The purpose of this study is to investigate moving ability on hanging-ladders, active and passive grip strength in higher-grade elementary school children (grade 5) through long-term playing on HANGING LADDERS.
Sixty-two children (mean age; 10.1 yrs) were assigned into two groups, a training group (male ; N=18, female ; N=13) and a control group (male ; N=18, female ; N=13) .
The children in the training group were required to play on the hanging-ladder for 5 to 10 minutes 5 days per week for 6 months.
At the end of this playing period, 66.7% of the boys in the training group succeeded in crossing the hanging-ladder as compared to 50.0% before the study period started, and 61.5% of the girls succeeded as compared to 30.8%. However, these results represent a lower ratio than in previous studies in 1st. and 4th. grade children.
In the training group, the crossing time of those who succeeded shortened significantly in both boys and girls until the 1st. month. The successful children showed significant passive grip strength during the playing period. However, both the boys and girls of the training group (except for the successful group) showed no significant difference in active and passive grip strength between before and after the study period.

A study was conducted to investigate the effect of playing on a hanging ladder for a long period on active and passive grip strength in elementary school children.
Sixty-three children (mean age =9.2 yr) were assigned to training (male =14, female =17) and control (male =14, female =18) groups.
The children in the training group played on the hanging ladder for 5 to 10 min 5 days per week for 7 months.
Active and passive grip strength, and upper and forearm girth were measured in both groups almost monthly during the playing period.
The percentage of children who succeeded in hanging from the ladder in the training group increased from 50% to 77% in boys and from 70% to 90% in girls between the start and finish of the playing period.
The movement times of ladder hanging in these subjects were significantly shortened in boys and girls during the playing period.
No significant differences were found in active grip strength, or upper and forearm girth, but significant differences were found in passive grip strength between the training and control groups at end of the playing period.
It appears that playing on a hanging ladder for a long period increases passive grip strength, and is useful for developing emergency evacuation ability in elementary school children.: