Benefits of Encouraging Risk: Beyond the Early Years

This is part two of a three-part series on risk-taking and risky play. Part one of this series touches on the basics of risky play in early childhood. Part three will discuss the long-term benefits of letting young children push their own boundaries. When you feel like you're the only parent on the playground who isn't hovering over a child, it's easy to feel self-conscious and worry about what the other parents think. "Do I look like a bad parent?" "Is anyone else's kid climbing up things or leaping off of things?" "Are people giving me the stink eye?" How Early Childhood Teachers Prepare Children To Take Healthy Risks I spoke with Kelsey Elizabeth Carlson, who has a master's degree in education with a Montessori emphasis, about how to help your children choose adventures even in situations where doing so seems like an unpopular choice. Although Montessori education emphasizes "following the child," that is, the child's interests and intrinsic motivations, the resulting atmosphere is not a free-for-all. Instead, Carlson underscores the need for clear boundaries. When children have boundaries and know what to expect, they feel safe. She says that parents and caregivers should establish boundaries before play begins. For example: "You can play by the creek, but you can't go beyond these two trees." "You can play anywhere in the playground, but you have to stay inside the playground (no going into the parking lot or into the woods)."   Leverage Communication To Keep Children Safe on the Playground and Elsewhere The communication piece also comes into play when a child is in the middle of a challenging activity. For example, if a young child wants to climb a tree for the first time, it may be helpful to say, "When you go up, you'll have to come down." You can also ask children what the plan is for getting back down to encourage them to consider the risks for themselves. Avital Schrieber Levy, also known as The Parenting Junkie, puts it very well when she asks adults to imagine driving a car. Just as you are about to merge into traffic, change lanes, or make a turn, the person in your passenger seat yells: "BE CAREFUL!" Would that be helpful? Probably not, although it does happen sometimes. Instead of doing something similar to your children when they're focusing on a challenging bit of play, Schrieber Levy suggests giving them helpful information. Back to the driving example: What if your passenger in that situation simply said: "There's a vehicle coming up in your blind spot"? That would be helpful to you as a driver. Similarly, giving your child helpful information, such as "that grass is wet" or "that boulder is wobbly," may help them continue playing in a safe way. Other public play spaces, like those at children's museums and zoos, can be full of adult peer pressure just like playgrounds. You may realize that these spaces are designed with exploration in mind. Still, you may be unsure about the specific rules and behavior expectations in a given space. A big part of designing early childhood spaces is preparing the environment, and a children's garden is no different. It is a play space, not a "keep off the grass" space. People who design outdoor play spaces for children have to prevent hazardous conditions, but they don't try to remove all risk in the space. As the organization Play England explains in its position statement on managing risk in play, these spaces are designed to be as safe as necessary for children to freely play there, but not necessarily as safe as possible. One way designers accomplish this is by ensuring that inherent risks, such as falling from a modest height, are easy for a child to notice and recognize. On the other hand, play space designers work to eliminate invisible hazards, such as opportunities for little fingers to get pinched. Learn To Read Environmental Cues to Guide Risk-Taking Activity Look for cues in the environment to help you guide your children. For example, inside the children's garden at Denver Botanic Gardens in Colorado, there is a small, seasonal creek. Beside the creek are several boulders that children love to climb. The tallest one peaks at least six feet off the ground. You won't see any signs saying not to climb these boulders. However, a rock wall further down the path does have an obvious sign that says both "Do not climb" and "Steep cliff." Take a cue from signs like this one and initiate a discussion about situational awareness, and why it might be OK to climb one set of rocks but not another. In all play situations, a big part of keeping children safe is trusting them to know their own limits and to explore within given boundaries. As long as the environment is not too hazardous, try giving your little ones more room to explore and take some healthy risks. ******************* Getting your children outside on a regular basis is easier when you have like-minded people to go with you. Connect with a group of local parents and caregivers who get it. Learn more about Hike it Baby's mission and how you can get involved. About the Author Sarita Li Johnson believes in unstructured play, inquiry-based learning, and road tripping as much as possible. You will often find her and her two roadschooling children somewhere between Denver, Colorado, and Morro Bay, California. Follow along on Instagram @thelandlockedmama.           The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and not necessarily the opinions, thoughts, or recommendations of Hike it Baby. Image courtesy of Jessica Campbell. About Hike it Baby Hike it Baby is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to getting families outdoors and on trails across the U.S. and internationally, supporting, educating and inspiring families through their more than 300 communities across North America. Since its grassroots inception in 2013 in Portland, Oregon, Hike it Baby is now a growing community of 270,000 families and 500 volunteer branch ambassadors hosting more than 1,600 hikes per month. More information, as well as daily hike schedules, can be found at HikeitBaby.com, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram.     Editors Note: We hope you enjoyed reading this article from Hike it Baby. We’re working hard to provide our community with content and resources that inform, inspire, and entertain you.   But content is not free. It’s built on the hard work and dedication of writers, editors, and volunteers. We make an investment in developing premium content to make it easier for families with young children to connect with nature and each other. We do not ask this lightly, but if you can, please make a contribution and help us extend our reach.

