Dopey Question - Climbing up the Slide Vs. Sliding Down

I know some parents make a big fuss about it. I personally have no problem letting my kiddos climb up the slide. As long as their isn't anyone waiting to go down, I think its totally fine! Plus it helps them develop strong leg muscles climbing up too! :) I don't have too many rules at the park-I like my kids to express themselves freely and play like children!

I think as long as kids are taught respect and manners and know to watch for little kids, let them have at it! And for those worried about concussions in the slide, I think its more likely someone will get one falling off the side of the playset that has openings....I'm paranoid though so I'd probably let my daughter do the top of the monkey bars but walk under J. in case...

I've worked w/ kids for many years and will always have the horrible experience of helping a child who was climbing up the slide (a small one) and fell down. She would often walk up the slide from the bottom and just happened to slip this one time. She fell and her top 2 teeth went through the skin under her bottom lip-completely through. It was awful. She needed several stitches and would always have a big scar. I've also seen kids fall from the monkey bars, breaking their arms. I've seen this more than once.

I find this question a little bit like asking, "Why can't I drive on the wrong side of the road if there aren't any other cars coming?" The answer is that, even if no one is using the slide right now, that can change in an instant. And then it's rude at best that you are making someone wait until you stop and dangerous at worst if they don't realize you're there. Slides are meant to be slid down, not climbed up. Everyone knows that. Most play structures have a ton of things that will provide your kids exercise to climb.

Ditto with climbing up the outside of tube slides. That's not what they are meant for. I don't care about the monkey bars, because they are meant to be climbed, but tube slides are there so that children can slide in them, not climb up them. When you use things in ways you know they aren't meant to be used, the risk of injury goes up.

The rule at school is no climbing up the slide. And so I suspect parents just stick to that rule everywhere. With a lot of kids using the slide, it is difficult to be sure that a kid isn't coming down at the same time one is going up. So it's a safety issue with large numbers of children. I let my grandkids climb up if no one else is on the slide.

Again, "they" think it's a safety issue to let kids climb on the outside of a covered slide. I disagree. I let my grandchildren climb on the outside. Climbing trees is OK with me but not with some parents.

Our local park has taken out the covered slide and replaced it with a short open slide. They totally eliminated a tall slide. I suppose someone could fall off it and at that height be seriously injured. They also eliminated the merry-go-round. And in another park they've taken out the swings and teeter totters. All for safety reasons. I know of one school that eliminated a hexagon climbing structure that was installed over rubber covered with saw dust. I doubt that one could find many playgrounds on plain dirt or grass. Structures are built on rubber or a thick layer of saw "dust."

Bumps and bruises used to be a part of growing up. They're not allowed anymore. And definitely no broken arms. A kindergartner fell off the rings and broke her arm and her teacher would no longer let her class use the rings.

I find it irritating. I suggest the cause for this anti-adventure on the playground is due to at least three factors. One, that some parents don't supervise their kids. Two, that parents threaten to sue when their child is hurt on a playground. I've not heard of a lawsuit but school personnel cite that reason. The third is that parents have become overly protective. In the old days we knew that we couldn't control everything. It seems to me now that since we've learned to control a lot more than we could before we now are working towards total control and the elimination of injury.

Holy cow! I never realized that the "slide rules" were so deeply ingrained in moms! LOL
Kids can bust their teeth while you're holding their hands.
No, no O. wants to have the kid fighting his way UP while 50 other kids are coming DOWN.
But assuming all of the "safety planets" are aligned...I let my kid go up.
I don't see this as a huge, stomach-wrenching topic.
And I think most kids who are old enough to climb UP a slide, can figure out if any other kids are on/around/using that slide at the time. JMO.
:)

Because some parents think that playground life has to be orderly. They think children at the top of the slide are DEVASTATED if kids get in their way. Now granted, I always tell my kids to get out of the way because I know how everyone feels, but if someone's kid is climbing up the slide while my little boobie woobies are waiting to slide down SO WHAT??!! Jeesh. They can yell at them to move. Kids probably wish they could all just hang loose and climb around instead of adding the playground to the list of places they keep perfect order. If no one is at the top, I let my kids climb up them because of the awesome exercise. I purposely stay out of range while the kids play, not because I'm lazy, but because I wan to cut them a break! They know not to hit or push or block the slides, they don't need my yelling, "Johnnie, No!" all over the place and policing them. I also think the equipment was designed to climb on it however kids want depending on their age and ability.

