Climbing Frame Explorer
What you need
- a toddler climbing frame at the playground, dry, and no higher than your chest
- closed shoes with a good grip
How to do it
- At the playground, pick the toddler climbing frame and run a hand over the bars to feel they are dry.
- Let them choose a way up, and stand right beside them on the side a fall would go.
- Keep your hands close and ready as they climb as high as they choose.
- Ask "Where next?" and move along with them, within arm's reach.
Why it matters
With a whole frame to explore, they choose the route, the next hold and how high to go, and every choice is a bit of climbing that is all their own.
What they're learning
- Climbing
- Hands and feet working together to find the next hold.
- Choosing a route
- Deciding which way up and how high, at their own pace.
- Body awareness
- Feeling for a step or bar with a foot before putting weight on it.
What to look for
Notice them pausing to look for the next hold before they reach for it.
A tip
Never lift them onto a part they have not climbed to themselves, so they only go where their own hands and feet have taken them. Take off scarves, bike helmets and anything with drawstrings before they climb, and come away if the bars are wet.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: stay on the lowest steps and the ramp, holding your hand if they want it
Harder: try a different way up the same low frame, like the wide ladder or the climbing wall
