Avenlur’s Comprehensive Guide for Buying Kids’ Ladders
If you spend most of your time pulling your toddler off furniture or telling them ‘no,’ you’re not alone! The good news is your toddler is healthy. However, they’re just getting warmed up. Prepare for the climbing years!
It’s time to invest in a wood climbing toy specifically designed for your child. The best thing you can do is provide a ladder ramp or a climbing frame to ensure your child scales safely and in on the best equipment possible.
That’s where Avenlur can help.
What is a ladder toy?
For toddlers and young children, climbing toys are any type of hard or soft structure designed to provide your kid with a safe place to scale and explore. From the Pikler Triangle to a complete jungle gym, these play items allow your child to test their physical and mental limits.
Why do children love climbing?
The late Dr. Joe Frost, considered the contemporary grandfather of play advocacy, said all healthy children are born to climb. Climbing is an innate part of child development. Dr. Frost said toddlers begin to explore climbing for a variety of reasons.
For Enjoyment
Dr. Frost said children climb first and foremost for fun. They scale to explore, interact with friends, tap into their imagination, and for many other reasons. Children aren’t going to analyze nor intellectualize climbing; instead, they will enjoy just doing it because it’s fun!
To Learn
Kids are innately curious and natural learners; scaling is one of the easiest ways to satisfy that curiosity.
Climbing enables toddlers to change their perspective, a foundational block that fosters their ability to judge, think critically, and solve problems creatively. These are all things children must learn.
To Develop
A growing child’s body yearns for physical challenges and to take risks. Their small muscles and bones are anxious to grow. Meanwhile, their brains are hungry to experience and record the sensations of scaling a wood ramp, ladder, or frame. Climbing satisfies those needs.
What are the benefits of climbing toys?
Climbing also plays a crucial role in early childhood motor skills development. Studies have indicated that when toddlers are encouraged to climb, they can benefit in many ways.
1. A ladder promotes healthy physical development.
The act of climbing can build strength in a small person’s bones and muscles. It develops lower and upper body strength because they must lift and support their entire weight. Climbing can also boost a toddler’s coordination, flexibility, cardiovascular health, and posture.
2. Climbing can improve a child’s balance.
As toddlers’ proprioception (awareness of their body’s position and movement) and vestibular (balance) systems grow, their ability to balance and be more coordinated in their movements increases. A small person’s foot-eye coordination can develop as rapidly as their hand-eye. Both are continuously being tested as they ascend and descend the rungs of a climbing toy.
3. Ladders stimulate mental development.
The world-renowned pediatrician and child development specialist Dr. Maria Montessori believed “a child’s work is play.”
As adults, we often believe that to enhance a child’s development, we must increase their academic exposure. Yet, Montessori spent years advocating that children need most unstructured playtime and that their brains yearn to engage in child-directed play regularly.
That’s why it’s important to surround our children with the toys needed to complete their “work.” Exposing your children to jungle gyms with a wood ladder ramp, rope ladder, or climbing wall is essential to their mental well-being. This type of play equipment helps children build confidence, independence, problem solve and provides them with a greater understanding of the world around them.
4. Ladder toys for children improve their social skills.
Climber toys are an excellent tool for building social skills. Their open design encourages children to play together. Toddlers and preschoolers can learn to take turns on the climbing ramp or slide.
Whether climbing a ramp or a traditional wood ladder, young users learn valuable listening, teaching, and communicating lessons. As children climb, they can talk with their friends to know where to put their feet relative to their hands. As they reach the summit of the ladder or climbing wall, they can celebrate with their friends their achievements (not to mention figure out how to get down)!
When’s the right time to purchase ladder toys?
It is perhaps one of the scariest moments for any parent when their baby starts to climb! In most situations, your child will know how high to climb before they feel unsafe. However, they’ll still move through a period of testing their limits.
One of the best ways to foster this urge to scale is by purchasing a climbing toy for kids. There is no correct age at which to buy a toy. Your child will tell you when they’re ready.
If your baby can stand up independently from six months to a year old, a Pikler Triangle might be perfect. There are three accessories or components to the Pikler Triangle, arch and ramp. Each accessory is an independent toy to help your child improve motor development. These three pieces will become the ultimate climbing toy.
As your baby becomes a toddler, they’ll become more capable of understanding concepts of great complexity. As such, their toys should grow with them accordingly. This is when a small wooden play gym with multiple accessories becomes an asset. They’re not quite ready for an elaborate jungle gym, yet they need a play set that features a multitude of apparatuses. This equipment will allow them to test their physical limits while fully engaging in pretend play.
Once they’re fully independent, the next logical step is purchasing a swing set. Adding a slide, modern playhouse, belt swings, or a climbing wall is entirely up to you.
Where can I find a suitable climbing toy for my child?
You like the idea of your child testing their physical and mental limits on a climbing toy. You just aren’t sure where to buy one? Let us help at Avenlur. With a wide selection of wood ladders and other climbers, we can direct you to the apparatus that suits your budget and needs.