You see your toddler across the playground. He’s balancing on the short wooden ledge that borders the mulch. He steadies himself. One foot. Then the other. You watch as he shifts his weight two steps forward. He turns his body toward the mulch and makes the 6-inch leap off. He stumbles but softly lands on his feet. His friend nearby claps, and your tot flashes a big smile at you—incredibly proud of himself.
Your child just took part in risky play.
What is risky play?
Risky or adventurous play is a type of play that involves some sort of risk to a child. These risks are usually physical. It can be a type of play that is exciting or challenging for kids. Risky play is essential for children’s development—social, emotional, mental and physical development.
As parents, we feel stress and anxiety rise when we see our children take part in risky play. It doesn’t always go as smoothly as the experience described above. Your child may not always be successful. But this is part of why risky play is so important. We must determine how to keep our kids safe while also allowing—and encouraging—them to try new things. This includes risky play.
If risky or adventurous play among children promotes creativity, leadership and group skills, who are we to stifle it?
Examples of risky play
As mentioned, risky play usually involves some sort of risk or challenge to children. This type of play can be anything from swinging to climbing to hopping over a creek. Risky play does not always involve scaling enormous walls or leaping sizeable gaps. For some children, smaller scale risky play can feel like a great feat.
Examples of risky play include:
- Climbing, depending on the age of the child and the height of the climb.
- Jumping or hopping over something, around something, etc.
- Exploring nature—think getting dirty without hesitation.
- Playing with something for not just its intended purpose. Examples are walking up a slide, standing on a swing, balancing on a structure, climbing trees.
- Learning how to do a skill that could potentially hurt children until they figure out how to do it right: cartwheels, riding a bike or scooter, playground monkey bars, to name a few.
Why risky play is important for kids
Allowing your child to take part in risky play offers some great benefits. It boosts self-esteem and encourages growth. It enhances social interactions and builds confidence. Risky play also promotes leadership, group skills and creativity.
Risky play gives children a chance to fail. After all, trying something and failing is a primary part of learning. Trying and failing can encourage a child to develop critical thinking skills. Not only is risky play important for building confidence and social skills, but also for developing fine and gross motor skills. Really, so many life skills have their foundation in risky play.
For example, a child wants to learn how to do a cartwheel. She runs, dives toward the ground with her hands and flops belly-down on the dirt. She tries these actions again and again to build her skills. Not only is she showing signs of mental toughness, but she is gaining physical muscle strength. She’s improving her coordination and core strength.
Trying and failing develops persistence. This often allows a child to keep trying until he succeeds—an important skill that transfers well into school-aged children, young adults and later on, adulthood. Risky play encourages creativity and leadership. Some might excel at this type of play, while other children have more challenges.
Benefits of risky play include:
- Increased self-esteem.
- The chance to fail.
- Physical benefits, including fine and gross motor skills.
- Conflict resolution skills.
- Social benefits, such as getting a child out of his comfort zone, meeting new friends, getting encouragement from friends and bonding.
Discouraging risky play can be harmful to a child’s development
We parents naturally want to protect our children from danger. But by limiting experiences, we disable their free thinking. When we encourage free thinking in our children, we set them up to be successful adults.
If we discourage risky play in our children, we downplay their judgment and intuition. And although younger children do not develop critical thinking skills until later on, we want them to follow and trust their intuition. Following their intuition allows children to be aware of dangerous situations and people. It helps them solve problems and figure out solutions much faster when they’re accustomed to listening to their intuition.
Discouraging risky play can shield a child from new experiences. Taking part in risky play can allow children to experience things they may not necessarily be involved in. For example, a child comes across a creek on a hike. She may be scared not just to cross the creek, but to go near it at all. By starting small—allowing her to get close to the creek or even putting her hands or feet in it—we may help her develop the courage to explore it more thoroughly. That can lead to learning about all kinds of things, from ecosystems and animals to nature and much more. This type of play (or really learning) carries risks of injury and the dangers of water, but when they are monitored and supported, children reap the benefits. Here, your child is learning about nature, developing sensory skills and more.
How to navigate risky play carefully
Learning to evaluate and manage risks is a critical aspect of risky play. Of course, you’re not going to just let your children jump into every body of water or climb everything they see! Navigating risks with your children will help them navigate risks independently later on. It will also help them deal with any repercussions, dangers or consequences after the fact. Discuss hypothetical situations for your children before they try out risky types of play. Regularly helping children navigate some “what-ifs” beforehand gives them a pattern to follow when they approach risky play as they grow more independent.
Kailyn Rhinehart writes from Warrensburg, Missouri, where she lives with her two small children and her husband.