UKC

My 4 year old nephew has had a couple of indoor climbing lessons and has absolutely loved it!

I would love to take him outside to climb on rock, he lives in the lake district (Penrith/Ullswater area) and I don't know the area well at all. Can anybody recommend a crag suitable for very little beginners (I was thinking somewhere like union rock in llanberis) in that area of the lake district?

Church Crag, St John’s in the Vale

Steel Knotts Bluff in Borrowdale - an area below the main crag, has a couple of V diffs and maybe a severe or two, short, very friendly, easy to get to and might even have a couple bolts on top for easy belaying if I remember correctly. 

At four 10ft is high.  Keep it sloping, small cracks and holds, no big steps or reachy pulls.  Most actual climbs may not be suitable unless its limestone (not in that area I think) as the holds are often too far apart so look for the easier cracklines and sloping slabs near the climbs that are too small/easy for the big boys (though of course he is a "big boy" and don't dare to suggest otherwise!)  If there are any cracks to squeeze through and holes to pop out of all the better. :-D

Oxford Crag in Patterdale might be suitable (I've used it with Primary School Groups). Rigging rope needed. It's a relatively short walk from the cricket ground parking.

As a kid I remember my parents taking me to a little crag above Howtown. Just off the road at the top of the hairpins, right by Martindale church. Last time I went past I think there were a few bolts for top rope rigging, so must get used by one of the outdoor ed centres. 

Second this! this place is great, I took my 4 year old and some slightly older friends a couple of years ago.  It's relatively safe around the base too if you have non climbing younger kids.

Headend quarry

Headend Quarry out near Caldbeck would be ideal. 40mins / 1hr from Penrith area. Its less than 8m high and with plenty of stakes for setting up ropes on. 

It is quite steep but there are plenty of cracks and corners and as they are all "named" routes and in a guide book they will love it as they can say they've done a real climb.

Can often be dry as well as its sits a little north of the main hills of skiddaw/blencathra

That is where we took our kids.  

It's a real shame that Scratchmere Scar and The Hoff are currently out of bounds. Perhaps, after a change of government and a review of the access laws the situation will change as they are both good venues and handy for Penrith.

years ago I worked for a while with the son in law of the Hoff landowner and he told me that the  that the suggestion and persuasion to close access was originated purely by his lawyers