Where Play Meets Potential
My 18 month old has all of a sudden become a mini Spiderman and she wants to climb everything…especially things she is not supposed to climb. Now I am very grateful to have our Pikler triangle to redirect her climbing into a more appropriate place.
When we are constantly saying “No” all day long to a toddler, we are laying a perfect foundation for a ginormous tantrum or more mischief. Toddlers need a sense of control and love to test the boundaries of their limits and their own physical capabilities as well.
So, instead of saying
“No, don’t climb on the table”
“No, don’t climb on the couch”
“No, don’t climb on the shelf”
“No, don’t climb on your brother”
I can instead say, “We don’t climb on the (insert inappropriate thing to climb here), let’s go climb on your Pikler instead.”
With this small change I get way less tears and tantrums and she is also learning limits in a respectful way.
So, if you don’t have a Pikler Triangle, I highly recommend one or some other climbing structure.
I personally love the Pikler because it is neutral and looks beautiful inside the house. The ramp is key too. Ruby loves to climb up the ramp even more than the rungs of the Pikler itself. She started climbing the ramp when she was only crawling.
If you bought the Pikler triangle for your young baby (less than 15ish months) then you might not have seen them use it much for climbing. If you need some ideas that are not climbing, be sure to check out some ideas HERE.
I know the Pikler triangle looks like a death trap to some and for others it gives mini heart attacks, but the benefits of risky play are worth it to me. Honestly, Ruby has become much more confident and never pushes herself beyond her own limits. She has never gotten hurt on the Pikler. Be sure to read my “Guide to Risky Play” for more information on that. Share with someone that may feel uneasy about the Pikler and toddler climbing.
If you are in the market for a Pikler Triangle or know someone who is, let me suggest the Pikler and ramp from Simre Home Living. Ozge is the shop owner and she is such a pleasure to work with. The Pikler shipped from Turkey and it arrived within a week to the U.S. (during the pandemic). She was also in constant communication. Seriously, the best customer service I have had in awhile.
Besides the customer service, the product is great quality as well. Super sturdy and beautifully made. My 7 year old niece has even climbed on it.
Anyways, let’s get to why you are here in the first place, some Valentine’s Climbing activities. If you like these ideas, be sure to save them on Pinterest.
Ruby is 18 months and she has been using the Pikler since she was about 9 months old. I feel confident in her abilities and that is why I have offered these activities. As always offer at your own comfort level and supervise play.
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As I was looking through my Valentine’s Day storage, I came across some small red clothespins and thought they would be so cute to use in an activity. I added them to some leftover ribbon from Ruby’s first birthday high chair decoration and hung up some foam hearts.
It turned out so cute it looked like a decoration instead of an invitation to play. Ruby agreed with me, so I modeled pulling the hearts off. Then she went to town.
Ruby really had to stretch, reach, and balance, which challenged her gross motor skills. I thought that was so perfect so I wanted to try some more climbing activities.
Next came a similar idea as the strung heart pull but this time I used acrylic hearts and taped them to the wall. This was actually the first idea I thought of when I moved the Pikler to the wall. I got this idea from my Instafriend @playtime_with_billie. They had done something similar, but with play food awhile back.
The great thing about this activity is that it works on their fine and gross motor skills simultaneously. She really had to pull at the tape with her little finger muscles.
I thought I was done with these activities, but Ruby kept going over to the Pikler and saying, “Heart, heart!” So I figured I should come up with some more.
For this activity I had to get some contact paper (if you don’t have some of this magical sticky paper, you need to get some now because there are so many fun things you can do with it). After I had the contact paper, I traced some foam hearts on paper and hung it on the wall, then put the contact paper over it with the sticky side out.
At first I didn’t know where I was going to put the foam hearts for her to match and then I thought, “Oh, perfect I can tape them to the Pikler for an extra activity.” So, this activity was really engaging because it was multifaceted. Ruby had to reach in several directions, pull the heart off, then match it to the hearts on the wall all while balancing her body.
I love when I can combine different skillsets into one activity. Integration baby! During this activity she worked on fine and gross motor skills, as well as shape discrimination and matching.
Ruby ended up tearing the contact paper down, but still pointed to the hearts on the paper from the last activity, so I thought I would add more hearts and more contact paper. I drew some hearts on the paper and then capped the marker.
Ruby took the marker and started to “draw” on the wall. That got me thinking how could she draw/paint on the paper without it getting all over the wall in a big mess. Aha! Water!!
I took out the calligraphy mat I had been saving from the pack of 2 that I bought a while ago (I wrote about that in my post with 50+ Water Play Ideas) and I hung it on the wall. Then I thought, “How can I make this more Valentinesy?” That’s when I added hearts for her to trace with water.
I started by giving her a paintbrush and a tiny amount of water in a tiny pitcher. She spilled the water. I mean, no surprise, she already had to balance with multiple things in her hand.
Then I thought about the refillable water paintbrushes from the Melissa and Doug Water Wow books that we love and that was perfect for this activity. The water is inside the paintbrush so she didn’t have to hold multiple things while climbing and it freed up a hand for holding (whew!).
Another way to paint in a Valentine’s Day way was to stamp water with heart sponges. Pushing on the calligraphy mat used different muscles than using a paintbrush.
At first I didn’t have a heart sponge so I cut a couple sponges into hearts, but then I took a trip to Dollar Tree and I found a heart sponge and a “LOVE” sponge. These were perfect for water stamping.
I really love these calligraphy mats because they are similar to a paint with water coloring book or mat, but they are open-ended which allows the child more space for creativity. They are great for toddlers because there is less mess and they can paint again and again after the water dries. Toddler art is more about the process than the product (read about process art HERE) so these mats also allow for more focus on the process.
I chose to do these climbing activities with Ruby because she demonstrated a mastery of climbing to the top of the Pikler. I wanted to challenge her climbing skills a little further. Do not feel like you need to rush your child just because these activities look cool. Feel free to save this post to your Pinterest and come back when your child is ready.
If your child is ready, then go for it and let me know how it goes. Tag me if you post about it on social media or feel free to email me anytime.
You might also be interested in these posts:
8 Simple Valentine’s Day Activities for Toddlers
How to Use the Pikler Triangle Besides Climbing
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