Why Children Should be Climbing Trees (even if they break their wrists)

Being a child is such a wondrous and fun time. You never appreciate it at the time, but the age of no responsibilities, playing all day and simply having to go to school is pretty awesome. I am sad that some of the things, or perhaps freedoms might be a better word that I got to do when I was a child I’m not sure my children will ever get to do. Or at least, not at the young age I did them. I remember at about 7 or 8 being allowed to go out the front and play in the street with my friends. My son will be 7 in October and I know I would not be comfortable letting him do that right now. I’m not even sure when I will.

But if there’s something I think all children should do, it’s embracing the outside and their sense of adventure. I firmly children should be out in the garden, running around, getting muddy, on their bikes, scooters, making mud pies, building dens and best of all filling their imaginations.

In general, while they have have their place, I’m not a big fan of young children playing computer games or tablets – I think there is enough time for that in the future. I much prefer to see what games they can create from their minds and just how creative they can be.

One of the things I think they should also doing is climbing trees. You might find me saying this a bit odd, because if you follow me on social media you will know that three weeks ago Logan fell out – or jumped out depending on different interpretations of the event, of a tree and broke his wrist. His wrist even now looks ever sore, he has had swollen fingers and hand and awful bruising. It is not an injury I wanted my child to experience and it’s definitely causing him discomfort and frustration. But I also believe it is part of life.

Will I continue let him climbing trees when he is healed up? Absolutely! I would hope as hard as the experience has been for him, my son has learnt from it. He will be more cautious but he will still go out and enjoy playing outdoors and embracing life, because that is a gift in itself. Children shouldn’t be cooped up indoors, spending hours on screens, or being too afraid to climb trees. They learn from taking risks, exploring, fighting imaginary dragons, getting filthy (my son is very good at that), running around and embracing the fresh air – germs and all. Because this I truly believe makes for healthier and happier children.