Nature Play with Rock Climbing

On our most recent outing the Greenville Zoo Nature Play Club took a trip to the Mountain Goat Climbing Gym. We had a great time experiencing the fun of reaching new heights, while testing our abilities and overcoming some fears. Nature play was being put into action in a new way.  Just because we were indoors did not mean we could not partake in nature play. One of the biggest ideas in nature play theory is free play; being able to express yourself freely in the type of play you choose, while learning more about your abilities. So, allowing the children to choose the type of climbing and how long they wanted to climb, encouraged their self-expression. Some children climbed for the whole two hours while some climbed for a shorter time and then decided to observe others climb. Other kids climbed together racing each other, while some focused on facing their fear of heights and took some time to warm up to the high rope climbing. It was easy to see that play varied from one child to the other. During the experience I expressed to the parents that I hope this would encourage them to try outdoor rock climbing, hopefully a new way to get them out into nature.

 

We had a few kids who had climbed before, but for most of them this was their first time. Thus, we offered a new and exciting experience for these kids to partake in. It was inspiring to see these children climb for the first time and instantly love it! After all, I think climbing and testing my limits was one of my favorite things to do as a child.  The purpose of this trip was to allow the parents to safely see what their own children are capable of. Maybe this will encourage tree climbing in the backyard!  Sounds scary, however, I think we can all look back at our time spent in the backyard with climbing trees as a likely favored activity.  It is important to remember our childhood spent in the backyard in order to inspire future generations.