Most parents are convinced that their toddlers must be part spider monkey. They soon progress from innocent toddler climbing toys to any vertical or vertical-ish surface without fear or hesitation. Indeed, climbing is quite natural for a toddler. Just how natural these video clips will demonstrate. You might feel better about the safety precautions your own child takes. The kids in the following videos have strength, excellent spatial skills, and must have given their parents nervous fits.
Climber for life
Watch this Iranian native, three-year-old Arat Hosseini, performing on Australia’s version of television’s Little Big Shots.
He may be the strongest child his age in the world. He was walking at six months of age and began climbing walls in his parents’ home at two. He must have the strongest upper body of any preschooler ever. He climbs a ten-foot wall just after he made his way across a horizontal gym bar. One wonders what he’ll be doing at 15—Parkour anyone?
Zen monkey girl
Ellie Farmer is called The Zen Monkey on Facebook and little wonder. Watch the two-year-old scoot up a rock-climbing wall as easily as most her age would crawl along the kitchen floor. Maybe Ellie’s strength training hanging from gymnastic rings help her upper body strength. Her parents are both competitive climbers so it may be in her genes. Mom and dad, Rachel and Zak Farmer, insist climbing was all Ellie’s idea. As we watch her grins and giggles, it’s easy to believe Ellie will be a Zen Monkey for life.
He’s sitting on top of the world
Duncan Xavier, a three-and-a-half-year-old Peruvian-German boy, certainly must count on his genetic roots. Both countries have lots of mountains and high elevations. Here he is in the mountains of Germany and Austria climbing the real thing; no rock walls for this preschooler! He’s on top of the world after this challenging climb.
Wanted: Baby escape artists
We all know to be aware that babies and toddlers can get into or out of almost anything. This compilation of great baby escapes will make a parent more than a little nervous. Some parents have been known to put a woven net over the top of cribs of little climbers. Looks like it might not be a bad idea. One of these little Houdini’s kept climbing of the gate to his bedroom. Solution? His parents put two gates on top of each other to hold him where he belonged. Anti-solution, the tiny boy just climbed over both gates.
Milk and cookies in the nearest forest
When climbing Is for real not for fun
In the sport of climbing, the position of lead climber is important—vitally important. The lead wears a harness that is tied to one end of a rope and is responsible for fastening the rope to clips in the rock’s face. The climber below plays out more rope as the lead ascends. The lead position takes skill, strength, and courage. Jamie is shown practicing his lead skills at the great age of four years. He is climbing what is called a 5.10b wall. This means the wall is not vertical, it curves over the heads of the climbers.