Also, people, if there is no sign posted at the park saying "climbing up slides is unlawful", you're just assuming it's not allowed.

Oh, adults are so funny – we learn the "rules" that were pounded into us by our parents and by the time we're grown, they are gilded and framed under glass. The more sternly they were pounded into us, the more likely we are to honor them as if they came directly from heaven. We can't help it – those rules got in before we were able to ask "WHY?" or at least before we were able to make sense of the explanations, if there were any.

Not all parents were/are that rule-bound, though, and not all kids are even able to be constrained by rules that make no sense. I had a policeman once tell me that he sat at red lights, late at night with no other traffic on the road, until one day he just asked, "WHY?" Since then, if he finds himself in that situation, he stops, looks all around to make sure it's safe, and then he drives through that red light. Now, this is a man who is really, seriously dedicated to following the rules and making others do so, and he suddenly awoke to the fact that sometimes, the rules make no sense at all. Why sit there, wasting precious time and idling gas away, when you're not waiting for anybody?

I like to think of the reasons that things are what they are, and how they could be better. If kids want to climb up a slide that nobody else is using, there's no safety issue. Why shouldn't they see it as an icy mountain to conquer? That's just as legitimate a way to play with a slide as the sliding down it was designed for (by some grownup).

Silly grownups. Until we become like little children, we are shut out of the Kingdom of Heaven. But it sure does rub some people raw to let children play joyously and imaginatively, if it breaks their concept of the "rules."

Okay. Off my soapbox now.

Interesting question...

I refuse to let my kids climb a slide (inside or outside) - a slide is meant for /sliding/ and honestly, I get quite annoyed at the parents that don't say something to their kids, especially those that should know better and are older than my 4YO and 18mo! I do find it rude and an accident waiting to happen. ** I do like Diana P's suggestion of explaining to the older kids about my younger ones getting hurt trying to do "what you are doing" - Thanks Diana! ** I really don't feel like I am stiffling their play and hope as they get older that they know better and use things as they are intended (so, I guess this is a life lesson as much as a playground lesson).

I have no problems monkeying on the monkey bars - that is what they were constructed for.

IMO, inappropriate use of objects (slide, scissors, glues, hot coffee, etc.) is what results in more rules and regulations as we suddenly need "protecting" from our own stupidity. This is also how we end up with frivilous law suits.

~C.

PostScript (6/3/11) - In response to the SWH, climbing /down/ a ladder is still proper use, so is walking /under/ a slide since there is space there and it can be done safely. Hanging out at the top and using ones imagination is not so much an issue for me either - it is how my child got to the top - properly using a ladder and then how they get down - sliding on the slide. Mine love going down on their bellies! I do insist it is feet first though. I would never allow jumping from the platform though as that is another huge safety issue for me.

Kids will be kids though and we all need to recognize that and to that end, I am sure that one day, they will climb up the slide; however, not on my watch.

I have found this chain insteresting because of the "Well, I did it and I survived" attitude. There are lots of things I did that I hope my kids never repeat! ~CET~

I don't let my 3-year-old climb up the slide or the outside of a play structure, and I've asked older kids to stop doing it at our local playground (I explain that I don't want my little guy to try "what you're doing" because he'll fall off - and they are fine with that). I worry most about the kids who have climbed up the outside of the 3-story climbing structure and are literally clinging to it with one hand and by the toe of their thong sandals. I don't want to be the first parent on the scene of a kiddo who has lost his/her grip from that height and broken an arm, ankle, or worse. Also - if my child slides down the enclosed curling tunnel slide and his feet hit the face of a child climbing up, who's fault is that? I may be in the minority here (and maybe I'll change my mind when he's older) but right now I'm *really* uncomfortable with it.

