P L AY N O T E S

November 2006

Risk and challenge for children from 05 years

If Risk can be defined as to expose to danger, a dangerous element or hazard and Challenge as something that is demanding or stimulating, why are both vital elements of effective provision outdoors?
Babies and very young children deserve a learning environment that enables them to take suitable risks and manage the challenges they present to enable them to grow up into competent, confident adults. Children able to practise and acquire skills such as digging, climbing and finding their own way around will grow in confidence and develop their understanding of themselves, their world and their own abilities. This Playnotes offers inspiration and encouragement in developing ideas that will support childrens ability to manage risk and challenge. Further support can be found in the November 06 Groundnotes: Site security and Safety. RoSPA (the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) believes that exposure to acceptable risk should be encouraged to avoid children seeking the thrill of risk elsewhere in unsupervised situations. They are also quite clear that childrens contact with unnecessary risk should be avoided: health and safety procedures must be followed and good hygiene habits fostered. Risks and challenges are positive outdoor necessities. An outdoor environment that is safe enough is not one devoid of risks and challenges. Children, however, do not want to be met with daunting experiences outdoors! Allow activities that they are familiar and comfortable with, as well as opportunities to try out new skills and to practise acquired ones. Who sets risks and challenges? Lead by example, providing ideas for activities and developing a positive climate where children can take up challenges when they are ready and at their own pace, with as much support as they need. Work to what is developmentally appropriate rather than activities determined by age. Children can learn from each other and may even set each other challenges which may or may not be appropriate. Enable your children to move about and use resources as much as possible without intervention. An inclusive environment will allow children with a disability to be challenged too. Be prepared to accept inevitable mishaps and learn from them. Fill your outdoors with opportunities for children to enjoy the space, freedom and natural challenges it provides.

This resource was originally created as part of the Early Years Outdoors membership scheme from Learning through Landscapes. To find out more about membership call 01962 845 811 or visit www.ltl.org.uk

RISK AND CHALLENGE

LEARNING THROUGH LANDSCAPES 01962 845811

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Be clear that risk is acceptable
As with any policy and procedure your Health and Safety policy should be easily available for parents to read. Does it contain a set of clear safety rules? Find out how people view activities that take place outside: observe and ask children, staff and parents too. How do people feel about the risks incorporated into your outdoor space? Monitor how parents feel and inform them of good practise through meetings, displays, open days and access to their childrens work. Consider promoting your safety rules during Child Safety Week which is organised by CAPT (see Resources) and held annually at the end of June. You can help allay parents fears by explaining their particular childs needs. Parents that can openly question and remark on safety issues will benefit from your positive attitude to childrens ability to learn and develop skills of self-reliance. can go no nearer. The children love to sit and bake dampers (flour, milk and water) on sticks of a suitable length that they collected earlier, with 2 adults at the fire.

Risk assess your outdoors

Use a risk assessment procedure to look closely at your whole outdoor space and the existing features. See Resources for downloadable advice. Examine your space carefully to identify any potential for harm to occur to children or adults. Talking with other adults using the space is crucial to gain other perceptions of risk that you may have overlooked. Check the accident record book and look for repeated incidents involving specific areas or pieces of equipment. Think about the different users of your space and how they might be affected: a child who knows the layout and procedures may be at less risk than a younger or new child. Use your judgement to decide whether the existing safety measures are adequate or whether more should be done to reduce the risk. Remember that the benefits of an experience will often be greater than the risk of harm.

Physical play and exploration Crates, logs and tyres are all useful items outdoors, as well as specialist equipment such as A frames, blocks, steps and planks. Expect the children to try out new ways to use familiar equipment and support opportunities for experimentation. Some members have had experiences of being challenged by Health and Safety Inspectors about these resources. Our advice is to be well aware of how these items are used by children and to support them in their effective, safe use. Rules you create will be determined by the age and interests of the children but establishing a policy of how and when these resources are used will support good practise. Some settings determine a height limit for stacking crates or climbing them. Allowing their use encourages children to explore and deal with safety issues in a supervised environment. A safe enough environment will have soft or yielding surfaces for children landing from jumps or somersaults; rules for the number of children a piece of equipment can withstand; agreed ways to use equipment; and explanations or examples of safety by adults as and when appropriate.

Specific areas to consider

Fire and heat Fire is a fascinating element and children benefit from clear sensible warnings and advice on its use. Perhaps you can talk through with your staff how best to provide opportunities outside for your children to experience fire? New Ark Playgroup in Peterborough have a designated fire area. This is a hard standing area with a container the top 1/3 of a metal dustbin (see picture on page 1). They have benches or logs a safe distance from it and children are able to sit on these after they have understood they

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Practical life skills and use of tools Store and organise tools using labels and pictures so they can be found and used safely. Learning skills that require the use of tools can be exasperating for children if they are given safe, blunt, childrens versions. Finding slightly smaller versions of real tools can result in satisfied learning when supported by attentive adults. Remind children to watch carefully what their hands are doing when they use tools. Think carefully about the activity and where best to site it. Woodwork, sewing and craft activities will need to be in clear view of watchful adults with the appropriate amount of support for the activity and children using them. Let them try the activity with your support. Gradually allow as much independence as the children can manage safely. If some activities are just for adults then give the children clear reasons for this.

