Why You Should Let Your Child Climb Up Slides

Rules 

We have so many rules at the moment. We had plenty of rules already, now we have even more. Do you always follow them? I'm sure you're saying 'yes' quite emphatically, but I suspect that's not the whole truth. 

Most of us haven't committed murder. Most of us don't steal. But how many of us have copied cassette tapes (probably only those over 30!)? How many have watched a bootleg film? Not paid for parking or driven over the speed limit? My latest rule infringement was at the cinema last week. I wore my face covering to go in, but there was no one else in there, so I removed it. 

I made a judgement. I usually follow the rule, but in that specific situation, the rule didn't make sense. So I didn't follow it. 

That's what we all do. It was okay to speed because it was 2:30 am, there was no other traffic and my partner was in labour. You dropped your crisp packet on the floor, but it was because you were running over to help the man who collapsed. We judge each situation individually. 

But we don't teach our kids to do that. 

They are surrounded by rules. Some are fairly sensible and obvious, others seem a bit daft. It's our job as parents to teach them how to judge the rule for themselves. 

Slides

That brings us to the important business of climbing slides. The way to play on a slide is to climb the ladder and slide down the slide. 

Why?

The best way to learn about the world is through experience. What happens when you climb up a slide? Your feet slip and you can't get far. What about if you try to climb with your feet spread wide apart? Now you get a bit further. Can you slide up on your bottom? No, not very well. It's fun, a great way to learn and fantastic exercise!

But the other thing that happens when you climb a slide is that someone coming down either gets cross with you or crashes into you. That's a big problem. You endanger yourself and others. 

That's the lesson to teach our children. Climb up the slide if there's no one else there. If someone else wants to slide - stop. Your enjoyment and exploration should not infringe on someone else.

It's the same principle with rules to games. Lego makes a range of board games that encourage kids to make up their own rules. The thing to remember is that the rules need to be agreed on by everyone and if the rules don't work the players can try different rules. Experiment and explore. 

Rather than teaching to blindly follow rules, you're teaching children to make judgements and decisions for themselves. That's a great life skill. 

Positive rule-breaking

My earlier example of rule-breaking in the cinema is fairly insignificant, I have some more important examples. 

I used to volunteer as a Community First Responder - I would be the first person on the scene at certain ambulance calls and treat casualties before the paramedics arrived. One night I had a call to an older chap in a social club who was experiencing chest pains. There was no car park for the club and no nearby on-street parking. I parked in the funeral director's opposite - in their car park which was strictly for their vehicles only. If I had followed the rules and parked in the nearest available car park five minutes walk away, the outcome for the chap would not have been good. At least he was opposite the funeral directors…

Breaking the funeral director's parking rules was the better option. 

Think about Germany in the 1940s. I'm very grateful that not everyone followed the rules. We wouldn't have The Diary Of Anne Frank if Miep Gies had followed the rules. Schindlers List would have been a very different film! 

I know no one wants to…but think about child abuse. Just because an adult tells you that something is right doesn't mean it is. Think about whistleblowers. So many humanitarian travesties would have continued without people willing to break the rules. 

It's important to teach our children why we follow the rules, and the consequences of not following them. Not to blindly follow them. It protects them and the wider society.

And it's way more fun to climb up slides and then slide down!