I let mine climb up it, and if there are other kids, I make sure he climbs up the other side and everyone takes turns. I even read in an article somewhere that that was a GOOD thing, because it's the child learning to take a "calculated risk" - they're climbing up something they usually slide down and have to figure out how, etc. So you're fine.

Wow, you really got tons of answers to this one! I am amazed at the passion people show in talking about why it's tantamount to anarchy to allow a child to climb up the slide. I have a conditional rule about it being okay at home or if no one else wants to come down and then I watch them to step in if they're not playing well with other kids.

I really was appalled at the woman who tells her child to just go down the slide and hit a child coming up on purpose! These are children, why would you advise your kids to be hurtful on purpose to other kids? Interesting way to teach values to your child.

I think play ought to be creative too. And I think parents need to teach kids to communicate with others as much as drilling them on safety and etiquette.

As long as there is no one coming down, I've let my son climb up, and on the outside of a tube slide, too.
The whole point of a playground is to move, climb, get some fresh air and exercise muscles and learn new skills ("Mom! Look what I can do!").
The driving on the wrong side of a road is not a great analogy to my way of thinking.
Kids are the original think outside the box thinkers.
There are rules and 'no running' almost everywhere else but this is a playground.
As long as they are courteous to each other and are not trying anything too outrageously dangerous (and no throwing mulch/sand, etc) (I WATCH my son at the park, I don't ignore him while he's playing), then any way he wants to play is fine by me.
I also see no problem if they want to wind up the swing and then spin on it till they are dizzy.
I used to love doing that when I was a kid.
Remember teeter-totters?
(Most places don't have them anymore.)
I was the kid who'd stand on top of the middle and balance as 2 friends were on the ends.
It was way less dangerous than skateboards or roller blades.

I let my kids climb up the slide all the time - Whats the big deal, but I see other mothers making a huge deal out of it. If there is a kid sliding down, then obviously my kid knows not to climb up - and if there is nobody at the park, then they can climb up.

I have seen and heard this too. The last time we were at the park, some kid was doing it and the mom immediately told her kid only go down the slide. 2 seonds later my kids were climbing up it, it was kindof awkward, but I just let them be. I don;t see anything wrong with it. If they think its fun, great - have a good time.

I can't tell you how many times I've left parks or the Play Place at McD's because parents let their kids climb up slides and not follow the general playground rules. It's not only dangerous for your kids, but for mine as well. I don't care what you say, there is no way to climb "safely" on the outside of a tube slide. They aren't meant for climbing on top of. That's a broken limb or neck waiting to happen. I know several kids that fell off the top of the money bars and broke wrists, ankles and legs. My niece jumped out of a swing and broke both her arms. My nephew was climbing up the slide, lost his footing and smashed his face really good, and bit almost all the way through his tongue in the process. Yes, accidents can happen even when using playground equipment properly, but they are more likely to occur when it's not being used properly.

I suppose if we had a slide at home, I might let the kids climb up the slide. But then again, maybe not.

Letting children do some things sometimes and then not letting them do the same things other times is just confusing them. Rules are rules. Kids need these boundaries to learn social mores and norms. It is a building block to being adapted as an adult.

If you let your kids play how they want then try and change it just because other kids are around it just make social development delayed.

not only do i see it as rude to allow my child to monopolize the bottom half of the slide so that others can't use it properly, it's also a safety issue (are kids at the top really going to stop and think, "hey someone is at the bottom of this slide, i better not go down"? why put that burden on someone else, when using it properly would get rid of that issue all together?) and consistency issue. i'd prefer my son have the same set of rules to remember, whether there are other kids around or not, whether the bottom of the slide is visible, or not. NOW- i say i'd "prefer" it - but i have to say also, i have caved on this issue, because i see kids doing it all the time (- and i've seen countless collisions on the slides, as well). i will let him climb up it if no one else is AT THE PLAYGROUND. and when there are others there, guess what - i have to remind him constantly, now, when before when the rule was firm, it never occurred to him. i wish i had never allowed it at all.

i think bottom line, it's just your preference. if you trust your children to be safe and be aware that others are on the slide before they start climbing up, great. my son is a little rambuctious and doesn't always stop to think. it's easier on both of us if the rules are clear. he works better with clear cut rules. some kids may be more conscientious. mine isn't! lol.

as far as "If you let your kids play how they want then try and change it just because other kids are around it just make social development delayed.", i don't agree with (what i think) this poster is saying. i certainly don't think it's going to scar him for life. i think it's, realistically, just harder for them to remember. but it's no different than remembering, when others are around, we share our toys. when we are alone, we get them all to ourselves.

