Develop Strong Routines and Expectations to Create Successful Climbers and Unique Experiences in the Future by Matt Barrows

As you begin the school year, you want to be able to develop a strong routine and expectations with your student climbers. Starting this way will help create successful climbers at an early stage, but also help create the platform to develop more unique climbing opportunities as students progress their skills. 

I like to keep everything as consistent as possible for all my grade levels when it comes to my climbing expectations beyond the Everlast Climbing Wall Rules poster.  Each school is different, so this should be based on what works best for you in your space. At the beginning of the year, I like to discuss things such as our start point on the wall, the starting point for someone in line, what happens if you step down, and climbing down safely from the wall. These are all in addition to proper footwear/clothing, climbing technique, and other safety aspects of climbing.

When talking about basic traverse climbing, I make a point to have our class always start on one end of the wall as we attempt to traverse to the other side.  This will always be our starting side unless there is a reverse day where we flip the start and finish side. I also like to use a point on the wall that students waiting in line can see and know exactly when it is their turn to go. I utilize the wall panels and tell them that whenever the climber in front of them has both hands and feet on that second panel, then the next person can begin climbing. This prevents overcrowding at the beginning of the wall.

I also like to make a point to discuss what happens if students touch the floor or need to get down from their climb. I use our mats as “hot lava” as they try to cross without touching the lava. If they have both feet down off the wall, they must return to the beginning to try again. I have found when students are constantly getting up and down from the wall, that it ends up holding up the rest of the line behind them preventing people from being able to climb fluently. I will also talk about how they dismount from the wall. For kindergarten and 1^st grade, I do require them to keep their feet below the Red-Relief® Line through their entire climb.  Once in 2^nd grade they can start being able to climb with their feet above the red line. However, if they choose to climb above the red line, before they get down from the wall, they must climb their feet back below the red line before their dismount. We have several extra items that might entail students climbing higher than the Red-Relief® Line such as the Safari® Monkey Bars, ball holds, and an end bell.

A climbing incentive that I’ve added onto the rock wall is a small bell that students can ring as they complete the entire traverse across the wall. The bell is mounted onto the wall in the top corner of our last panel which becomes a huge motivator for students to reach the end of the wall to show their success. This can be done for basic climbing, or my challenge incentives that I have for climbers that need an extra push. You can view more about the climbing challenges here! 

The last big thing when it comes to starting your routines and expectations is how you introduce the climbing to your kindergarteners. For them, they come in with so much excitement to see the rock wall and are ready to climb! We want to make sure that we provide them with safe practices at the very beginning to help them grow into advanced climbers as they move up in grades.

I find it beneficial to move slowly when it comes to introducing all expectations to our kindergarten climbers. These might all take place slowly over 2-3 weeks as you approach your own routines for the wall. I like to begin with getting our kindergarten climbers spaced out along the wall with a partner climber just behind the mats. We begin by simply vertical climbing up as high as they can go without going above the red line, climbing down, and switching with their partner. This gives them a good base of knowing what safely climbing down looks like. 

As we progress into the next week, we now start working on understanding the beginning of the wall, the visual point for the next climber, and coming down the from the wall. I will set this week up by doing a mini traverse across 2-3 panels.  Students will use these expectations in a small setting to grasp the concepts of climbing across while you’re able to focus on a small area of students so you can help. Students will climb across 2-3 panels and proceed to climb down just so they get a feel for that concept. The next climbing week you can now take what they’ve learned, implement the rest of your expectations and begin to let them traverse across the entire length of the wall. This progression really creates more confident and successful climbers as an entire length of the rock wall on day 1 can be quite intimidating for 5-6 year old students.

About the Author

Matt Barrows has been teaching PE and Health for 15 years now. He currently teaches K-5 PE and health at Rising Hill Elementary in the North Kansas City School District. Matt likes to create unique ways to get everyone highly engaged in PE no matter what their skill levels might be. 

Matt does a good job at promoting lifetime activities and skills surrounding physical fitness.  He implements programs such as BikeWalkKC, Hy-vee Kids Fit, Crown Schools Fun at Bat with the Kansas City Royals that instill communication, leadership, cooperation, and fitness aspects that can be translated into their everyday lives. 

Matt was awarded the MOSHAPE Kansas City Region PE Teacher of the Year in 2020. In 2015 and 2021, Matt was recognized by the North Kansas City School District and selected to the Teaching Honor Cadre. This honor is awarded to individuals that go above and beyond to ensure NKC Schools are a great place for students, teachers, staff, and community. He also is a 2022 graduate of the Superintendent’s Leadership Institute for North Kansas City Schools. Matt has also received over $40,000 worth of grant money from various resources between the North Kansas City Education Foundation, Royals Charities and Whataburger, the Heartland Foundation and Project Fit America, and other USA sport organizations.  Matt recently became one of the Elementary PE instructional leaders for his district, helped develop a new PE/Health curriculum, leads professional growth courses, and advocates for a healthy lifestyle for all. He went to Northwest Missouri State University for both his bachelor’s and master’s degree in K-12 PE and Education Leadership. Matt wants to create an enjoyable active lifestyle for all students.