Hankle and Roary love to climb, trees, walls, playground equipment, anything at all that they can reach. They love the sensation they get from climbing. Little do they know that all this climbing is very good for them. Look at all the benefits climbing offers your child.
- Climbing helps develop strong upper limb and core muscles. As they reach up and pull themselves up, shoulder and core muscles work very hard to move their body weight upwards.
- A child’s hip shape changes and evolves as they grow . This moulding happens as a child uses the muscles of their hips. As they push down on their knee and shift body weight over their knee, they help develop the stabilising hip muscles that are so important in moulding strong healthy hips.
- Climbing activities provide lots of heavy work to the muscles. This heavy work helps develop the child’s proprioceptive system , an essential sensory system that is important to your child ‘s motor development.
- Climbing challenges a child’s balance, helping your child develop good balance reactions. As your child climbs, they are constantly shifting weight and balancing on one limb, constantly adjusting their centre of gravity. this is a great way to develop their balance reactions
- Climbing up on objects provides your child with increased body and spatial awareness. There is a completely different perspective from a height and by experiencing this height , your child develop a sense of spatial relationships when they climb.
- Climbing provides your child with some “Risky Play”. Recent research has shown that children to not get enough opportunities to engage in Risky Play. Risky play allows a child to develop knowledge of their own bodies abilities and limits and to set boundaries for themselves. This allows a child to develop better skills at assessing risk in their everyday life. This in turn will limit their risk of getting hurt.
Parents of course need to be mindful of excessive risk and ensure that your child is engaging in activities that pose just enough challenge for them to succeed but not so much to place them in danger. Supervision is required when children are climbing.
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