Just me? My 4yo used to love playgrounds but lately she's terrified of the slide. Says it's "too slippery and fast." We've tried going slow, using her blanket, going down with her, everything. She's still into the climbing stuff though which is 100x more dangerous if you ask me. Feels like we're going backwards developmentally or something. Normal phase or should I be concerned?
Our 4yo went through this exact phase. Took like 2 months before she suddenly decided slides were fine again. Some kids just need time to work through it. I'd stop pushing and let her come back to it.
Have you tried just... not going to the slide part? Like spend 20 mins on climbing and other stuff and ignore the slide. Sometimes kids get over fears faster when you're not focused on them.
She's right that climbing stuff is more dangerous though lol. But yeah slides have friction and speed that suddenly feels scary at that age. Totally normal developmental thing.
Four year olds get weird phobias sometimes. Forcing it definitely backfires. Just let her lead and she'll probably lose the fear in a few weeks when she's ready.
Slides are actually statistically less dangerous than climbing structures, so she's afraid of something comparatively safer. That's just how fear works though - it's not logical. Forcing her probably makes it worse.
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The blanket trick is cute but might be reinforcing that slides are scary since you're treating it like she needs extra protection. What if you just let her skip them for a bit?