This is a replica of an old toy. After some try and err I was able to remake a working climber using few tools and scrap materials.
Hope you enjoy it ;-) .

Step 1:

Materials :

Wooden sticks or tong depressors.
Toothpicks or bamboo sticks.
Some felt for the pads (you'll see later on where to use them).
Cotton string.
Rubber band (small size).
Glue.

Tools :

Hand drill
Exacto blade/knife
Scissor
PC and a Printer (optional)

Step 2:

Gather all material and start cutting the parts of the climber ( BODY - ARMS - LEGS). You should have a total of six pieces.
Make two of each, and glue together the two sides of the body.
Now mark the sites for the holes.
Get the measure from the template or you can just glue the template over the sticks.

This is the LINK for more patterns to use.

Step 3: Adding the Felt Pads.

This is the most important step to make your toy a real climber.
You need some friction between his hands. For this cut some pads from a piece of felt and glue inside the arm sticks.

Step 4: Glue Arms to the Body.

Once the felt pads are dried , glue arms on each side of the body and let it dry. Insert the lock-pin (toothpick) where are the hands and before gluing , make some test sliding the cotton string between the hands. You should have some resistance, not too much and not too little , otherwise your toy would not climb. You can adjust the friction later on once assembled the toy.

Step 5: Put All Together.

Assemble the rest of the toy. Attach the legs to the body. They have to be freely movable, but connected each other by the lock pin / toothpicks. See the picture for how it should look like.
Consider using a spacer to separate them at the feet. I used a piece of a ball point pen refill.

Step 6: RIGGING Instruction.

Now take the string (cotton advisable) and rig it to your toy.
Look at the picture how to do it the right way.
Almost done !!! Make some test puilling the two ends of the string apart, your new toy should start climbing, if it doesn't, adjust the friction between his hands ( this is a try and err sequence). Do not give up , at some point, You'll come at the right friction and you'll see your toy start climbing.