I climb regularly at my local bouldering gym, and every other day there’s 20 happy children climbing the walls, learning how to boulder and rope their way to the heavens (or, at least, the Spot’s 100-foot ceilings).

In the four or so years I’ve climbed, I’ve seen a bunch of little punks grow up to be really skilled climbers—and I’m always jealous, wishing I’d started young, instead of at age 30. They’re so natural, agile, with strong grips and big smiles—and with big padded floors and great instructors, who all seem to be heroes to the children, the frequent B-day parties strike me as the ultimately cool bday party idea—for boy or girls, who are just as good and have just as much fun climbing as boys

I don’t know how much it costs, but if you want to get your children active, take them to your local human dog park and get them tired and happy while upping your cool parent factor.

This random youtube video might help give you the picture (as they say, a video is worth a thousand pictures):

And here’s a certain someone, the Michael Jordan of climbing, bouldering at my local gym, the Spot: