Climb every tree stump – encouraging your baby to climb while exploring the natural world

What to try 

• Offer your baby safe opportunities to climb while you are outside.  
• Find a safe space in the park or garden, ideally on grass or another softer surface, and allow your baby to explore. 
• If you are in a wooded area near trees, encourage them to explore any logs or low branches they find.  
• If they decide to climb, allow them to feel the movement of the log and notice how they correct their position to account for it.  
• Don’t be afraid to revisit favourite spots, simple changes like the weather will add challenge and help your baby develop their sense of balance, even if they’ve climbed in this space before. 

Bear in mind that your baby is only just developing the skills they need to climb, so will need you to watch them and to check the spaces where they climb are safe.  

Good to know 

Being out in nature offers so many sensory experiences that we can’t recreate easily indoors, which will add challenge for your baby’s new climbing skills and encourage their body to work hard to stay balanced.