How tall should monkey bars be?
We install a lot of monkey bars for customers across the UK and one of the most frequent questions we get asked is how tall should my monkey bars be?
The reason we get asked this is because most of our customers are families, made up of mum, dad and two or three kids. So, with five people in the family… Hold on! We mean five people and the uncles, aunts and of course friends, how do you choose the best height.
Start with the tallest person.
Is dad using the monkey bars to do pull ups? As in most cases, dad is often the tallest person with sons hot on their heels, it’s a good idea to take his measurement first. The measurement for monkey bars is from the ground to dads outstretched arms and fingers. If you then add approx. 50mm to this you will get a bar height that makes sure his feet are off the floor when hanging. In most cases you will be between 2.2 and 2.5meters.
What if it is just kids using the monkey bars?
Well, if it is just kids using the monkey bars then we still think that monkey bars should be put in at a high height. Kids have a tendency to grow really quickly and learn to use monkey bars incredibly fast. We have put monkey bars in much lower and subsequently received a call asking if they can be moved higher up shortly after. So, in this instance, start with a high height between 2.2 and 2.5m and consider the following information:
Now for the first height test of your monkey bars
Take everyone outside and find something that is that height. Something like a tree branch, pergola or shed works well. It helps you get an idea of just how high we think you need. It’s a good time to consider also the post height. Remember… they will be 100 – 150mm above this.
The monkey bars look pretty high and we have young kids
The next test is to consider the youngest child (who will actually be using the bars). We think that most children 6 and over are capable of using the bars at an adulty height. If they are not quite there yet, then we have noticed that they learn incredibly fast.
Get them to stretch up and measure from toes to outstretched fingers. Now deduct that measurement from your planned total height. Whatever height you are left with is the height that they will potentially drop from. You will soon notice that whilst high for a young child, for any child 10 and over, it’s not that high.
Find something that is that height and see how comfortable your kids are jumping down from it.
Go to a park
It is always worth seeing if your local park has any monkey bars. Take a tape measure and of course your kids and try it out. They are often quite low and not great for adults. So measure them and see what the difference is between your ideal adult height and the park monkey bars. If they can jump down from the ones at the park, then you can assess whether a little extra height will still be okay.
Consider a crash mat
A nice option for kids is a crash mat. You can get these from Amazon. They simply just take the edge off when practicing, just until they get the hang of it. See more on this when considering ladder bars (to climb up to the monkey bars)
Using ladder bars and how many do you need?
Ladder bars to climb up to the monkey bars are sold separately. For Teenagers and adults, we recommend one at each end.
For children, we like to recommend using 4 in total. We put 3 at one end and 1 at the other. The children can climb up one end and get all the way across to the single ladder bar. We refer to this as a ‘perch bar’. Children can perch here and then climb back. Now the cool thing about this bar and NOT having full ladder bars at this end (besides the cost) is that children like to jump off this bar. And guess what? The crash mat is excellent here. Great practice for kids and super fun for parkour.
Get Olympic Gymnastic rings
It is worth considering getting some gymnastic rings. They are great for everyone but if you do have a young child that isn’t yet tall enough then they will have something for them to use and play with too.