Youth programs and climbing camps.
We want to help kids move, grow, socialize, and have fun. Whether you are looking for an ongoing team sport, a summer or winter break activity, or just some daytime fun, we have something for everyone.
Find the right climbing experience for your kids.
Climbing Camps
Break and summer camps for kids ages 7 to 15.
Afterschool Program
Active movement after school for ages 7 to 13.
Homeschool Program
One coached class a week, with a full gym membership included.
Homeschool Meetups
One fun hour, once a month, the last Friday from 2:00 to 3:00 PM.
Middle and High School Meetup
Grades 6 to 12, Fridays and early release days, 3:30 to 5:00 PM.
Family Climbing
Kids climb the same walls as the grown-ups, on their own colors.
Parents deserve specifics, so here are ours.
Kids climb over 12 to 14 inches of continuous engineered padding, 4,300-plus square feet of it, with clear fall zones our staff actively keeps open.
Sessions use our most accessible circuit colors, on big holds and varied movement. We keep kids off small-hold, high-intensity training styles entirely.
Every program starts with how to come off the wall. It is the most important skill in bouldering and the fastest confidence-builder we know.
Groups are built by age with one coach for every eight kids. Our staff's favorite question is "how do you think you could solve it?"
Outside programs, climbers under 14 always have a guardian actively with them on the floor.
The FAQ has more, or come meet the coaches. They are the ones surrounded by small people shouting "watch this!"
Read the FAQWe want to help kids move, grow, socialize, and have fun.
Whether you’re looking for an ongoing team sport, a summer or winter break activity, or just as some daytime fun... we have something for everyone.
We teach young climbers how to mitigate risk while staying psyched!
Parents deserve specifics, so here are ours:
- Flooring first. Kids climb over 12 to 14 inches of continuous engineered padding, 4,300-plus square feet of it, with clear fall zones our staff actively keeps open.
- Age-fit climbing. Sessions use our most accessible circuit colors (25 to 30 climbs on the wall at all times across our first three colors), on big holds and varied movement. We keep kids off small-hold, high-intensity training styles entirely; pediatric climbing research links that style of training to finger growth-plate stress, so it simply isn't part of youth programming here.
- Falling is taught, not assumed. Every program starts with how to come off the wall. It's the most important skill in bouldering and the fastest confidence-builder we know.
- Coaches who coach kids. Groups are built by age with one coach for every eight kids, and our staff's favorite question is "how do you think you could solve it?" because kids who figure it out own it.
- Supervision that's actually enforced. Outside programs, climbers under 14 always have a guardian actively with them on the floor.
Questions we haven't answered? The FAQ has more, or come meet the coaches. They're the ones surrounded by small people shouting "watch this!"
Stay Tuned for More Information About Upcoming Classes as Well
What are other parents saying?
We could describe our youth programs all day, but the families who climb here say it better. These are real Google reviews from parents and families at Shift.
"A real treat with a group of friends. None of us are climbers but we were all challenged, helped, had space to socialize and went home with lots of smiles." AJ W.
"The family always enjoys Shift. The staff is amazing; the routes are set for all experience levels and relevant for all kinds of movement." Dan K.
"My kids LOVE Shift Climbing. They attend the homeschool classes and have learned so much and feel very encouraged by the staff." Jordan
"The routes are always fun, lot of focus on moving, pretty chill place. Have a nice mix of easy and challenging routes which is nice for my level." Heather W.
How homeschool climbing became PE for Jordan and Asher
Jordan, a homeschool mom who drives in from Hudsonville with three boys, sat down with us with her son Asher to talk about how the homeschool program became their PE class.
Read the full story