Pre-School and Daycare

do you let your kid climb UP the slide?

Re: do you let your kid climb UP the slide?

  • Yup. I occasionally warn him that people coming down might kick him in the face. But hey, he'll learn eventually.
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  • At home, yes. I try to discourage it in public places so she doesn't get knocked down or hurt.
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  • LSU628 said:

    At home, yes. I try to discourage it in public places so she doesn't get knocked down or hurt.

    Pretty much this. If there are other kids at the park then I don't allow it because it becomes too difficult to keep a close eye on both and too easy for them to get hurt.

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  • groovygrlgroovygrl member
    edited April 2014
    Thanks all! To answer my own question I am in the let them climb up as long as no one is trying to come down camp(with the exception of those enclosed tube kinds since no one can see anyone else)... I really don't get the opposition to it, it is a physical challenge for them, they are so happy when they make it up there and I really don't get why it is any more dangerous than going down, or than climbing the ladder or whatever is required to get up to the top anyway... What am I missing? I asked bc I have seen other parents scold their kids for going up at parks even when no one is at the top and on Sunday saw a mom yank her ?3 yr old off a pretty short little slide and yell at him for trying to walk up it.
  • I do..  as long as no one is trying to come down.
    As a matter of fact, our daycare/pre-school has the kids practice doing this.
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  • Yes, I do. We have a little park in our neighborhood, so we are either there alone or there are only a few other kids there. They all enjoy climbing up. 

    I also do warn them that they may get hit by someone going down. They'll learn...
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  • Luhdashuh said:
    As long as they aren't preventing other kids from coming down, I don't intervene. The playground is for the kids to figure stuff out. If I thought they were going to hurt a much smaller child I would stop them.
    Same
  • Nope. 
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  • WorcbrideWorcbride member
    edited April 2014
    nope--its for butts not feet
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  • yeah.yeah. member
    ss+el said:
    Only if there are no other kids trying to get down it.
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  • yeah. said:
    ss+el said:
    Only if there are no other kids trying to get down it.
    This
    yup
  • fredalina said:
    nope--its for butts not feet
    Party pooper.
    .
    seriously I just don't get it what is the big deal if no one is coming down...??
  • Yes, if no one is waiting to come down the slide. It's great to learn how to climb up something like a slide, think of all the mucles it takes and coordination.
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  • I let him climb up when we are at the playground together. His preschool does not allow it on their playground though. I think of it as a problem-solving opportunity.

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  • groovygrlgroovygrl member
    edited April 2014
    fredalina said:
    fredalina said:
    nope--its for butts not feet
    Party pooper.
    .
    seriously I just don't get it what is the big deal if no one is coming down...??
    Lol really I was just teasing.
    LOL I'm not, it seems like such a harmless childhood thing to do to climb up a slide...playgrounds are so freaking safe nowt here is not much they can do that feels adventurous to them other than climbing up a slide so why not let them. Actually sliding down those 'fireman' style poles that most playgrounds have seems way riskier than walking up a slide, or going up the climbing wall thing...so why the hate on climbing up the slide?
  • fredalina said:
    Actually you're very right about them being safe. Which is good...but I was reading an article the other day that postulates that kids need to feel like they've accomplished something in the face of risk as kids or they tend to turn to risky behavior more as teens. I have no idea how true this is and I am in NO WAY insinuating that kids who are not allowed to climb up the ladder will experiment with sex and drugs and whatever, but there's a ring of truth in the idea that kids need to flirt with "risky" things in a controlled way as kids for their own growing up and self esteem etc. I think the article was about a movement toward more "risky" playgrounds, like one in Australia where kids can even build fires.
    Too funny that same exact article is what got me thinking about why ppl are so crazy about the slide climbing! I liked the concept of those parks in terms of free play though I thought the fire part was weird- however aren't those parks actually monitored/staffed by someone, I feel like it said that in the article?  Today MH wouldn't let DS walk on these fixed boulder things that are all around a water feature (no water running but the kids love to walk around in that area regardless) at our local park & it took all my self control not to override him...I always let DS climb on rocks, he loves it, and in fact when I walk by, my impulse is to walk on them!!! All the kids try to walk on them, it is a public park and god knows how they can be w/ all the safety features so I'm like, come on, let the kid explore his surroundings already, just stay close if you think he is going to slip but let him at least attempt it...but that is a whole other post I guess ;)
  • I don't usually.  They aren't allowed to at preschool and they have enough issues behaving and following rules at school that I'd rather stick with one rule… up the stairs, down the slide.  