Well I don't do that either.
I mean, getting my panties in a bunch, because my kids are climbing it or up it... if there are no other kids there or on it or around it. At that time.
If it is in an outdoor park/public park place.
I let my kids climb, up or down.

But if it is in an inside venue, then well the establishment has 'rules' on the equipment. Wouldn't wanna get kicked out/warned about my kids.
They have liability to worry about if a kid gets hurt.

I was at the park the other day. A Mom with her 3 year old was there. ( I knew how old he was because I asked her).
She would not let, her son do ANYTHING. He couldn't slide down the slide nor climb up it nor climb up the short ladder, nor climb down. She was right behind him every centimeter he was there and telling him "NO! Don't do that, you'll get hurt." The poor kid, could not even enjoy 'playing' at the park. Then she'd say to him "why don't you wanna slide down the slide?" and then SHE would slide down, with him, with him in her lap. Not letting him slide by himself. The kid, could not do anything. Constant hovering by the Mom.
Gosh. I felt sorry for the kid.

It's like following the rules of the road. Would you drive your car the wrong way down a road just because you were the only car around that you could see? Some people do and get away with it just fine but others get into an accident when a car they didn't expect pulls around the corner and slams into them head on.

The issue I have with using the slide backwards is that little kids don't switch gears that fast. Mine doesn't at least. If she has been running up the slide for the past ten minutes and some other little kid comes and starts to climb the ladder, the proper way, I'm usually hard pressed to get my kid to stop climbing up backwards and start using the slide the other way. She'll cop an attitude and then we'll have to leave.

So, it's easier for me to make sure my kid does it the right way, every single time. It'll prevent a pile up on the road in the long run.

When she uses her private slide at home she can do whatever she wants. When she uses public equipment she has to follow the general park rules. If we had a private road, she could spin doughnuts on it for all I care, but when you're out in public, the rules are there to keep accidents from happening.

I'm fine with them crawling over the top of tube slides, monkey bars, etc. But I don't let them climb up a slide, even if we're alone. I just see it as rude and if a child is at the top and doesn't see the one climbing up, one or both could get really hurt. I lost track of how many times one of mine started a fight because someone came down while they were going up. Whose fault is it? Since the "proper" way is to go down, it would make my child at fault and they didn't see it that way and always started fights or threw a tantrum because they'd gotten hurt. Or I would have an angry parent in my face even if my child was a almost to the top, perfectly visible, and their angel decided to go anyway. So I just instituted down only. Sometimes you need to be able to push boundaries, but sometimes those boundaries are there for a good reason. As to not doing it when we're alone either, it just confuses them and then they forget to do it when there are kids around. As I said, I'm not a mom to freak out over every little thing and I'm often the mom with children up the tree or in the creek while other mom's freak if their little darling has even a speck of dirt on them so I'm not one to really worry about this stuff but this rule I do enforce.

Wow- I just read your what happened and not all the responses- I climbed up the slide all the time when I was little and I don't drive on the wrong side of the road! :)
I do let my kids climb up- IF there is no one else using the slide. I am much more concerned with the moms who let their kids throw the small pebbles some playgrounds use as ground cover for the park. My kids know that is not allowed and we will go home immediately if I catch them throwing rocks- but other moms will let their little ones do it and not say anything, even though they are throwing them at my kids!
Back to the slide thing- as long as my kids are being respectful to others- I let them play. I don't see anything wrong with climbing up a slide if you are mindful of those around you.
~C.

As long as no one else wants to use it, I don't care if my boys climb up. We did as kids.

Its all great exercise if you ask me. I do like to see ther faces when they slide the "right" way, but I didnt stop my kids from climbing up the slide unless others were trying to slide down.

