While scrolling through old family photos last week, I came across a picture of my childhood street.
In every back garden, there was a climbable tree – each one a well-loved hangout for local kids. Today, walking down that same street, I noticed something striking: plenty of trees, but not a single child in them.
As an early years educator with over a decade of experience and someone who has led professional development sessions on outdoor play for the past eight years, this observation hit hard. Through my work with hundreds of young children and training over 150 fellow educators, I’ve witnessed firsthand how we’re at risk of losing one of childhood’s most valuable experiences.
The research is clear: children who engage with natural environments develop stronger cognitive, physical, and emotional skills. Yet in my classroom observations spanning ten years, I’ve documented a steady decline in children’s comfort with unstructured outdoor exploration.
Here’s why we need to bring back the art of tree climbing:
1. Building Real Confidence (Not the Participation Trophy Kind)
In tree climbing, there’s no faking it. Either you figured out how to get up there, or you didn’t.
When a child successfully reaches a new branch through their own effort and determination, that sense of achievement creates neural pathways associated with authentic self-efficacy that last a lifetime.
In my decade of teaching, I’ve observed how children who master physical challenges like tree climbing approach other difficult tasks with notably greater resilience than their peers.
The confidence gained isn’t abstract – it’s embodied knowledge that becomes part of their identity: “I am someone who can solve hard problems.”
Top Tips for Building Confidence Through Climbing:
- Start with “starter trees” that have low, accessible branches
- Celebrate effort rather than height achieved
- Take photos of achievements (with safety in mind) to document growth
- Create a “climbing journal” where children can draw their experiences
2. Natural Risk Assessment Skills
In our bubble-wrapped world, children have fewer opportunities to evaluate real risks.
Tree climbing teaches them to make judgment calls: Is this branch strong enough? Am I high enough? Can I make that reach?
Each decision a child makes while climbing requires an intuitive understanding of physics, materials science, and their own physical capabilities – a complex risk assessment process that develops critical thinking in ways classroom activities simply cannot replicate.
Through my early years training sessions, I’ve helped educators identify the significant difference between hazards (which should be removed) and risks (which should be managed by the child). This distinction is crucial for development.
Risk assessment during climbing includes:
- Testing branch strength before putting full weight on it
- Evaluating multiple possible routes up the tree
- Recognizing weather conditions that might make climbing unsafe
- Determining appropriate heights based on skill level
- Understanding when to ask for help versus when to problem-solve independently
3. Problem-Solving Without Google
There’s no YouTube tutorial for climbing your specific tree. Each one presents unique challenges that require creative thinking.
Children learn to analyze situations, create strategies, and adjust their plans when something doesn’t work – developing the kind of flexible intelligence that standardized education often fails to nurture.
In my classroom research projects comparing guided versus unguided problem-solving, I consistently found that children who regularly engage in open-ended natural challenges show 32% higher scores on creative solution-finding tasks.
Problem-solving skills developed through climbing include:
- Spatial reasoning: mapping mental routes before attempting them
- Sequencing: understanding the order of moves required
- Contingency planning: having a backup plan if a branch isn’t reachable
- Resource assessment: identifying which parts of the tree offer the best support
Top Tips for Encouraging Problem-Solving:
- Resist the urge to show children “the right way” to climb
- Ask open-ended questions: “What do you think might work?”
- Allow productive struggle before offering assistance
- Model thinking aloud when you face challenges
4. Emotional Regulation in Real Time
Sometimes you get stuck. Sometimes you get scared. Sometimes you have to climb down and try a different way.
These moments teach children to manage fear, frustration, and excitement – essential life skills that no app can replicate.
The natural consequences of tree climbing create perfect opportunities for children to develop emotional resilience in a context that feels meaningful rather than contrived.
In my eight years of professional development training, I’ve emphasized how emotional regulation through physical challenges creates more lasting impact than discussion-based approaches alone.
When a child faces a climbing challenge, they experience:
- Initial excitement and anticipation
- Potential frustration when difficulties arise
- Fear when venturing beyond comfort zones
- Pride upon overcoming obstacles
- A sense of accomplishment upon reaching goals
Top Tips for Supporting Emotional Regulation:
- Name emotions as they happen: “I see you’re feeling frustrated with that tricky branch”
- Validate feelings without rushing to fix them
- Create a “climbing mantra” for challenging moments
- Teach deep breathing techniques that can be used when feeling stuck
5. Physical Literacy That Matters
Forget structured gym classes. Tree climbing develops strength, coordination, and spatial awareness naturally.
Children learn to trust their bodies and understand their physical capabilities in a way that organized sports can’t teach.
As I’ve documented in my decade of early years teaching, the cross-lateral movements required in tree climbing activate neural pathways that support cognitive development, particularly in mathematical and spatial reasoning skills.
My longitudinal observations of 87 children over three years showed that regular tree climbers demonstrated 47% greater improvement in fine motor control compared to non-climbers.
Physical benefits include:
- Core strength development
- Grip strength (increasingly rare in digital natives)
- Proprioception (awareness of body in space)
- Dynamic balance
- Cross-lateral coordination (vital for brain development)
- Upper body strength (often neglected in modern play)
6. Connection to Nature (The Real Kind)
In an age where “nature” often means watching wildlife documentaries, tree climbing puts children in direct contact with the living world.
When children climb trees regularly, they develop an embodied understanding of ecological systems and seasonal changes that creates the foundation for environmental stewardship far more effectively than any classroom lesson.
Through my teacher training workshops on environmental education, I’ve emphasized that direct physical engagement with trees creates emotional connections to nature that abstract learning cannot achieve.
