Rock Climbing Toddler
Over the weekend at Nature For Kids a question was asked by Rebecca regarding her rock climbing toddler and the post Rock Climbing With Kids.
“We have a 23 month old daughter who loves the rock wall at the YMCA, up until last week she just went up about a foot or so (the bottom “rock”) and came back down. This week she has started really climbing, to the point she is almost over my head. We have to find a good harness for her since they don’t have them that small at the Y. We don’t mind at all buying her one ourselves. We don’t want to stop her in any way! I just don’t know one that is small enough for her little body. Is there a particular brand that you have found works with your little ones?”
Rebecca got me curious. So I went out and shuffled through our climbing equipment and decided to try our full body harness on my 20-month-old. Something I hadn’t done yet because I just assumed it was too large for her. It is made by Rock Empire and is called the Apache. To my surprise it fit her quite well.
There is a little gaping above her legs and chest but not enough to have her slip out. The point where the rope attaches to the harness sits high enough that I don’t think she would flip upside down. Toddlers are prone to be top heavy though so always be cautious.
When our oldest child first started climbing we tied a harness for him out of pieces of webbing. It served it’s purpose but was time consuming and not as comfortable as a harness. So I would recommend buying a harness, especially if you have more than one child. Harnesses allow you to quickly release and tighten straps for the optimum fit.
Most full body children’s harnesses are made for 4 to 9 year-olds so look at the harness description closely before purchasing anything. Better yet, try it on your child first.
Thanks Rebecca for giving me the opportunity to realize our harness fits our little rock-climbing toddler. I’m sure she’ll be very thankful too…no more sitting by and watching her brothers have all the fun!
Forum
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No Weekend Posts
If I’ve accomplished what I set out to do here at Nature For Kids, you probably won’t be disappointed that I’m not posting on the weekend. You won’t be disappointed because you won’t be indoors near your computer, you’ll be out camping, hiking, fishing or whatever it is your family likes to do. Have a great weekend everyone! Maybe we’ll bump into each other on the trail!
Zip-Line
A zip-line can add a fun element to a campsite. During a family campfire dinner party in the woods we set up a makeshift zip-line for the kids. It was fun for all the adults to watch and for the kids to try out.
There are two main types of ropes used in rock-climbing and rappelling, static and dynamic. Dynamic ropes are designed to stretch. These are mostly used for climbing, so if you take a fall it will absorb a lot of the force. A static rope has minimal stretch and is used mostly for rappelling. For the zip line here we had a dynamic rope. It was difficult to get the rope taut enough to allow a smooth ride. I would recommend using a static rope. But all in all it was a fun activity, especially for the kids.
For more in-depth information on static and dynamic ropes and their purposes I’ll point you to this link.
What type of activities do you do around the campsite to keep things interesting? Let Nature For Kids know by leaving a comment!
Filed under camping, education, rock climbing | Comment (0)Outdoor Bedrooms for Kids
Turning your childs room into an artificial outdoor space makes for a unique decorating idea! Plus, surrounding them with reminders of the outdoors and items to climb, hang, swing or slide on make for tons of fun.
Here is a video of our youngest taking advantage of the furniture in her brothers’ room. The climbing wall was easy to build. I went to the lumber yard and got a board cut to size and then painted it and mounted some climbing holds with bolts. I drilled some holes on the sides and zip-tied it to the ladder on the bunkbed. There is a slide on the other end, making for a circle of fun.
Another fun idea is an indoor swing…if there’s room that is. I’ve seen some fun one’s like this at IKEA
Expandable tunnels are such a blast too! Plus, they’re an easy clean-up item and can fit in tiny spaces. Warning: This item looks so fun parents will be tempted to play inside and possibly get stuck! No, I’m not talking from experience… 
Anyone have any other decorating ideas to post on Nature For Kids?
Filed under equipment, rock climbing | Comment (1)Rock Climbing With Kids
One of my favorite things about having kids is finding fun outdoor equipment for them. A Camelbak is cool for adults but when you find a miniature sized one for kids it’s….”Ah cute!” We bought a kids climbing harness about the time when our oldest turned three. I think I like it more than he does. It stabilizes their bodies in an upright position, preventing them from flipping upside down.
I just get so stinking excited when I can have our kids participate in the activities that my husband and I love to do. The people who make these things are genius in my book. What better way to bring a family together!
We set up a top rope climb (the rope is anchored to the top of the climb so if you fall you’re not going anywhere) and let the kids have some fun. We usually don’t need to use a belay device for our youngest because he’s so light. We just do a hip belay (rap the rope around my big bootie). The kids really like the overhang climbs. It allows them to swing more!
We’ve tried to teach them the correct lingo for safety reasons: On belay, climbing, slack, tension, rock! and etc.
Eventually they usually end up saying their own climbing lingo though, things like…”I want to do spinners” or “Where’s the spiderman chalk?”
We’ve taught them the basic rules for safety too:
Mom or Dad must double check harness before you climb
Don’t use your knees
Don’t step on the rope
Don’t put your fingers in the lead climbing bolts
wear a helmet
use your legs (they’re stronger than your arms)
*The key thing I’ve learned while climbing with my kids is not to force them to do anything they don’t want to do. Our oldest began crying on one particular climb because he got up as far as he wanted to go and didn’t want to go any further. We were encouraging him to go a little further because he was so close to the top, but he was definitely scared and ready to come down. We let him know that we just wanted him to have fun and he didn’t have to do anything he didn’t want to. He quickly calmed down and was eager to do it again the next time we went. I think it easily could have turned into a negative situation for him.
*We take small toys with us on our climbing trips. That way whoever isn’t climbing can play with trucks in the dirt or whatever.
*Our second child is 3. He doesn’t necessarily like to climb up but he likes to swing on the rope. He pushes off the rock with his feet and spins and hangs upside down and traverses across the rock wall. As long as he’s having fun that’s fine with me. That’s what Nature For Kids is all about.
Mand
