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    The Benefits of Risky Play

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    The document discusses the benefits of risky play for children. It defines risky play as opportunities that engage and challenge children through uncertainties and potential hazards, without putting them in serious danger of harm. Risky play allows children to learn skills like risk assessment, problem-solving, and coping with unpredictable situations. It also supports children's growth, learning, development of personality traits like creativity, and ability to face challenges. While ensuring safety, playworkers should allow reasonable risk-taking through play and not unduly inhibit children's risk exploration, as this helps children learn how to manage risks themselves.

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    The Benefits of Risky Play

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    308 views4 pages
    The document discusses the benefits of risky play for children. It defines risky play as opportunities that engage and challenge children through uncertainties and potential hazards, without putting them in serious danger of harm. Risky play allows children to learn skills like risk assessment, problem-solving, and coping with unpredictable situations. It also supports children's growth, learning, development of personality traits like creativity, and ability to face challenges. While ensuring safety, playworkers should allow reasonable risk-taking through play and not unduly inhibit children's risk exploration, as this helps children learn how to manage risks themselves.

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    The document discusses the benefits of risky play for children. It defines risky play as opportunities that engage and challenge children through uncertainties and potential hazards, without putting them in serious danger of harm. Risky play allows children to learn skills like risk assessment, problem-solving, and coping with unpredictable situations. It also supports children's growth, learning, development of personality traits like creativity, and ability to face challenges. While ensuring safety, playworkers should allow reasonable risk-taking through play and not unduly inhibit children's risk exploration, as this helps children learn how to manage risks themselves.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    308 views4 pages

    The Benefits of Risky Play

    Uploaded by

    api-302522028
    The document discusses the benefits of risky play for children. It defines risky play as opportunities that engage and challenge children through uncertainties and potential hazards, without putting them in serious danger of harm. Risky play allows children to learn skills like risk assessment, problem-solving, and coping with unpredictable situations. It also supports children's growth, learning, development of personality traits like creativity, and ability to face challenges. While ensuring safety, playworkers should allow reasonable risk-taking through play and not unduly inhibit children's risk exploration, as this helps children learn how to manage risks themselves.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    The key takeaways are that risky play provides opportunities for children to learn, develop skills like problem solving, and gain independence. It allows them to assess and manage risks in a controlled environment.

    The benefits of risky play include developing skills like creativity, problem solving, learning about risks and how to manage them, gaining independence and confidence, and learning vital life skills for adulthood.

    Modern children are missing out on opportunities to learn how to assess and manage risks themselves. By not allowing them to explore and take risks in play, they do not learn skills like judging risks which can help prevent risks in other situations.

    The Benefits of Risky Play

    The term risky play is often used but is still either not fully understood or put
    in to practice. So what does risky play actually mean? Play Wales (2008)
    states that play means providing opportunities for all children to encounter
    or create uncertainty, unpredictability, and potential hazards as part of their
    play. We do not mean putting children in danger of serious harm.
    Good risks and hazards in play provision are those that engage and
    challenge children, and support their growth, learning and development.
    These might include loose materials that give children the chance to create
    and destroy constructions using their skill, creativity and imagination. Bad
    risks and hazards are those that are difficult or impossible for children to
    assess for themselves, and that have no obvious benefits. These might
    include sharp edges or points on equipment, weak structures that may
    collapse, and items that include traps for heads or fingers. (Play England,
    2007)
    A risky play situation for one child might be different to that of another but
    once you get to know a child, you can support them to take appropriate risks
    in their play. Playworkers have a duty of care towards children so it is
    important that risk assessments are carefully carried out first; remember risk
    assessments are used to evidence that practitioners have considered and
    eliminated significant risks to children, not to eradicate all risks entirely.

    It is widely known that children are now given less opportunities to engage in
    risky play than the children of previous generations. So what exactly are
    modern children missing out on?
    Children and young people themselves recognise that you cant make
    everything safe and that a balance is needed between risks and fun. Children
    recognise that knowing about risks and how to manage them is an essential
    part of growing up Through play, children are able to learn about risks and
    use their own initiative. If children and young people are not allowed to
    explore and learn through playing and taking part in positive activities, they
    will not learn how to judge risks and manage them for themselves. These
    skills learnt through play and other activities can act as a powerful form of
    prevention in other situations where children and young people are at risk.
    (Play England, 2007)
    It is argued that taking risks can have positive implications in terms of
    childrens developmental, social and emotional needs, as well as their overall
    health. By providing the opportunities for children to manage their own risks in
    a controlled environment, they will learn vital life skills needed for adulthood,
    and gain the experience needed to face the unpredictable nature of the world
    (Gill, 2007) Risk taking is considered to have further benefits, which
    contribute to the development of desirable personality traits, including
    creativity (Susa and Benedict in Ball, 2002) Dweck (2000) states that

    encouraging children to enjoy challenges rather than to shy away from them
    could also increase their persistence and learning abilities.
    Hazards, then, especially for children and young people, have some value in
    that they can be an opportunity for learning.