Assess and reassess behaviour

Evaluating behaviour can be fun and parents will appreciate learning about what their child has done and how you have enabled them to learn. The outdoors is a great place for child-led investigations and play. Knowledgeable adults provide appropriate opportunities and resources, letting the childrens needs set the pace with adult and child-led activities. Decisions about where staff will be and how many challenging activities are going on will require a flexible approach. Children can learn that risk and challenges are exciting, necessary and important but require thinking through first and appropriate resources. Use group times to reinforce positive messages so children can grow in confidence and satisfaction - not just by recalling the activity but also through praise when the ground rules are remembered. When is risk or challenge unsafe? When an activity is beyond an individual childs mobility skills or level of understanding there is potential for a risk or challenge to become a genuine hazard or danger. Knowledge of individuals is crucial since all children have different capabilities and an acceptable risk for one may become an unacceptable hazard for another. Satisfy yourself that: All children can reach play materials or equipment without having to stretch or clamber in an unsafe way. The environment is organised to provide the opportunity to make choices between activities. Activities are available at the right level and a child can move easily in order to complete a task. All practitioners should be aware of their Health and Safety procedures and have basic first aid as part of their responsibilities. Recording incidents is necessary as is a reliable system for ensuring communication with individual parents of a child that has been hurt, or has been affected by an accident that happened to someone else. Keeping parents informed will help strengthen your relationship with them and can help a particularly protective parent to trust that their child will be safe in your care.

Enable
Step by step coaching of new skills is necessary and a Tell, Show, Do approach as advocated by Jennie Lindon works well. Offer help and do not always insist on children working out how to use resources for themselves when there is a real safety issue. Firm suggestions can be given in simple, explicit and respectful ways. Words of encouragement and constructive feedback which acknowledges a childs efforts help them to persevere and compliments can be used to confirm things they have done well.

Preparing children to acquire new skills requires an awareness of what these skills involve, so be ready to break a task down into simple steps and explain why you choose to work in a particular way. Be specific about safety rules before the children engage in a new activity. Tell the children what you are going to do. Let children watch you as you explain the safety aspects. Answer questions and show pictures or written instructions for the activity, sharing tips such as how to move around with tools and how to care for and store them.

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Turn negatives into positives Is your outdoor area a negative or a positive experience for children? Have a look around to see what the children are able to do outdoors. What do your children see as a risk? Do they have any worries about risks other children or adults take? Respect and listen to their views and take the time to talk about activities that have caused them to worry. Think about what stages of development your children are at, their interests and preferences. Offer opportunities that are appropriate to their stage of development. A toddler may want to climb independently while an older child likes to swing above the ground. Watch your children and what they are now able to do. Praise them and allow them to practice their new skills, offering new stimuli for them to test these skills in other ways. When a child behaves inappropriately look at what skill they may be trying to achieve. Are they doing this for fun, or are they trying to test their strength or wit? Keeping calm Accidents will happen and the way that you deal with them can provide positive lessons to children. Be careful about forecasting accidents as it can put some children off a task and undermine your credibility with more confident ones if the accident does not occur. Getting the children to think for themselves by asking questions will help them to feel that their ideas count and that their views are respected. Point out dangers in simple terms as appropriate and show how they can be avoided. State non-negotiable issues clearly, explaining adult responsibilities simply. Further resources
Early Years Outdoors publications Groundnotes: Security and Safety, November 2006. More advice on achieving a safe environment. Advice sheet:Risk assessment. Available to download from the Member Services pages of our website at www.ltl.org.uk or call the Advice line on 01962 845811.

Keep calm if an accident happens or nearly happens, dont add to a drama! Take enough time- a measured response considers the real level of risk. Use a no blame approach treat incidents as mistakes that children can learn by. Comfort a child if they are upset and listen to them if they want to talk. Reflect on any accidents in future planning where appropriate. Unfortunate as accidents are, they do provide children with opportunities for positive life lessons. Use a problem solving approach whenever possible so children learn from their experiences. Pose questions to get the children to think carefully about a challenge and how it can be met safely. Discuss solutions using a plan, do, review approach. Adults need to take time with children who for instance happily and confidently try stacking crates too high or jumping onto cluttered surfaces. Listening to childrens reasoning and explaining what else needs to be considered will ensure real progress for the child, who will learn far more through respect than through banning behaviour. Very young children need things explained in context as they cannot yet apply these concepts in other situations. Be prepared to clarify each safety issue calmly and simply as often as it arises. These children are not being naughty, they just need to learn from a patient teacher.
A too safe environment may be the cause of accidents if a child has no awareness of risk or has not developed the ability to rise to challenges. The role of the practitioner is to enable them to do this safely, not to stop them, by providing appropriate activities. Websites Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
www.rospa.com

Books and other publications Too safe for their own good, Jennie Lindon, National Childrens Bureau, ISBN 1 900990 97 0. This excellent book offers greater depth on this topic. The Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT). A range of booklets and fact sheets about staying safe and coping with the consequences of incidents.www.capt.org.uk Managing risk in play provision, a position statement from Play Safety Forum. Available to download from www.ncb.org.uk

DVD The Rising Sun Woodland Pre School Project. A DVD recounting the experiences of nursery children exploring their local woodland. Available from Sightlines Initiative
www.sightlines-initiative.com

Learning through Landscapes would like to thank the following settings for sharing their ideas and supplying images for publication: The New Ark Playgroup, Peterborough; The Coombes School, Arborfield; Bilston Nursery, West Midlands; Glebe House, Kent; Ethelred, London; Wingate Early Years Nursery and Mill Hill Nursery.

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