all share a common attraction: the freedom to coast anywhere you please and have a great time doing it.

From the very first red scooters made by Radio Flyer in the 1920s to the wide variety of designs available today, each new generation of kids has discovered that scooters are just plain fun. They're quick and easy to learn to ride and get you where you want to go in style, traits that have earned them a place as a classic. Throughout the years since they first rolled down the sidewalk, scooters have remained a childhood favorite, even surviving the popularity of roller skates, inline skates, and skateboards.

In the last decade, scooters have enjoyed a resurgence of popularity, both among school kids and their grown-up counterparts, with the introduction of foldable push models that are available in a wide variety of styles and price ranges. Plus, there are even three-wheeled designs that provide more stability for younger riders.

In most every American city today, boys and girls alike can be found happily pushing their scooter along on the way home from school, at the park, and any other place they can think of. There's a color and style available to please every kid in the neighborhood.

Of course, the Radio Flyer Little Red Scooter remains the classic, evoking the innocence of a bygone era (and incidentally, it's still produced today). And although newer types of scooters have rolled onto the riding scene in recent years, the scooters children enjoy today are fundamentally the same as the ones their parents and grandparents wheeled around on when they were kids.

Even though children inevitably outgrow their first scooter, they'll carry the excitement and fun in their hearts until the momentous day they introduce their favorite childhood ride to their own children and grandchildren. Years from now, they'll recount their scooter adventures with a gleam in their eye and a fond memory in their heart, just as their parents and grandparents do today.