Age appropriate risks - why should we encourage them?

Assessing risks and making decisions involving our own and other's safety, is an important part of day to day life for adults. We've learnt to do it almost without thinking, from our life experience over the years we can foresee how certain situations may unfold and are aware of our own physical and mental capabilities. 
But how did we get to that point?

The forms of age appropriate risk

When thinking of risk we may instinctively think of an activity that may end in an accident or broken bone! And whilst physical risk is a factor, there are also other forms of risk that we may overlook, including emotional, social and cognitive risk.

Unhealthy physical risk - involves actions or environments that threaten a child's safety and health
Healthy physical risk - an activity or environment that is challenging but won't cause major harm. Commonly called 'risky play'.

Unhealthy Emotional risk - factors that threaten their mental health, psychological growth, and sense of safety.
Healthy emotional risk - safe, manageable emotional and social challenges that build a child's resilience and help them to built on their emotional skills without overloading their nervous system.

Unhealthy social risk - interactions that may affect a child's well being such as friendship and family dynamics.
Healthy social risk - day to day interactions with peers which may result in rejection and play conflict from sharing environments and resources, but help them to build on their social skills and ability to manage themselves in a group environment. 

Unhealthy cognitive risk - challenges that are not age appropriate or achievable, this can affect children's self esteem and desire to 'keep trying' when they face things that they find tricky.
Healthy cognitive risk - encouraging children to approach challenges in a positive way, pushing their boundaries and comfort zones whilst encouraging curiosity, problem solving and perseverance skills.

Why it's important

These developmental risks help children test boundaries, build resilience, and learn social dynamics when guided by supportive adults. They enable them to rely on themselves and trust in their own capabilities, this in turn builds their self esteem and helps them to have a positive, can-do attitude when they come across challenges or situations that they have not experienced before.

How you can allow risk taking in a healthy way

Don't jump straight on the brakes, our instinct as parents and carers is to protect our children and sometimes allowing them to take risks can feel uncomfortable. It's important to take a moment to weigh up the situation before you step in (unless it's an emergency of course!)

For physical risk that might mean asking yourself: what are the possible consequences? Is this likely to result in major harm or can I allow the child to navigate the situation themselves? 

In a social environment it might be: do I need to step in during this interaction or can the children manage it themselves? 

In a cognitive challenge this might mean asking: instead of helping or doing it for them, can I encourage them to keep trying to help build their skills and resilience?

In all situations the key is to weigh up whether the benefit to the child outweighs the risk, there is a balance between over protection and negligence, for us adults finding this middle ground can take practice!

Set up a controlled activity to allow risk. As well as child led risk, we can also choose to offer activities which involve an element of risk in a controlled way. For example this might be allowing children in early years to use real world tools such as hammering nails or cutting with saws. Or it might involve building an area at your setting, where you can offer activities with risks you can control, such as slackline balancing. Finding activities you as a leader feel confident and comfortable in offering is a great way to expand children's skills and confidence. 

Another family or settings risks might not always match yours, the risk opportunities you feel you can offer may differ to others and that is completely natural. After all, all children are different and as their parent/carer or teacher, you will know their capabilities and emotional needs best. Some children may naturally be keen to take part in risky activities and need reminding of the dangers, but others may need a lot of encouragement to begin to try.

You don't need to open the floodgates to risky play, healthy risk builds on a child's existing skills and knowledge in a gradual way. For example before allowing a child to climb a tree you might encourage them to practice their balancing skills, talk about how to identify which branches may be strong enough to support them and identify together which trees may be a good place to start.

Seek out training, if you're looking to implement new skills based sessions and activities it's always a great idea to get advice on how best to do so. There are lots of specific training courses and CPD days offered for woodworking, tool use, outdoor cooking and forest craft which will help to build your skills and confidence in offering these activities to children.

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