Adventurous play

“The more risks you allow your children to make, the better they learn to look after themselves”

– Roald Dahl

It has long been understood that play is the way that children learn and develop, so it makes sense that different types of play enable children to develop different skills.

Adventurous Play (sometimes known as Risky Play) is play which involves uncertain outcomes and the possibility of danger. Adventurous play should be child-led to enable the child to assess the situation, make adjustments and predict outcomes.

At Little Stars we facilitate learning through adventurous play by providing opportunities to climb and run and to use equipment such as graters, hammers and ceramic crockery. We also encourage children to understand their own bodies and assess how hot/cold they are by thinking about whether they need more weather appropriate clothing on.

We are also mindful of the language we use whilst children are partaking in adventurous play. For example, instead of shouting “Careful!” when the blocks they are climbing on wobble, we calmly say “does that feel safe?”. When we react and call out warnings, we can spook the child and actually end up making things more dangerous as they begin to panic. Instead, we calmly draw the child’s attention to their own safety as an opportunity to learn.

Children learn a great deal by being able to make decisions for themselves and by having to gauge risks. Firstly, they learn how to problem solve which is a valuable life skill. When things don’t go to plan children are learning to be resilient and to persevere. Whereas when they are successful, they feel brave and their confidence soars!

Laura – Toddler Room Leader