Price Tag: $109.99
Age Range: 18 months-5 years
Rating:

This fold-away climber is perfect for smaller spaces, either indoors or out. When open, it is a compact play space that features a slide, a basket ball hoop, a soccer net, and a climbing surface. When folded, it stows away easily in a corner out of the way.

FUN FACTOR

This little playground has packed enough fun into a small space to easily allow your toddler or pre-schooler to cope with rainy days trapped indoors. The slide is “fast” enough to be fun, and the adjustable-height basket is easy for your child to throw the ball into, but can be adjusted to pose a bit more of a challenge. Kids new to the concept of kicking will absolutely go berserk for the soccer net. My son spent two hours straight one day, kicking the ball into the net and dissolving into excited giggles each time the ball went the way he wanted it to go. The area under the platform just behind the slide is a toddler-sized nook that my son loved to cram himself into during games of hide and seek.

DURABILITY

The climber is made of a durable plastic that resists fading surprisingly well. The screws hold the entire thing together snugly and do not tend to slip or loosen with time or with use. The netting in the soccer and basket ball nets is not super-strength but it is strong enough to withstand a lot of use and normal weather conditions. (I would hesitate to leave this toy outside over the winter.) The only part that I would consider “problematic” in terms of durability, is the basket ball net. The net attaches to the wall of the climber with an oversized plastic screw-and-nut construction. If the child pulls on the net at all, the entire thing bows and eventually the net and the white back plate come falling off.

The basket ball, which is roughly half the size of a regular basketball, is made of a soft pliable rubber that does a decent job of resisting puncture. It tends to deflate a bit across about 6-8 months, but can easily be re-inflated.

ASSEMBLY & MANUAL

The manual is black and white with line drawings that show you how to assemble and store the Fold-Away Climber. Assembly took about 45 minutes. This included screwing all the parts together, and installing the basketball and soccer nets. (Disclaimer: I’m good at following diagrams, and am the “girl on-call” for when people can’t figure out how to install things. So it might take you a bit longer.)

The plastic has slight dimples to indicate where the screws are to go, but no starter holes. You have to really put some work into getting the screws through the plastic. Another option is to use a drill to make a small starter hole where each screw needs to go. Personally, I found that just pressing the screw’s point into the plastic for a second or two gave it all the traction that I needed to screw it in.

Most of the parts are very easy to put together. The only part that I found slightly confusing was the soccer net- I lined it up incorrectly at first and had to go back and unscrew all of the screws that I had already put into place.

SAFETY

The fold-away climber is made of very sturdy plastic and can support up to 50lbs safely. The 50lb mark is a conservative estimate, as it was able to support my own 115lbs when I climbed onto it to test it out.

The slide has a “speed bump” lip at the bottom that prevents the child from zooming off the bottom of the slide. The speed bump is slight and gradual so that the child does not come to an abrupt stop.

The two possible things to be aware of are that the ladder openings are the perfect size for your child’s leg to slip through, and the platform at the top does not have a wall to prevent the child from falling off of the back of the climber. Since the climber is low to the ground, as long as you use the climber on a soft surface instead of asphalt or hard-packed dirt, it should not be a major safety concern. Most children’s playground equipment or climbing structures have more of a fall risk than this toy.

SPECS & DIMENSIONS

When assembled, this climber is 50.5″L x 47″W x 45″H. When folded, the climber measures 26.00″L x 12.00″W x 48.00″H. It weighs just under 38lbs.

BOTTOM LINE

The fold-away climber is a wonderful little play structure that most kids will be very happy with. Its small size makes it ideal for smaller back yards or indoor spaces, or for over at the grandparents house. When it is set up, it’s the perfect size for kids to have a lot of fun on, and when it’s folded up it’s easy to stash out of the way.