The Essential Benefits of Climbing in Playgrounds

Posted by in Blog, Outdoor Play, Planning on March 11, 2015 Comments off

More and more schools, parks and residential properties are making it a point to offer children a place to play. This is a welcome and crucial development because it continues to be more apparent that kids need a healthy amount and variety of play, in order to grow up to be more balanced individuals. A child who is not able to play regularly with others could end up with coordination, social and other issues, that will make later life needlessly difficult. Therefore it is incumbent upon parents, as well as the rest of the surrounding community, to make sure that children get the amount and kind of play that they need.

Climbing is a very important aspect of play, and one which results in a number of key benefits. One of these is the fact that climbing helps children to improve various physical aspects such as strength, endurance, hand-eye coordination, dexterity, and the like. The fact is that it is important for kids to be able to make use of, as well as test their physical capabilities. One of the worst things that can happen is when a child simply stays at home, glued in front of a television or playing on a tablet, during all his available free time. Physical exertion is what helps the child to grow stronger, faster and more capable, and climbing is a form of exertion that does things, which simple walking, skipping or running are not able to do.

Another important aspect of climbing is that it helps a child to conquer his fears. This is particularly important because far too many kids end up pampered and coddled, always told to fear this or fear that, usually with the best of intentions. However, this kind of coddling has the undesired effect of raising kids who are full of fear and are afraid to try things, which are out of their comfort zone. This may still be a tolerable situation when the kids are young, and their parents are always around to see to their needs, but what happens when they need to manage on their own? A child full of fear is someone who will miss out on the many exciting and wonderful aspects of life, and this would be such a shame.

Climbing helps kids in defeating fears because it is an activity that seems daunting at first, but then gradually and over time, with more practice and the application of courage, the monkey bars and other climbing equipment can be conquered by even the smallest or most timid kid.

Whether it’s using net climbers, slides, monkey bars or other equipment, the key takeaway here is that this activity helps kids to develop, both physically as well as mentally. By helping children to become more confident in themselves, and more willing to push their limits in constructive ways, those kids as well as society as a whole will benefit.