I let mine climb up only if there's not any other kids playing on it. I also let him play on the outside of the slide depending on how high it goes. If it's pretty high up there I don't let him because of the fear of him falling. I say just let your kids play and be kids. I think some parents are just too afraid of offending other people to let their kids have fun. OR they are too fearful of their kids getting hurt to let them be kids. Just my thoughts on it....

My youngest got a concussion an imprint of another child's work boot when dad let him climb up the slide, he was 3. If we are the only ones at the park I don't care if they do it but when others are there i don't allow it. Our park doesn't have monkey bars so that's not an issue it has a few climbing structures for the kids.

Sure you see us making a big deal about not climbing up the slide - because we only do it when we're the only ones there. If there are other kids on the playground, "Up the steps, down the slide." I don't want to be the reason someone else gets hurt, and I don't want my kids hurt, either. If we're the only ones there, though, then we KNOW no one else is waiting to come down.

There is a playground near us that is built specifically with handholds on the outside of the play structure, and that one is fine for the kids to climb up. It doesn't have a tube slide. I once saw a slide that was enclosed in wooden slats, so it could be climbed like a ladder. But traditional, fiberglass, tube slides are not meant to be climbed, and are not designed for it to be done safely. There are no handholds, and fiberglass is slippery, particularly if it's wet - if you go out there in the mornings when there is still dew or if there is a badly aimed sprinkler (our neighborhood park is like that). Monkey bars, however, are designed to be climbed.

Besides, if the kids want to climb, the park also has some wonderful trees. They usually have nice, rough places to dig your fingers into, and it's easier to get your hands around a tree branch than it is to hold a slide.

I only let my son climb up the slide when no one is there. Not just no one using the slide... because it takes MUCH longer... but no one on the structure where the slide is.

I can't COUNT the number of times there've been kids waiting to go down, when one or more kids is going up, partway down, going up, partway down, going up. They don't see the kids at the top usually, and if they do it's because some kid is leaning over the edge shouting at them... but because it's interrupting their play they want "just a minute", then they finally get to the top and knock the other kids over getting out of it. It's vexing. More than half the time the kids at the top get bored and leave. Sometimes the kids get angry and start yelling. Occasionally one kid just GOES (either because they're a toddler and don't know any better or they are an older kid who is ticked off) Those ones always end badly. Crashes and hurt kids and angry parents each and every time.

What's MOST infuriating is when a parent is standing right by their kid taking 5-10 minutes to go up the slide (hey, I let my child do it too, it's fun... but NOT when it's blocking other people) and keeps telling the kids at the top "It's just going to be a few minutes." <rolls eyes> The slide takes 5-10 seconds to go DOWN, but (unless someone is nimble) 5-10 minutes to go UP.

Now... you specifically said when 'no one else is using it'... which is my rule of thumb as well. But the moment other people walk on, you'll hear my voice saying "Remember, DOWN the slide, kiddo! No. We talked about this/you know better, NOT UP the slide or we're going home."

:)

Wow, I can't believe all the strict slide down only parent responses you received! I have one of the best behaved kids in and out of school and a self-imposed rule follower in class but when he is playing, as long as he is respectful of others and careful I let him use his imagination and he is learning to use his own judgement. Why not let them "color outside the lines" if it is not hurting anyone? How many of you have walked along a curb like it is a balance beam or do you just stick to rules and walk the sidewalk? Here is where the lesson in judgement comes in: If it is a busy street stick to the sidewalk--if it is a quiet neighborhood have fun and let them balance.

I was also shocked at the response where mom lets her kid slide into someone if they are in their way. Great lesson there in looking out for your fellow man!

DS can climb up the slide if we are the only ones using it. He can climb however he likes on the monkey bars. Playgrounds are for play - which is supposed to be creative. I find it strange that other people don't allow their kids to climb the slide - it appears the kids find it way more fun to go up than down once they are more than 18 months or so. I see almost no reason to intervene in their play unless there is a clear power/size/age disparity.

Of course kids can learn different rules for different occasions - they learn the rules at preschool are different from home, children of divorce learn the rules of two households and another post today about disciplining someone else's child had every responder stating that a child could understand that 'our house rules' are different from Joey's mom's rules.

