Time to Climb!
The words movement and children go hand in hand when you think of all the things our little ones love to do. Babies and young children need to move! Right from the beginning, it’s what they want to do! It stimulates their brain in many ways and there are many benefits for their overall development.
At Buckle My Shoe we are a small mixed age centre, which means that there are opportunities for children of all ages to play and interact together, just like you would with siblings at home! How cool! Our outdoor environment is filled with different curriculum areas and challenges to keep our little ones engaged and active. 😊
Recently our under 2’s have been closely observing the amazing climbing skills of our older tamariki outside and have set their sights on developing their own skills in this area. We have noticed that whenever our little ones venture outside, their focus is on how they can move their bodies over, under, up, out of and around certain objects such as planks, tyres and boxes.
As teachers, we ensure that there are safe areas for our little ones to do this and remain close by to support and encourage them.
The type of strategy they follow depends on where each child is in their development. For example, some of our little ones begin by crawling onto the plank, whilst others immediately want to stand. This is all part of our little ones learning to analyse risk and make decisions. By moving their bodies and engaging with different obstacles, their brains are learning more about the complex world around them.
With close guidance and support, our younger tamariki have also been adventurous on the big boxes! They have been finding ways to climb - either up the plank or on top of a cube and have been learning how to climb back down again, which is often a little more challenging to master! We have even had a few little ones think outside the box and set their sights on objects such as an overturned water trough for their next climbing adventure! Through climbing, our tamariki are developing their motor skills, strength, co-ordination, balance and endurance.
They are also learning virtues such as problem solving, patience, risk taking, courage and persistence. Although it may not seem like it, while your little one is climbing and moving their body outside, they also have the opportunity to learn early mathematical concepts such as spatial awareness, direction, height and depth.
Being close by to our little ones as they climb and overcome challenges, allows us to add to their developing vocabulary by role modelling words to accompany their actions. Words such as “climbing up, climbing down, across, balance, over & under” – just to name a few. If your little one is showing the desire to climb at home and you want to support this positively, there are ways for you to do this at home safely.
How about arranging pillows or couch cushions on the floor for you and your little one to climb over and roll on? Or maybe you can use everyday objects around the home to create an indoor or outdoor obstacle course? 😊