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Original poster

talk to me please about taking young children climbing (proprtly, with ropes etc)

34 replies

fillyjonk · 23/05/2007 10:18

i don't know anything about it

apparently ds shows talent . a friend who is a good climber said so but he is not local so doesn't know the facilites

more importantly, he loves it.

he is 3.5

i have no interest in being a pushing parent but i think it would suit him. it is physical but not, i hope, competative, and pretty individual, i am guessing?

what do i need to know?

OP posts:
Enid · 23/05/2007 10:20

are you pg? this is what we really want to know

he sounds a bit young to me

Original poster
fillyjonk · 23/05/2007 10:28

I think he is young

and i do not want to faff with ropes

but my god he is GOOD at it, he was up my friend's (adult) climbing wall while the other kids were being shown how to get a foothold by their mothers.

and i am hoping it'd tire him out .

OP posts:
tortoiseSHELL · 23/05/2007 10:31

Our local gymnastics club has a toddler group, and they have a climbing wall there, so that might be a good compromise - it's an activity designed for young ones, but they can challenge themselves if they want to.

Our playgroup leader is great on this sort of thing - she always says, children can have a go at anything, as long as it's always 'child led' - i.e. the child wants to do it, it's not a parent trying to persuade them to do it.

haggisaggis · 23/05/2007 10:33

Congratulations, by the way!

Anyway, most dedicated climbing places don't take them until they are aged 8 at least. ds did a couple of climbs at an indoor place when he was 5 (and dd had a wee shot at 3.5) but for insurance reasons, most start at 8.

I would think as well that it may be hard to get gear small enough for his size - where ds goes they hire out climbing shoes as well as hats, harnesses. It is also REALLY expensive for a lesson - about £ 30 for 1/2 hour.

However, some sports centres also have climbing walls - their rules may be different. Also, dd has had a shot on a bouldering wall (you climb sideways rather than up) and they did not have a lower age limit. It was also very cheap!

I think climbing is a good sport - but probbaly when he's a bit older. They have to concentrate and plan where to put their hands and feet.

Good luck!

fridayschild · 23/05/2007 10:36

DH used to climb a lot until he had a bad accident (ahem! hope that doesn't put you off). Actually I think there is team work involved - one of you holds the rope while the other climbs up - and a stong climbing community when your DS is older.

I'd look for an internal climbing wall. Where are you?

Original poster
fillyjonk · 23/05/2007 10:37

I think he likes the external challenge of climbing. Gymnastics-he does, and is actually very good at it, but i am hesitant there because i do think it would be easy for him to be pushed.

I'd kind of also like him to do something with a bit of a learning curve. he IS very agile, he's always the one running fastest and climbing the highest and so on. I hope this doesn't come across as showing off becuase really...it doesn't seem like something to show off about to me.

it doesn't sound like there are climbing facilities for younger kids .

OP posts:
Original poster
fillyjonk · 23/05/2007 10:40

"They have to concentrate and plan where to put their hands and feet. "

that is EXACTLY what attracts me. also the one-one teamwork, think thats a plus

he just loves stuff like this. I KNOW he is young. he didn't do baby yoga or anything, i prmoise

shall look for internal wall and bouldering wall.

OP posts:
haggisaggis · 23/05/2007 10:44

Good luck finding a wall for him. I agree taht it is a really good sport - as much for the brain as for body strength! One way that you MAY be able to get around teh age rule is for you or your dh to take a rope course - I can't remember teh proper name for it, but basically it's where you learn how to tie the knots and look after the person on the other end! I think that some places would then let you take your ds climbing yourself if you had done that. I am considering this as at present we need to drive 2 hours to the wall where ds can climb.

LIZS · 23/05/2007 10:52

He's too young imo for real climbing. Our local climbing wall starts at 7 for their club although I think they take group bookings like Beavers younger. The kids have a harness around their hips and are supported by a rope attached to it run over a sortof pulley at the top and held by an instructor on the ground.

Even highrope systems like these don't allow them until 1.40m tall and aged 10 although they can go younger on some in Europe (5 year minimum I think was the one we did in France)

duchesse · 23/05/2007 10:54

Bristol has a climbing centre but I don't think you can climb there until 10. There's a good one in Montreal that takes them from 5, if you're ever there. Don't know about any others nor age ranges, although I know there are a few outdoor centres on Dartmoor.

I sympathise- my son was a climber. Used to give my friends heart attacks. He appeared outside the second-floor window in the uuper branches of a pine tree once, when I was vacuuming. Nearly gave me a heart attack.

duchesse · 23/05/2007 10:56

When I say was, I mean he still is of course. Nothing nasty befell him. As it were.

Original poster
fillyjonk · 23/05/2007 10:56

i don't even know if i want real climbing, i honestly know NOTHING about it

i just want some real external physical challenges to offer to him. Just as if he was good at reading, i'd give him harder books.

OP posts:
Original poster
fillyjonk · 23/05/2007 10:56

oh lol at bristol and montreal, btw

i am quite close to bristol and also the brecon beacons, it stikes me that there MAY be something there

OP posts:
DumbledoresGirl · 23/05/2007 11:00

I would also say he is too young for climbing as such, but there must be some trendy gym type thing he could do as a stop gap for now.

Failing that, I am also near Bristol and the Brecon Beacons and have several tall trees in my garden which my dss and their friends enjoy climbing....

Enid · 23/05/2007 11:01

take him to places with trees

Original poster
fillyjonk · 23/05/2007 11:01

lol

actually THAT would be fine too, a decent bloody tree or two.

the council has just removed a bunch of ours for fear of paedophiles

OP posts:
DumbledoresGirl · 23/05/2007 11:02

Pines are what you need. They grow tall and straight and the branches are pretty regular.

Original poster
fillyjonk · 23/05/2007 11:03

no but trees

now i am normally a ginger beer and chilod imposed limits and whatever type but I did go to a steiner school and I did know people who were badly injured after falling from trees-or the trees just breaking. And ds will climb.

OP posts:
Enid · 23/05/2007 11:04

lol

maybe climbing is not such a great idea then filly

DumbledoresGirl · 23/05/2007 11:04

How about pot-holing for the lad?

DumbledoresGirl · 23/05/2007 11:05

I take it you are in North Somerset. Loads of caves round there....

Original poster
fillyjonk · 23/05/2007 11:09

North Somerset?

nope, south wales

my mum used to go potholing in yorkshire, with the guides or whatever the northern equivalent is

once they got lost for 2 days and no one seemed to notice

tis grim oop north

OP posts:
DumbledoresGirl · 23/05/2007 11:10

Oh I had no idea you were in South Wales. You must be near me.

Kathyis6incheshigh · 23/05/2007 11:13

find some trees in a valley so it will be all swampy and soft and he won't get hurt if he hits the ground.

duchesse · 23/05/2007 11:22

Here's a link to the Bristol place. Might be worth givoing them a call.

And I didn't know that paedophiles grew on trees. I shall have to be jolly careful next time I take the children to the forest.

We live in a sad mad world where trees are outlawed because of a vanishingly small number of people.