Kids can also learn to recognize safety issues (and they won't learn unless we let them). DS is 5. He can decide on his own that the slide is empty and he can climb it. When he is sliding down, he looks down and will wait or talk to a kid who is still sliding down but is not off yet, or is trying to climb up. He can also recognize 'little kids' and knows to be careful and slower around them.

DS does not climb all over the benches at the park because those are not 'toys' those are furniture for sitting on.

I completely agree with Jae R., who likened climbing up slides when no one is there to driving on the wrong side of the road when no cars are coming. I do not let my children go up the slide, period. At home, at the park, with or without others. You can't always tell (especially if you're a little kid) whether or not someone is about to go down the slide. And my kids have a hard enough time following the rule as it is, nevermind if I confuse the issue by adding conditions to the rule. I get annoyed when I'm at the playground and other parents are allowing children to climb up the slide. I am not the type to get into a confrontation, but I audibly tell my boys that I don't care what other kids are doing, it isn't safe to go up the slide, and they aren't allowed to do it.

The number-one playground injury involves slides. I will add here that I'm fairly relaxed about risk-taking activities in general -- I have three boys, and I know I can't keep them away from all harm. I let them take risks. But climbing up a slide is not an issue of their safety alone, it's an issue of others' safety as well (just as driving on the right side of the road is such a general issue).

I'll let them climb up the slide if no other kid is waiting to go down it. I will not let them climb on the outside of the tube slides at all because they could easily fall and get hurt.

This only bothered me when my little guy was about 1 1/2 and would get stuck having to wait for older kids to get out of the way, now that he's 3, he's right there with them going down AND up the slide. I'm always standing right there, so I take full responsibility if he/someone else were to get hurt...but it just seems pretty harmless to me as long as they're not getting too wild. I don't think I've ever met a kid that didn't like to climb up a slide. (We don't have the tube slides at our park)

Now if another mom were to come along and want to enforce the "up the stairs, down the slide" only, I'd respect that mom and make my kid do the same...because technically it is the safest way.

if my kids are old enough - which they are - they understand that they can fall and hurt themselves...I let them climb UP the slide and on the outside of the tube.

When they were younger - say 3 and 5....they would see the other kids doing it and wanted to do it - but their coordination level at that time wasn't good enough to keep them relatively safe....so I would say NO, not today - go the other way...

GOOD LUCK!!

What I want to know...Of those parents who are adamant about not allowing their children to climb up the slide or climb on top of the monkey bars, etc., how many of you can honestly say that you NEVER did anything like that as a kid? I know that I did. It's a part of being a kid!!!

Yes, you do need to teach your children playground etiquette, but just let the kids play. :-)

Ha ha generally speaking, I don't let my kids go the wrong way up the slide. However, I also have no problem sending them down when someone lets theirs walk up it. Sorry, if they want to use the equipment outside of its main purpose--sliding down, and want to take the risks of getting injured by all means go for it. You can give me the evil stares all you want, I'm not going to make my child sit and wait while your child attempts to make it up the slide. As others have stated slides are for sliding....

My reason is that when things are used in a way that was not intended, that is when accidents happen. My daughter ripped out her 2 front teeth at age 5 jumping on the outside of a moonwalk. Everyone else was doing it, it did not look dangerous to me (it is a blow up thing and soft) but somehow she got her teeth in the mesh and lost both of them in a horribly painful and bloody manner (I still shudder when I think about that day). Same with climbing up slides, I've seen kids fall off the sides, I've seen other kids plow into their faces with shoes since they did not see them. Same with swings, I've seen kids sit on their haunches in the seat and flip over onto their heads. And I agree with the post below that kids cannot remember that in situation A I am allowed to do B but in situation C I can only do D. Better to set simple rules.

At home they are welcome to climb wherever they want on our wooden play set, but at the parks they will be respectful and climb up where they are supposed to (climbing walls, stairs, ladders, etc) and they go DOWN the slides. I think its rude for parents to let their kids climb all over the equipment where they shouldn't.

I let my kids do it if no one else is around, but my husband doesn't. It really is a safety thing - but I still let them do it. They know better than to climb on the outside of tube slides - that is flat out dangerous. There is nothing for them to grib well enough if they start to slip.