    EYFS (2012) Development Matters: Characteristics of Effective Learning


    Support for children to take risks and explore Encourage children to try new
    activities and to judge risks for themselves Always respect childrens efforts
    and ideas, so they feel safe to take a risk with a new idea.
    PSED Be aware of and alert to possible dangers, while recognising the
    importance of encouraging young childrens sense of exploration and risktaking. Physical Development Ensure childrens safety, while not unduly
    inhibiting their risk-taking.
    EYFS (2008) Principles into Practice 4.1: Learning Through Experience
    While playing children can express fears and re-live anxious experiences.
    They can try things out, solve problems and be creative and can take risks
    and use trial and error to find things out; Adult Involvement Practitioners
    plan and resource a challenging environment where childrens play can be
    supported and extended.
    3.3: The Indoor Environment The indoor environment provides a safe,
    secure yet challenging space for children.
    1.4: Challenges and Dilemmas Ensuring safety without stopping reasonable
    risk-taking.
    Playwork Principle 8 says Playworkers choose an intervention style that
    enables children and young people to extend their play. All playworker
    intervention must balance risk with the developmental benefit and well being
    of children. This part of Principle 8 means that we make a decision based on
    a risk-benefit assessment; is the good this child(ren) will gain from this
    experience stronger than the likelihood of their coming to serious harm, during
    which children may encounter life threatening risks or risks which are likely to
    lead to long term severe illness?

    When completing a risk assessment for a play activity, reflect on whether the
    risks outweigh the benefits or vice versa to help you come to a conclusion that
    will be in the best interests of the children. This is known as a risk-benefit
    assessment.
    Risk-Benefit Assessment Template:

    Questions for Consideration


    What are the benefits for children
    and young people, and for others?

    Possible Sources of Information


    These will vary depending on the
    topic under consideration. They could

    include:
    Common sense / experience.
    Observation of play space /
    What are the options for managing
    equipment in use by children.
    the risk, and what are the pros, cons
    Standards.
    and costs of each?
    Guidance and resources from
    Increase the opportunities for
    relevant agencies.
    engagement (with good risk).
    Expert opinion.
    Do nothing.
    Views of colleagues and peers.
    Monitor the situation (including
    Relevant experience from other
    supervision).
    providers.
    Lessen or manage the risk.
    National / local data sources /
    Remove the risk.
    research studies.
    Local knowledge.
    What is the risk-benefit judgement? Notes for implementing the judgement.
    What are the risks?

    It is highly unlikely that a competent playworker will ever be taken to court


    and successfully prosecuted for negligence because the safeguards that we
    put in place to protect both ourselves and the children are sensible and show
    that we have a professional approach to risk. (Play Wales, 2008)
    Just as children need to be introduced to some potentially risky play
    opportunities in small steps in order to build skills, judgment and confidence,
    so we need to take small steps towards feeling comfortable ourselves with
    providing risky play opportunities. Begin this cautiously and with common
    sense; when your confidence is developing, you can look at providing riskier
    (but still assessed!) opportunities.
    We may allow ourselves to be influenced by parents or carers who are
    frightened that their child might be harmed. We need to reflect on this
    quality play opportunities involve some element of risk taking or creation,
    however small, and most parents will understand this if they think back to their
    own childhood. However parents/carers concerns do need to be taken in to
    consideration as they need to feel that their children are safe in our care.
    Parents need to have appropriate information: when we talk about providing
    opportunities for children to take risks, we are not talking about risk at all cost
    and they need to know that we have procedures in place that minimise the
    danger of harm.
    Many of us are frightened of the unknown and the word risk has some
    negative meanings we need to be able to explain to parents why we are
    doing this Ultimately if they are still unhappy they have the right to stop their
    child attending; if we back down because one parent or carer complains we
    will be depriving many more children of quality play opportunities. (Play
    Wales, 2008)

    The Occupiers Liability Act (1957) states The common duty of care is to
    see that the visitor will be reasonably safe in using the premises However,
    an occupier must be prepared for children to be less careful than adults.

    There is no requirement under the Act to eliminate or minimise risk, even


    where children are concerned.
    In a playground, bumps, bruises scrapes and even a broken limb are not
    necessarily warning signs of greater dangers, as they might be considered in
    a factory or office environment. They are to be expected as part of everyday
    life for children growing up.
    Providers need to decide for themselves what level of risk is appropriate in
    their provision, because the type and style of provision must be responsive to
    local circumstancesHowever, there are benefits from this approach at all
    levels and for all those involved in play, but above all for the children, who will
    have happier and more satisfying experiences of childhood with richer
    opportunities for healthy growth and development into competent and
    confident adults. (Play England, 2007)

    Extended Reading

    Play England (2008) Managing Risk in Play Provision: Implementation


    Guide http://www.playengland.org.uk/resources/managing-risk-in-playprovision-implementation-guide
    Play Wales (2008) A Playworkers Guide to Risk
    http://www.playwales.org.uk/login/uploaded/documents/INFORMATION%2
    0SHEETS/playworkers%20guide%20to%20risk.pdf
    Simon Nicholsons Theory of Loose Parts
    Bristol Scrapstores PlayPods project http://www.playpods.co.uk/
    Play Englands Play, Naturally project
    http://www.playengland.org.uk/media/130593/play-naturally.pdf

    References

    Dweck (2000) Self-theories: their role in motivation, personality and


    development

    Gill (2007) No Fear: growing up in a risk adverse society

    Play England (2008) Managing Risk in Play Provision: Implementation


    Guide Download from
    http://www.playengland.org.uk/resources/managing-risk-in-play-provisionimplementation-guide

    Play Wales (2008) A Playworkers Guide to Risk Download from


    http://www.playwales.org.uk/login/uploaded/documents/INFORMATION%2
    0SHEETS/playworkers%20guide%20to%20risk.pdf

    Susa and Benedict in Ball (2002) Playgrounds: risks, benefits and


    choices

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