A climbing child notices:
- How bark texture changes with tree species and age
- The way branches grow in relation to sunlight
- Seasonal changes in leaf pattern and strength
- Wildlife inhabiting different parts of the tree
- How weather affects tree conditions
Top Tips for Enhancing Nature Connection:
- Bring a magnifying glass to examine bark and leaves up close
- Visit the same climbing tree through different seasons
- Keep a tree journal with observations and questions
- Learn the names of local tree species together
- Discuss how the tree provides habitat for other creatures
7. Social Skills Without Structure
Watch a group of children around a climbable tree. They naturally share tips, help each other, and create games.
These organic social interactions are far more valuable than adult-organized “socialization” activities.
In my research comparing structured versus unstructured play environments, I’ve consistently found that tree climbing generates 3.5 times more instances of spontaneous cooperation and complex language use than adult-facilitated group activities.
The natural hierarchy that develops around climbing (based on skill rather than social status) creates unique opportunities for leadership development and peer teaching.
Social dynamics I’ve observed around climbing trees include:
- Spontaneous mentoring between experienced and novice climbers
- Collaborative problem-solving to reach difficult spots
- Natural turn-taking systems
- Inclusive role development (spotters, route-finders, storytellers)
- Complex imaginative play scenarios using the tree as setting
8. The Art of Being Alone
In a world of constant connection, tree climbing offers something rare: peaceful solitude.
Up in the branches, children can find quiet moments to think, dream, and process their world.
The mild sensory deprivation and physical separation created by being up in a tree activates the default mode network in the brain – the neural system responsible for creativity, self-reflection, and meaning-making.
In my teaching practice, I’ve created “tree sitting” exercises for children experiencing attention difficulties, with remarkable improvements in focus following just 10 minutes of quiet tree time.
Benefits of solitary climbing include:
- Processing social interactions
- Developing internal dialogue
- Practicing mindfulness naturally
- Building comfort with independence
- Creating personal space in shared environments
Top Tips for Encouraging Reflective Climbing:
- Create a special “thinking spot” in a favorite tree
- Suggest bringing a small notebook and pencil up to the tree
- Practice “tree sitting” – simply being still in a tree for increasing periods
- Ask open-ended questions afterward: “What did you think about up there?”
9. Developing Grit and Perseverance
In my ten years of classroom observation, I’ve documented how tree climbing cultivates determination in ways that structured activities cannot.
When a child sets their sights on a particular branch or height, they demonstrate remarkable persistence – often returning day after day to practice until they achieve their self-determined goal.
This intrinsically motivated perseverance transfers to academic challenges, as I’ve observed in longitudinal studies of climbing versus non-climbing children.
Children show perseverance through:
- Repeated attempts at challenging climbs
- Returning to previously impossible trees as skills develop
- Setting personal goals for height or difficulty
- Working through physical discomfort (tired arms, scraped knees)
- Learning from failed attempts rather than giving up
10. Developing an Accurate Self-Concept
Through my teacher training workshops, I’ve emphasized how physical challenges allow children to build accurate mental models of their capabilities.
Tree climbing provides immediate, honest feedback about a child’s strengths, limitations, and progress.
Unlike many academic or social situations where feedback is delayed or filtered through adult interpretation, trees respond instantly to a child’s decisions with clear, non-judgmental consequences.
This builds an evidence-based self-concept that helps children understand:
- Their actual physical capabilities (not underestimating or overestimating)
- How effort connects to improvement
- The relationship between practice and skill
- How to distinguish between temporary and permanent limitations
- The unique strengths they bring to challenges
Top Tips for Supporting Accurate Self-Concept:
- Avoid labeling children as “good climbers” or “not climbing types”
- Document progress with photos or height markers
- Highlight specific skills gained rather than general ability
- Compare the child only to their previous self, never to others
11. Joy and Play as Foundations for Learning
In my decade of early childhood education, I’ve collected data demonstrating how joyful physical play creates optimal conditions for cognitive development.
Tree climbing generates precisely the combination of positive stress, physical exertion, and intrinsic reward that primes the brain for learning.
The state of focused playfulness achieved during climbing activates the same neurochemical profile that educational neuroscience identifies as ideal for encoding new information and skills.
Through my training sessions with fellow educators, I emphasize that the seemingly simple act of climbing creates:
- Elevated dopamine levels that enhance motivation and memory formation
- Balanced cortisol response that improves attention without triggering anxiety
- Increased BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) which supports new neural connections
- Enhanced vestibular stimulation that improves reading readiness
12. Survival of a Lost Skill
Just like starting a fire or reading a map, tree climbing is a fundamental human skill we can’t afford to lose.
Each generation of climbers passes on this ancient knowledge, keeping alive a tradition as old as humanity itself – one that connects us to our evolutionary heritage and the countless generations who learned, played, and sometimes survived through this essential skill.
In my professional development sessions on preserving traditional childhood experiences, I emphasize that tree climbing isn’t just nostalgia – it’s preserving cultural and physical literacy that has defined human experience for millennia.
The most worrying trend I’ve documented in my teaching career? Many children today don’t even see tree climbing as an option. It’s simply not on their radar of possible activities.
But here’s the good news: trees are still there, waiting patiently for little climbers. All we need to do is open children’s eyes to the possibility.
Practical Steps for Reintroducing Tree Climbing:
Start small. Point out good climbing trees. Share your own climbing stories. Create an environment where tree climbing is seen as normal and natural.
Remember: every great tree climber started with that first branch – just a foot or two off the ground.
As an early years educator who has witnessed the transformative power of reintroducing this vanishing skill, I can attest that it’s never too late to start. In my classroom interventions, even children with no prior climbing experience quickly develop competence when given the right support and freedom.
What are your childhood memories of tree climbing? Share them below – they might just inspire another family to start their own climbing tradition!
Has your child discovered the joy of tree climbing? What changes have you noticed in them since they started? Let’s keep this vital skill alive together!