As a general rule children are not good at remembering that we can do this when this or that is happening and we can't do it when this or that is happening. I've been in parks with children for 25 years and I've NEVER seen a child have the manners to refrain from climbing up the side right in front of other children. They get in the way of the other children because kids are rude creatures until we teach them otherwise. How often is your child in the park alone? I can't imagine very often. Also, most parents are too lazy to be with the kids when they play. They sit off to the sides and or talk with other people. So they are not likely to stop them from getting in other children's path. It's best to just teach common sense rules from the start.

One time at an indoor inflatable playground my daughter was TERRIBLY hurt by a child that ran in the exit and tried to climb up just as my daughter was coming down. She said he wasn't there when she started. He sprung up there quickly and they bumped heads. The little rude person didn't get so much as a bump or scratch and my daughter had a giant goose egg and massive headache instantly. We had to leave because the child's parents has not taught them proper playing etiquette. I take several children when I go and at 7 bucks a pop, I should have found the little snots mother and demanded she pay me back for the wasted money and the wasted day.

I let my daughter climb up the slide if she is the only one on the slide too. I used to do it and so do other kids. It could be dangerous if they are sliding with other kids around but if they are on it alone I don't see a problem. As a matter of fact we were at the park yesterday and she climbed up the slide. It was fun for her and fine with me.

With no other kids present I'd let mine climb up the slide, I always liked to as well because it's so challenging. But it was instilled in them not to do it if others were present because it is like the other poster said "like driving on the wrong side of the road". Getting to climb up the slide was fun because it was also taboo.

All kids will try this. My DD likes climbing up the slide, but I only allow her if it's safe - not too tall and no other kids sliding down. She does it at home all the time. I have also learned that freak accidents just happen. We have a trampoline and in all the years we have had it (with the safety net), we have had one accident where a girl wasn't doing anything crazy but sprained her ankle. Or another time a kid jumped off our swing, as kids do, and dislocated her elbow. I would prefer my kids NOT get injured, but sometimes just normal things cause injuries, too. Friend's son has a cast and the parents say he tripped and fell and 5 yr olds don't know how to fall so it broke. Their pediatrician said it's very common.

I do evaluate the playgrounds, though, and if there are things that are on the "big kid" side that are too advanced for DD, I keep her off them. I'd rather she climb the 2 yr old slide than the 12 yr old twisty slide.

Sometimes just for fun we have dessert before lunch!! So you know Ilet
my kids walk up the slide! It adds a new dimension to their young life! If there are other kids on the slide, they go up the c orrect way.

If there are others at the park the rule is DOWN the slide, no climbing up. It is rude and unsafe if there are other kids running around and quickly going down slides.

At home my daughter can climb up or slide down, but it is at our home and she does not need to worry about other kids.

Climbing on the outside of a tube slide, well my daughter (almost 5) has not wanted to do that, but I have seen others do it. I would say my rule is going to be no climbing on the outside, it really is not safe.

With the monkey bars, if they can climb across the top safely AND there is no one else waiting to use them that is fine.

We let our daughter also do this if no other children were there and she was not in anyone's way.. We also let her swing on the swings while standing.. Of course we had a neighbor child who was a complete daredevil, still is, and she busted her face climbing up a slide, totally flipped over, hit and bounced all the way down on her forehead, nose and split her lip! Ah, I remember the screaming.... It was ear piercing, oh and the child cried too..

Our daughter refused to go up a slide again after witnessing it! She would say, "feet first on the slide!"

I guess it can be dangerous, and some parents would probably sue, but if we allowed our daughter to do this stuff, we really kept an eye on her..

I know schools definitely do not allow it, I can only imagine the accidents that would occur there.

I do home daycare and do not allow the kids to climb up the slide ever, nor on the outside of one climbing toy I have with a connecting tube. But I consider my place more like a public sort of playground and have those similar rules apply. Just like if you were at the public park or the MickeyD play place. With multiple kids from different families, and someone else's liability issues on the line...I think everyone should assimilate into a more standard rule of thumb on such matters. At your own home...let her rip! I did when it was just my own daughter here at home...and she knew the difference (on the exact same equipment) that when it was daycare time (she was 3 when I began daycare here at home), the rules were different than when it was "home" time.

