Do you have a kid who seems restless; always climbing on surfaces? Another tell-tale sign of autism is a child who is always jumping up and down when excited.
It could be that you are afraid that this behavior might be risky especially when they tend to climb on unsafe heights.
Probably, the child has already sustained bruises, scars and fractures when they fell of high heights.
Well, do not worry because installing climbing holds could solve all these concerns.
Installing climbing holds on your house walls is a great way to encourage physical activity. It will also help them work on their grip strength and motor skills as they climb from one hold to another. If you’re interested in installing climbing holds for your kids, read this article!
Benefits of climbing holds for kids
Before looking at how to install rock climbing holds in your house, let us first look at the benefits of climbing holds for an autistic kid. So what are the benefits of climbing wall holds for kids?
- They encourage physical activity
- Climbing holds help your child develop grip strength
- They also help improve your kid’s motor skills.
How to install rock climbing holds in your house walls
Since we have pointed out the benefits of climbing wall holds for kids, let’s look at how to install the climbing wall holds in your house.
- Decide on the location of your climbing wall. You can install it anywhere in your house but for kids, we recommend a ground floor area which will make things much easier. Remember that rock climbers need to be able to reach their maximum height so you’ll also have to take into account where the ceiling is when making this decision.
- Measure the height of your climbing wall. The measurements are in inches and you need to subtract from them one inch for every ten feet up on which you install the holds as per current safety standards (or two inches if it’s a ground floor). So, if the total measurement is 28″ then we recommend installing at least 27 holds or if it’s 17″ we recommend at least 16 holds.
- Now you’ll need to get your climbing wall holds ready for installation. There are a few different options available, but the two most popular ones are wood and plastic (or resin). Wood holds are more durable, but they can be time-consuming to install and require a lot of expensive tools to work with. Plastic or resin holds on the other hand are great for beginners as they’re much easier to work with, but they are less durable than wood.
- The climbing wall’s surface should preferably be clean before installation so that the holds stick really well. After you’ve got your surface ready, it’s time to get your hands dirty as you start installing the holds.
- Place the climbing wall holds on the surface of the wall where you want them installed and then use a pencil or chalk line to mark out where each hold will go. Try to space the holds evenly across your wall, and don’t forget to consider how far apart they should be as well.
- Finally, you can attach the climbing hold by drilling a hole in it with an appropriate drill bit size for where you want the climber’s fingers or toes to go. You’ll need some pre-drilled holes on your surface so that you can hold the climbing holds in place before screwing them onto your surface. For this step, you will need a drill, screws and wall anchors.
- After drilling all holes, make sure they’ve been cleaned up with some sandpaper or a wire brush and then attach each climbing hold by applying some pressure to the hole.
There you have it! Your climbing wall holds are ready for that hyperactive kid to start climbing them and enjoying it as they go up.