There are lots of reasons why kids should climb trees, side effects and all to often we come up with the reason why they shouldn’t (they might fall out, they might get dirty…. Er…. Can’t think of anymore!) We’ve come up with a few reasons….

1.    Kids just love it

OK that’s a given, but let’s looks at the more compelling reasons….

2. Being outside reduced stress

There have been many studies over the years that shows that spending time in nature reduces cortisol levels, lowers blood pressure, increases resilience, and supports cognitive function. And climbing trees is a great way to help kids engage in an outside activity that is fun and challenging.

3.  Climbing Trees is Good for Physical Development

Learning how to navigate and climb a tree helps to develop hand/eye coordination and muscle strength.

4. Learn their strength and limitations

By challenging themselves physically, children learn their own strengths and weaknesses.  It’s important for children to experience pushing themselves and knowing when they need to take a step back and re-address a situation. They are learning to assess their own safety, a valuable lesson in life.

In the not too distant future the art of climbing trees could be lost, just think back to when you were a kid – I bet you climbed trees all day long! Now we have children who are more interested in tablets, phones and computer games. We need to let kids challenge themselves and get to know the great outdoors.

The National Trust published a survey saying that the decline in this generation playing outdoors is overwhelming.

It revealed some rather frightening statistics:

1. Fewer than ten per cent of kids play in wild places; down from 50 per cent a generation ago

2. The roaming radius for kids has declined by 90 per cent in one generation (within thirty years)!

3. Three times as many children are taken to hospital each year after falling out of bed, as from falling out of trees!

A 2008 study showed that half of all kids had been stopped from climbing trees, 20 per cent had been banned from playing conkers or games of tag. (National Trust: March 2013)

This is crazy, we need to let our children live and learn, achieve things they never thought possible

AND surprise themselves.

We say….let them leap, glide and soar through the trees!