How to make a climbing wall suitable for young children? Slide-in plates!
Author: Tanja Damhof
Webshop owner and mother
It can be tricky for young children to maneuver a ball to the top of a climbing wall, but there is a creative solution that will make for more fun and less frustration. Read this blog to learn how to make your own slide-in pictures to make this game more challenging and educational. 
Why slide-in plates are a good solution
Gently pull two strings to maneuver a ball upwards. In theory very easy, but in practice quite a challenge (and that is an understatement). The ball has to climb the wall without falling through the dangerous holes and there are many of them on this climbing wall. With agility, concentration, force control and patience this is certainly possible. But for young children this climbing wall is too difficult to practice these things and that can cause frustration. A solution is to simply make slide-in plates out of paper yourself. That way you can determine how difficult the climbing wall is.
Example: the pear tree
I myself have chosen a drawing of a tree with pears at the top. At the bottom, all the holes are covered. This way, a toddler or preschooler can first quietly pull the ball upwards to experience how the strings work, without the ball immediately falling into a hole. You can also vary this example by adjusting the number of pears. If you cut out all the holes behind the crown, it is already quite difficult, but because there is no route, it does not make much difference in which hole the ball falls.
Other examples
Because the game is also known as a Swiss cheese game, a piece of cheese with holes would also be a nice slide-in picture. Another idea is to draw balloons. By following the strings of the balloon, steering is already a real part of the game. By working with more or fewer balloons, the game can be made more challenging.
Another variation is to leave all the holes closed. For this I drew a race track and stuck a sticker of a car on the tractor with the ball. Now the car can drive the road until it parks in a hole at the bottom. As a challenge you can also cut out the holes that are there, in addition to the road, so you make it a dangerous road. By varying the route and the width of the road, you can ensure a build-up in difficulty.
Youtube video
The climbing wall is such a fun two-handed and educational game that I wrote a blog about it before. You will find many more ideas and a clear step-by-step plan to make your own slide-in pictures
This way you can adjust the climbing wall for every theme and level. So get started quickly and make your own slide-in pictures for this fun and educational game!
