Benefits to Risky Play

Photograph Courtesy of family+footprints

Being out in nature is beautiful. It is also filled with potential risks. How we approach those risks, though, determine what children get out of the experience. There's been much talk lately about some of these risks as not just elements to be managed, but actually beneficial parts of life - life skills out there ripe for the taking. They are there if we let kids engage in them, but much of that is up to us as caretakers. The conversation exists because much risky play has diminished over time. The question is, are we ready to guide our children with risky play? Chances are, children are waiting for the opportunity, even if risk is different for each of them.

So let's talk risk + why we should give these potentially dangerous activities a go.

I love the way Peter Gray categorizes risk in this article, Risky Play: Why Children Love It and Need It. He outlines six types:

01. Great Heights - which covers climbing any and everything in nature

02. Rapid Speeds - here we're talking about movement, such as swinging vines, swimming, boating

03. Dangerous Tools - tools such as knives, spears, archery

04. Dangerous Elements - kids exploring fire, caves, bodies of water

05. Rough + Tumble - where kids can play rough and physically with each other, under their terms

06. Disappearing - which gives the opportunity for getting lost and being unseen

What do you think when you read this list? Does this seem ordinary, out of the question or somewhere in the middle - a mixed bag? A theme running through them all, they involve some element of a safety hazard. A child could very well get hurt doing them. Another theme though, they all involve empowerment. When taking risks, we challenge ourselves, feel alive and expand our life skills. And so, when we engage in risky play, we can yes, engage in play which may be unsafe at times, but on the upside, can enrich the confidence and resilience and character of our children. Those are huge benefits.

Here are some more benefits as outlined and pulled together by Play Scotland. It's an impressive list.

Graphic credit: Play Scotland.

But many of us don't even need statistics to remind us how special and formative risky play can be. Think back to your own childhood. Do you remember what it was like to do something risky? How you felt when you accomplished that? There are often experiences within each of us that we can recall either because we were given the chance to engage in a risky challenge or because we were shielded from it.

Some of my childhood risky play was out in the world, but much of it was time spent in nature - either on my own or with friends. We'd climb and create, we'd challenge and support each other. I felt alive and giddy. I felt a sense of something special, something that was our own world. In hindsight, I realize how important those experiences were. And when I look at all the other types of risky play I could have engaged in, I imagine just how special those experiences could be when offered to children.

As we as caretakers guide youth through their childhoods, consider the positive impact risky play might have in their lives. Think of the opportunities you have for saying yes, or rather, not saying no to them. Let's get out there and feel alive. The benefits just might surprise and excite you.

Need more inspiration? Check out this Ted Talk, by Gever Tulley, founder of Tinkering School: 5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do.

Following a Child's Lead in the Woods