Risky play keeps children 'safe', expert says
Katy Morton
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
If nurseries fail to provide opportunities for risky play, children can either become very quiet or make their own opportunities for adventurous play, the director of Play England has warned.
'Children create risks if there are none provided for them', said Catherine Prisk.
Ms Prisk said that without risk in play, children can become bored, ‘scaredy cats’, or develop a lack of control. Whereas exposing children to risk can improve their confidence, make them more resilient, increase their creativity and help develop their social skills.
‘The best way to learn about risk is to experience it. If children risk climbing a tree then they might risk reading aloud,’ Ms Prisk told delegates at the NDNA conference.
Ms Prisk referred to a parent’s blog which claimed that her child would not have broken her arm in the playground jumping up and down on the equipment had there been a climbing frame which was taller or more challenging, as she wouldn’t have needed to put herself in that position.
The former nursery deputy head also claimed that allowing children to play fight, which some settings put a stop to, is physically important to help them understand how far they can push the boundaries.
In America one community nursery has introduced play fighting formally to the setting, she said.
