They were justifiably proud of themselves when they reached the top:
You might as well jump!
As we walked up to the sandpit to see what these little guys were up too, we asked ourselves "should we be worried about this?"
As teachers it can be tricky to give kids the opportunity to overcome risks and challenges through outdoor and adventurous activities when we live and work in a fear based society.
While we don't want children to come to harm, our fears can lead us to overreact to risky play. If we remove risk from play, we are not encouraging children to persist at challenging tasks. If we remove the challenges we are not developing resilience in our children.
So as we approach the sandpit, we are:
- assessing the hazards involved
- considering what we know about these children and their capabilities
- trusting the children's ability to make their own decisions about a particular risk
- relinquishing control
So what did we do? We reminded the boys to look before they leap and helped them to remove objects that they might land on. And we shared their joy.
And the boys? They had the opportunity to:
- solve problems
- face and overcome challenges
- assess risk
- feel good about their achievements
- work together
- take turns
- have fun!
I think Lynn McNair from Cowgate Under 5's Centre on I'm a Teacher Get me Outside of Here put it beautifully:
If we want 'confident individuals' willing to embrace risk and challenge then we need confident adults who have a deep understanding of the issues surrounding risk and play which goes way beyond a narrow 'health and safety' agenda.