Climbing the Walls

Usually in the elementary physical education program, climbing activities take place on apparatus such as cargo nets, ropes, and educational gymnastic equipment like the King's Castle.  At Smith School we currently have a ten panel traverse climbing wall where additional climbing activities are used to meet some of our educational objectives.

These activities help students on a variety of levels ranging from interpersonal skills, cooperative and communication skills, to raising self esteem and self-confidence, to cognitive skills (decision-making, problem-solving) to the physical (fitness and motor development).

Students work in partners:  one climber and one spotter and the activities include:

1)  Individual panel work.  Partners work taking turns climbing one panel.

2)  Intra-panel work.  Two sets of partners working and traversing (climbing sideways) crossing back and forth between panels.

3)  Traversing wall challenge.  One partners traverse all 10 panels and goes as far as he/she can in one climb and then the partner takes over.

4)  Eagle's nest.  Climbers work to traverse the wall with rubber eggs and pass to teammates, across bodies of opposing climbers without dropping the eggs.

5)  Magna-flag.  Climbers work to move a magnetic flag from rock to rock to challenge partners on their next climb. 

Climb Away!