I have sternly spoken to kids at local parks, etc about such things when they were NOT looking for kids going down from the top, etc, and my child (or charges) were and they were in the way. Even got into it with a parent/caregiver once. I even went to a park once about 10 years ago that had signs posted saying the "right" way. The gal I was with who lived near there (it was her neighborhood park) said it was due to liability claims and stuff...legal junk I guess?? I dunno.

Not sure how that works...but if your child gets hurt at the local park or hurts someone else, while "incorrectly playing" on the equiptment...who is liable? Cuz you know someone is suing someone, right?

Just my thoughts...

I can see and understand people being worried their kids might fall off the slides or monkeybars this way, they could get hurt, break and arm or what not, but then again, a kid will break their arm or get hurt on one thing or another at some point in their life unless you shelter them so much they arn't able to experince anything at all in life.Now I was worried before for my son to do alot of things, go down the slide by himself, walking around on the tall parts of the jungle gym where their were openings for landers and sliddy poles, but I eventualy, as he got older alowed him to do more, stoped worrying so much. He gets hurt all the time, bumps his head, gets a scartch here or there, brusies, and what not, but always bounces back like one of those rubber balls.

I still worry he might fall or hurt himself worse than he normaly does playing around, thats just normalI think to being a mum. But I allow him to climb up the slide, he has lots of fun doing it and teaches him how to climb a bit. I was completely excited when I seen him do it for the first time just because he always had trouble climbing up the ladders and trees and such like all the other kids that were his age or younger. So to me its something that kids do, and its a way to let them live and learn about life and how things work.

For crying out loud I did the same thing when I was younger too, and I am still around to tell about it. There are far worse things to throw fits about than a kid climbing up a slide.

It's called a slide for a reason: to slide down it. I've never seen anyone able to slide up one. Remember the game Chutes and Ladders? What's the rule for the Chute?

The author of Happiest Toddler on the Block says that to make ambiguous rules only confuses the child and leads to more misunderstanding and misbehavior. Toddlers need black and white rules, according to the author.

I never let my kids climb up the inside of tube slides because it is too hard to see if anyone else is trying to come down.

I don't think you're comitting a playground faux pas, as long as your kids get that they better turn around & go down if someone tries to come down the slide, or get off the monkey bars if someone wants to go across. The parents who sit idly by and say nothing while their kids go up slides while other kids are trying to come down.... or while their kid is perched atop the monkey bars while lots of other kids are waiting.... THOSE parents are the reason why some OTHER parents are sticklers about how playground equipment should be used. I'd rather see the strict parents than the lax parents (who let their kids impede other kids' enjoyment) any day.

I don't let me kids walk up slides for the simple reason that it is easier to fall from them that way (little kids aren't used to inclines, on slippy surfaces, with little to hold onto). My brother fell from a slide as a 6 year old and broke his arm, so I've always been a bit more cautious, as I saw the damage it did (it was very scary for him as well as being expectedly painful). Also, I've seen too many kids get a sneaker in the teeth from someone coming down who isn't expecting the slide the be used other than how it was made to be used (sliding down). Just my two cents. :)

I agree with you...as long as it isn't inhibiting anyone from playing or losing a turn, I think climbing the slide is good..it is a physical and a mental challenge for them...all for it. Climbing across the top of monkey bars - totally fine with that too.
I don't let me daughter climb on the outside of the tube slide only because it really makes me nervous. You would think it would be the monkey bars, but so not. It is the outside of that slide that worries me more. LOL

As a former elementary school teacher, we ALWAYS tried to prohibit kids from climbing up the slide, because, invariably, someone else was coming down, and the climber got a sneaker in the mouth and had to go to the nurse.

However, there is NO STOPPING kids from climbing up. They are just compelled to do it. Even though all the teachers told them not to, and put them in time out if we saw it, the kids still kept doing it.

My son is 3, and he climbs up the slide whenever he gets a chance. My one and a half year old would climb up if she could get up.