Everybody remembers their first bicycle – from the way it gleaned in the sun to the first triumphant fall when learning to ride. Receiving that first set of wheels means your first taste of freedom.

When Kalle Faruki saw her daughter Dilyn riding around on a Power Wheels vehicle at the Mattel headquarters in El Segundo this week, she said it was a “game-changer.” The wheels gave the 4-year-old ...