If you have ever had any doubt that humans are related to monkeys all you need to do is watch how very young toddlers scramble and climb, even before they can walk properly.

Climbing, using all our limbs, is a skill which we, like monkeys, are built to do. Enabling young children to develop their climbing skills, in a safe environment, is good for their development in many ways.

If children were to design their own outdoor play areas would they be anything like those that adults provide for them? Unlikely. Outdoor play spaces designed by children would most likely be filled with natural elements like trees to climb, gardens to investigate and hide in, water in ponds and streams, mud pools, sand pits, greens and games pitches. They would also be packed with all sorts of outdoor climbing toys, rock walls, rope ladders, climbing frames, treehouses, ladders, swings and slides.

Children need and welcome challenges and opportunities to develop their balance, their self reliance and confidence. What do many children do when they encounter a climbable tree? They climb it. They jump from its branches. The more confident children will test themselves to see how far they can climb. If they can they may pester you to attach a tarzan swing or a rope ladder. If they are lucky enough to have a suitable climbing tree in their garden you may be pressured into building a treehouse.

If you don’t have a tree in your back garden you can still fulfil your child’s desire to climb with a well made outdoor climbing toy. Maybe a climbing frame or playset with a rope ladder attached, or even a rock wall.

As children play together outdoors they get the opportunity to develop many skills including their social and psychomotor skills. They will become increasingly familiar with their bodies, they will get stronger and hopefully gain an enthusiasm for exercise and outdoor activities.

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