Climbing with Kids and Teens
Climbing for Young People at City Bloc
Climbing helps young people build strength, confidence, and focus, all while having fun in a supportive, social space. At City Bloc, we offer a range of sessions for ages 6 -17, designed to support physical and mental development through purposeful movement and challenge.
We kids clubs, weekend NICAS courses, and dedicated teen sessions, each tailored to support young climbers at different stages of learning. And if you’d like to get involved too, our Family Inductions are a great way to get started together.
Check out our current classes and more reasons why climbing is so awesome below.
Kids Climbing Club
A focused, fun introduction to climbing for kids aged 6 – 12, led by experienced coaches. Friday & Weekends
NICAS Bouldering Scheme
Structured climbing sessions that build skill, confidence, and progression through the NICAS framework.
Teens Bouldering Classes
A focused space for teens to challenge themselves, grow stronger, and find their place in climbing.
Family Climbing Induction
An instructor-led session to help your family learn how to climb safely, move well, and enjoy the wall together.
Why Your Kids and Teens Should Try Climbing
Climbing is so much more than getting to the top of a wall. So whether your child is hoping to become an athlete or you want to encourage them to learn something new and build confidence climbing is an excellent activity to invest their time in.
- Physically climbing is an excellent all round workout. There are the improvements in motor skills; coordination, building strength and flexibility but also getting fluent in movement language and turning instruction into more complicated movement patterns.
- Mentally climbing improves problem solving skills; we learn to self set goals and targets; we learn to challenge comfort zones which builds self confidence; it improves our autonomy and freedom and our ability to perceive risk and safety.
- It creates a platform for connectedness with peers, through a supportive environment which is different to team sports.
- Climbing can offer an immersive ‘lifestyle sport’ which has positive impacts on life outside of the activity itself. For example encouraging people to love and care for the beautiful outdoor environments where climbing can be done.
Why City Bloc Leeds is the Best Place to Start Climbing
At City Bloc, we believe young climbers deserve more than just a fun introduction to the sport, they deserve a solid foundation in real climbing. We’ve spent over 16 years refining our approach to youth development, blending skill building with care, connection, and challenge.
It’s about helping them grow into confident climbers and capable humans. We put time and attention into getting it right, from how we design our sessions, to how we train our coaches, to how we support each young climber as an individual.
- Our coaches are experienced climbers and skilled teachers, with backgrounds that include comp climbing, youth development, and sports psychology. Whether your child is new to the sport or ready to push themselves, they’ll be met with care, encouragement, and the right level of challenge.
- Kindness, community, and progression are at the heart of everything we do. For us, it’s not about rushing to tick grades, it’s about helping young people find their rhythm, build confidence, and enjoy being part of something real.
- Our facilities and expertise in competition climbing means we can be truly inclusive of all needs and levels of climber; offering the right degree of challenge or support for your child to love climbing.
- City Bloc is also home to the Precision Climbing Team, meaning our walls are used by some of the UK’s best athletes, and our centre stays sharp, relevant, and high quality at every level.
Whether your child climbs for fun, focus, or something more, City Bloc is a place they can grow.