I have a 2 year old nephew (his birthday was a few days ago) who loves to climb on things. He scared my brother and my sister-in-law by climbing to the 2nd floor on the outside of the stair railing. While this is a rather admirable feat for a then less than 2 year old, my brother and sister-in-law have been wondering when he’ll learn that sometimes height can equal hurt.
Here’s a video my brother sent me the other day:
My 2 year old nephew climbing from rockgrrl on Vimeo.
In the video my nephew:
1. Carefully places his feet. Great footwork is the foundation of climbing.
2. Finds out that if he doesn’t have a good foothold, he may not be stable enough to get the next hand hold. Climbing is a process, learning the sequence can be the key to a successful ascent.
3. Reasons that if it is not safe to continue*, it is sometimes better to down climb. Downclimbing is a valuable skill.
4. After downclimbing, takes a look at his route again. Analyzing your route is a good way to see if you can spot something to try next time.
5. Goes to get a hug after his climb from the camerawoman (his mom). Everyone needs a little encouragement sometimes.
*the word my nephew keeps saying is, “High!” this is what his mom tells him as a warning when he is too high or on something not really possible for him (for example, I noticed my sister-in-law tell him this when he was on some strangely shaped bars meant for big kids).
I can’t wait to see what other things I’ll learn from my nephew as he continues his climbing career!
PS - I wish they had climbing hold playthings in public parks when I was growing up!
