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3 Benefits of Toddlers’ Indoor Climbing Frames

by Mette Vainer Wegloop

For toddlers, climbing is a thrill! But for their parents, it can be a little nerve-racking to watch their little one suddenly balance on the back of the sofa. An indoor climbing frame provides your toddler with a fun alternative to climbing on furniture. In a safe way, the climbing frame develops your child’s gross motor skills, improves their body control, and boosts their confidence.

Highlights: 

  • Climbing frames also go by the name climbing triangles, climbing pyramids, or play towers.
  • They are wooden structures made to satisfy children’s curiosity and need for climbing. 
  • An indoor climbing frame helps your toddler develop:  
    • Great gross motor skills: by activating muscles, joints, and balance simultaneously.  
    • Better body control: the ability to respond appropriately to external impulses. 
    • A confident, can-do-attitude: “Yes! I made it to the top. Let’s try again!”  
  • For your child’s safety, choose a climbing frame with a robust structure and rounded edges.  

What Exactly is an Indoor Climbing Frame? 

They sometimes go by the name climbing triangles, climbing pyramids, or indoor Play Towers and they come in all shapes and sizes. Some are square-shaped, some are triangular, and some include a slide. The indoor climbing frame is a robust, wooden structure with several features to satisfy your child’s curiosity and need for climbing.  

Children’s occupational therapist, Mette Vainer Wegloop, highlights the three main benefits of getting your toddler an indoor climbing frame.  

1) Great for Gross Motor Skills 

“The climbing frame encourages dynamic movements, like climbing up and down, balancing on top, and crawling back and forth. It’s a toy that activates both your child’s legs, arms, and core. And it’s this interplay between muscles, joints, and balance which really helps to promote your child’s gross motor skills.”       

2) Better Body Control 

“People with great control over their bodies are able to respond appropriately to impulses from their surroundings. For little children walking up a stairway, for instance, this means bending their knee and lifting up their foot to match the precise height of the next step. It’s a skill that takes practice, but on the climbing frame, your child gets to practice some of the same movements: climbing up and down, turning in narrow spaces, and blocking potential falls.” 

3) A Real Confidence Booster

“Practice makes perfect and when your child makes it to the top, it’s a good chance they will feel both proud and confident to try again. Little children can hold on to the frame’s sides and practice their first, sideways steps. Later, your little one can take on the bigger challenge of crawling up and down the slope angles and perhaps crawling all the way across.”  

    A Note on Safety 

    Always make sure your little one plays under adult supervision and plays with toys appropriate for their age. Most climbing frames are designed with rounded edges and elevated sides to support little children while they climb. It only increases the fun when siblings and playmates join in, so make sure you choose a robust structure which allows for more than one child to play at a time. 

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