Enough of the Cottonwool, Helicopter Parenting and Protective Bubbles - Embracing Risky Play is Essential for Children's Development

This article originally appeared in The Daily Telegraph

Society’s fixation on safety and avoiding risk starts when we’re young and lasts into adulthood.

While a healthy degree of trepidation keeps us out of harm’s way, the 24-hour news cycle, with its relentless focus on negative stories and disastrous consequences, can amplify anxieties to an unhelpful degree.

For parents, this often translates to shielding children from environments perceived as risky. While well-intentioned, this hyper-focus on safety can remove the benefits of exploration and adventure during play, and even stifle children's development.

The concept of "risky play" involves activities that challenge a child’s limits and carry a perceived yet potential risk of physical injury. Examples include climbing, swinging, wrestling, tree climbing and playing near water.

While exposure to such activities might sound alarming at first, the developmental benefits of risk taking can be immense. Through risky play, children build awareness of their own boundaries and physical capabilities, and learn to deal with the consequences of their actions – skills that will serve them well throughout their lives.

This helps children build resilience, determination, coordination, confidence, independence, creativity and problem-solving skills.

Research consistently confirms the advantages of risky play. A recent study by Deakin University found that children with parents who embrace risk are more physically active and engaged in more adventurous play. In fact, these children are around three times more likely than those who didn’t engage in risky play to meet the Australian physical activity guidelines of an hour a day of 'huff and puff' physical activity.

The Government’s National Quality Framework for early years learning also advocates for accepting challenges and taking considered risks, claiming it is vital for strengthening children’s social and emotional wellbeing.

At Young Academics, our educators design environments that allow for safe risky play. This includes using child-centric climbing structures with soft fall areas and ensuring constant supervision during activities that carry an element of risk, such as using scissors or helping in the kitchen. This approach allows children to exert their independence while learning to navigate risks responsibly.

Parents can also play a part in creating an environment conducive to risky play. The aim should be to encourage independence while setting reasonable limits. Rather than issuing generic warnings like ‘be careful’ or ‘watch out’, parents can discuss specific scenarios and potential consequences with their children to help them understand and assess risks more effectively.

For instance, parents can involve children in DIY projects, allow them to help with tasks like putting logs on the fire, or encourage them to climb trees and experiment in playgrounds, and both explain the risks and the benefits to be gained from these activities.

It’s important to remember that every child develops at their own pace, and their appetite for risk can vary. Just consider riding a bike. While one child might be learning, another might be using training wheels while another will be learning their first tricks on a BMX – and that’s okay.

Another consideration is ensuring gender equality in encouraging risky play. Often boys are more encouraged to engage in adventurous activities than girls. Educators should equally support all children in pushing their boundaries and leaving their comfort zones.

By embracing risky play, we can allow children to experience the world in its fullness, fostering not only physical skills but also the strength to navigate life’s challenges. Allowing children to engage in risky play doesn't mean neglecting their safety, it means providing them with the tools to assess and manage risks effectively.

Ultimately, our goal should be to nurture children who are not only safe but also confident, capable, and ready to take on the world. Embracing risky play is a step towards achieving that goal, and it’s one we must be willing to take for the sake of our children’s overall development and wellbeing.