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  • groovygrlgroovygrl member
    edited April 2014
    fredalina said:
    Yes in that article "The Land" where they could build fire was staffed. There was a gently sloping street (mot busy) near my home and when I was around 10 or 11 I would start my bike down the hill and stand with one foot on my seat and one foot on the handlebars in the middle and steer by leaning or with my foot. It was nuts! But I felt like such a badass.
    you were a badass!I have vivid memories of racing another kid down a similar type of street  at age maybe 6, crashing into each other, limping home w/ a knee full of gravel...couldve been way worse obviously (esp since no helmets) but sometimes kids need to be kids. it's hard to figure out when but climbing up the slide seems a good start to me ;).
  • I've been reading this thread for a while, watching this interesting discussion unfold.

    I'm in the "only when no one else is using the slide" category.  If no one is waiting to use the slide, I have no problem allowing my kids to climb up it.  And on our backyard playset, it's anything goes.  

    That being said, it used to drive me CRAZY to take my cautious kids to a busy playground and have them unable to use the slides because kids were climbing up them.  It wasn't actually the kids who drove me crazy, it was the oblivious parents standing by, doing nothing while their kid is basically hogging the slide, preventing other kids from using it.  To me it often was more an issue of manners than safety.  If there's another kid waiting to slide down, and you slide to the bottom, then immediately turn around and start climbing back up, you're essentially getting two turns while other kids have to wait.  GRR!
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  • @neverblushed, I agree re the manners thing. But when I see kids get scolded at playgrounds, it is always "we don't climb up slides!" and they get removed or stopped, not "no climbing up the slide if there is anyone waiting or at the top" so I think most ppl who don't allow it do it based on some sort of principle that it is 'bad' to do.
    And of course I get the dirty look for letting my kid do it when others have scolded their kids for doing it earlier. lol.
  • We didn't let them when they were really little- the playgrounds we go to are designed for big kids (except for one that has a separate little toddler area that no todders actually want to stick to), so it's pretty rare that kids aren't zooming around without care (as they should on a playground). Once they were older (3ish) and understood the reasons we don't climb up slides ALL the time (and when they shouldn't), fine.


    Yep, this.
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  • LOL yes I am a party pooper when it comes to that.  My kids do plenty of risky things--they've been riding horses since they were able to follow directions, they have 4 wheelers, they both ride 2 wheeled bikes (we weren't a fan of training wheels and kinda just dove right in).  They aren't allowed to go up slides cuz the rule while they're at school is no.  I'm just all for consistency.  Does that mean they haven't done it?  Absolutely not--they have but I don't shriek at them or make them leave the playground.  I just shoot them the look and alls good :-)
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  • groovygrl said:
    @neverblushed, I agree re the manners thing. But when I see kids get scolded at playgrounds, it is always "we don't climb up slides!" and they get removed or stopped, not "no climbing up the slide if there is anyone waiting or at the top" so I think most ppl who don't allow it do it based on some sort of principle that it is 'bad' to do.
    And of course I get the dirty look for letting my kid do it when others have scolded their kids for doing it earlier. lol.

    Yep that's me.  My kids would be told "up the stairs down the slide."  "we don't climb up slides."  But I'm not against it… I'm against it for my kids because they then get in trouble during school.  

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  • ss+el said:
    Only if there are no other kids trying to get down it.
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  • We had a kangaroo climber at home when they were toddlers and we let them do it on there, or if we were somewhere where we had a playground to ourselves.

    Then a friend who's a K teacher vented about what a pain it is trying to re-train all the kids to only go *down* slides on the crowded school playground so you don't end up with slide traffic jams. (Or what drives me nuts is on busy play structures when kids are going up covered tunnel slides without checking if a kid is coming down and then they end up getting hurt/colliding.) So now I try to stick to the ladders up/slide down rule. It seemed too confusing as preschoolers to change the rules based on who else was around but now that they're 5 and can understand, I let them go up if there aren't other kids around trying to slide down.
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  • Nope. 

    Mainly because I want to stay consistent with his daycare teachers and his someday school age teachers.

    Is it my hill to die on? no.  But I try and stay consistent with "safe playground rules"  even when its just us. 

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