Risky Play

How does Risky Play benefit your childs development and growth?

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Welcome!

Hi Parents and Guardians!

Welcome to this blog on Risky Play and how it can benefit your child’s development. We are going to explore the idea of Risky Play, Development, Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and some cool and exciting ways to support a child throughout their exploration of play.

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What is Risky Play?

“A natural part of children's play and is defined as a thrilling and exciting activity that involves a risk of physical injury; and play that provides opportunities for challenge, testing limits, exploring boundaries and learning about injury risk (Sandseter, 2007; Little & Wyver, 2008).

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…the more risks you allow children to take, the better they learn to take care of themselves. If you never let them take any risks, then I believe they become very prone to injury. Boys should be allowed to climb tall trees and walk along the tops of high walls and dive into the sea from high rocks… The same with girls. I like the type of child who takes risks. Better by far than the one who never does so.

Roald Dahl

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How does risky play benefit your child’s development?

Risky Play has many obvious benefits, yes it might be scary for you to watch, however these benefits all help build your child’s development. Risky play involves crossing boundaries and exploring the unknown, children don’t fully know their limits, risky play allows children to experiment and discover their own capabilities and well as developing important life skills.

Some benefits for all the stages of development:

Physical- Child’s ability to use and control their body

·      Balance

·      Coordination

·      Motor Skills

·      Hand-eye coordination

·      Body Growth

·      Complex Movements

·      Risk Management

·      Gross Motor Skills and Fine Motor Skills

Social- Child’s ability to interact with those around them

·      Create friendships

·      Cooperating and Helping Friends

·      Following Directions

Emotional- Child’s ability to understand who they are, what they feel and what to expect

·      Confidence

·      Independence

·      Resilience

·      Persistence

·      Self-belief

·      Self-awareness

·      Hesitation

·      Fear

·      Excitement

·      Pride

Intellectual- Child’s ability to think and reason their learning

·      Creativity

·      Curiosity

·      Problem Solving

·      Attention

·      Decision making

·      Awareness  

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Categories of Risky Play

All of these categories of risky play are often set out so that children can engage in Risky Play safely, with supervision and safety equipment. Ellen Sandster, Norwegian Professor of physical education and health within Early Childhood Research, has identified six categories of risks that seem to attract children in their daily play.

Great Heights: Children can climb heights which can be scary to them, this creates a thrilling feeling as well as getting to see the world in a bird’s eye-view and from a different perspective.

Rapid Speeds: Children can swing on ropes, swings, slides, which allows the child to feel almost out of control, but not really.

Dangerous tools: Children can play/use knives, tools, machinery, that could potentially be dangerous, this also builds the children’s confidence in feeling trusted and using a dangerous resource.

Dangerous elements: Children can play in water and with fire.

Rough and tumble: Young children can engage in rough play, chasing each other and wrestling.

Disappearing and getting lost: Children can play hide and seek and experience a thrill of being alone and away from their peers, older children can venture off on their own and explore the idea of getting lost.

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How can you help your child’s development with Risky Play?

As a parent it can be hard to watch your children taking risks and crossing boundaries that may result in accidental injury. However, risky play allows your child to explore their boundaries and set their own goals and limits.

But how can you help? Simple, being supportive and offering help when your child looks like they need it, as a parent you would know your child’s limits, so close supervision is always a plus! You can also commend their success and celebrate their victories, this allows your child to build confidence and feel proud of their triumph!

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How does Risky Play link to Early Years Learning Framework?

What is the Early Years Learning Framework, (EYLF)? The EYLF is a “guide which provides general goals or outcomes for children’s learning and how they might be attained. It also provides a scaffold to assist early childhood settings to develop their own, more detailed curriculum” (The Early Years learning Framework for Australia) which helps the children thrive in their learning.  

Outcomes:

1.     Children have a strong sense of Identity- Risky play allows building friendships, exploring, persistence, inclusion, trust, taking risks, celebrating, social play.

2.     Children are connected with and contribute to their world- Risky play allows cooperating with peers, responds positively, participates with others, shows interest in the world around them.

3.     Children have a strong sense of wellbeing- Risky plays allows children to be confident, seek help, show enthusiasm, independence, cooperation, making choices, celebrating victories, trust and accepting challenges, gives praise and helps build resilience.

4.     Children are confident and involved learners- Risky play allows children to express wonder in the world, persistence, contributes to play, investigations, problem solving, perseverance.

5.     Children are effective communicators- Risky Play allows social interactions, contributing ideas to play, respecting their peers, talking and helping.

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