By Stephanie Lord-Darby
Remember climbing trees? The scratch of bark on your palms, the wobbly branch you weren’t quite sure about, the triumphant grin when you made it to the top. It felt like an adventure. But what if we told you it was actually homework?
These days, are we still raising a bubble-wrapped generation? We say, “be careful!” before they’ve even reached the first branch. The Early Years Framework is right about play and nature being a foundational contribution to the years of schooling ahead—at GymbaROO-KindyROO, we value tree climbing as secretly one of the most powerful brain-building tools on the planet.
Because it’s not just about childhood adventure (though we love that bit). It’s about muscle tone, strength, body awareness, motor planning, visual perception, balance, agility, and coordination. These aren’t just fancy words. They’re the real, actual skills that make a child ready for school.
So, let’s ask the cheeky question: have we been so focused on ABCs that we’ve forgotten the foundations beneath them? Have we done our little adventurers an injustice by holding them back from playful risks too soon?
Now, we’ll admit – our classes don’t have real trees (sadly, no squirrels yet). But we do have an indoor overhead area where children climb and swing across the ladder. And here’s our little secret: when a child can swing arm-over-arm, their left and right brain are talking to each other in perfect rhythm. If that conversation isn’t happening yet? They’re not quite ready to learn to read, either.
Even researchers agree that tree climbing is disappearing. Gull and colleagues (2020) point to “fears of liability, heightened safety awareness, unclear policies, and restricted outdoor play time.” Sound familiar?
But we’re not here to make you feel guilty. We’re here to invite you to think differently. Learning is a ladder (pun intended). You can’t skip the bottom rungs.
Here’s how tree climbing (or our GymbaROO version) builds the six foundations for school readiness:
| Neurological Foundation | How Tree Climbing Helps |
| Motor Skills | Fine motor, gripping branches. Gross Motor: building strength and muscle tone. |
| Essential Skills | Motor planning: ducking, weaving, deciding where to place a hand or foot. |
| Rhythm | Coordinated crosstalk between left and right brain, enhancing timing and flow. |
| Sensory Input | Proprioception and vestibular input: Knowing where your body is in space while moving. |
| Education | Attention, sequencing, and problem-solving (“Can this branch hold my weight?”) |
| Social & Emotional Wellbeing | Risk assessment, confidence, perseverance, and the joy of mastering a challenge. |
“When parents ask me what matters for school readiness, I always say it begins with strong foundations in both gross motor skills, such as climbing, balancing, and coordinating the body, and fine motor skills, which lead to pencil control, hand strength, and precision. These are just some of the building blocks of early literacy. When children develop these skills, they are better equipped to focus, engage and learn with confidence. The foundations of literacy are built through movement, coordination and purposeful, structured play.”
— Emma Ellsmore, Leap Street Founder and School Readiness Specialist
So before you ask your child if they know their letters, maybe ask something sillier first. Can you climb that tree? Can you swing across the monkey bars? Can you jump off that log and land like a superhero?
Their brain—and their future teacher—will thank you. Now go on. Find a tree. (Just maybe check for sap first.)
References:
ACECQA. (2022). Belonging, being and becoming: The early years learning framework for Australia (V2.0). In ACECQA. https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/defaults/files/2023-01/EYLF-2022-V2.0.pdf
Gull, C., Golstein, S., & Rosengarten, T. (2020). Early Childhood Education’s Perspectives on Tree Climbing. The International Journal of Early Childhood Environmental Education, 81), 26. https://files.eric.ed.goc/fulltext/EJ1280474.pdf