This is part one of a three-part series on risky play. Part three will explore how parents can support appropriate risk-taking in public play spaces. Part two will take a look into the long-term benefits of learning to tolerate and embrace risk. I'm one of those unorthodox moms. I let my kids eat bean burritos and leftover pizza for breakfast if they want to. I make them drink water. I ask people not to interrupt their play. At breakfast one day last week, I was reminded of how unorthodox I can be when I handed my toddler a plate of hot-but-not-scalding food. As I brought the plate over, instead of saying: "It's hot; don't touch it!" I made sure I had his attention, and I said: "Is it hot? Check it!" By now, he's used to this routine, so he put his hand very close to the food, waited for a second, and then poked it with one finger. Then he made a mad face. It was hotter than he wanted it to be. He's one and a half, and he doesn't like to wait. But, wait he did, and then he checked it again, and then he ate most of it and chucked the rest on the floor or smeared it all over the table. #Toddlerlife, right? For some reason, on that particular morning, I started to wonder what kind of weirdo mom gives her little kid hot food and puts HIM in charge of deciding whether it's too hot to eat. After about two seconds of soul-searching, I came to the answer: The kind of mom who has been trained to foster independence in young children, that's who. Risk-Taking and Independence In another life, before I was a mom, I was an infant/toddler specialist. I even taught preschool on the campus of a lovely university in Indiana. Although parenting is almost never anything like classroom teaching, some of the lessons I learned back then really stuck. Lesson number one: Let the kids take risks. Risk-taking in childhood is not necessarily the same thing as "risky behaviors" that you hope your children will never try. Risk-taking for a toddler may look like taking a few steps without holding onto the furniture, or playing beside a friend even when mama is out of sight for a minute. For a preschooler, it may mean saying hello to a new friend, asking for a turn with a toy, climbing a tree, or trying a new vegetable. It could also mean trying to climb onto the top of the jungle gym or going up the slide. For the average parent, these types of risks (with the exception of going up the slide) are not scary. When our toddlers take their first, unassisted steps, we clap and take videos and cheer them on. We encourage this type of risk. Although we know they will definitely fall down at some point, we support our children's efforts to walk. But why? What Adults Know About Taking Risks As an adult, you've probably memorized all kinds of mantras about why risk is necessary for growth: "No pain, no gain." "You'll never know unless you try." "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." Most of us know that we need to push our own boundaries and step outside our comfort zones in order to grow. Some of us have learned this through therapy and personal development coaching, others through decades of missed opportunities. Some of us were lucky enough to learn these lessons during childhood or adolescence. However, many of us still hover around our young children, waiting to catch them after every step or shouting things like, "Be careful! Don't fall! Don't climb on that! Get down before you hurt yourself!" It's natural to want to protect our children, and I'm not suggesting that we send our toddlers out to play in the street. However, many of us could stand to take a deep breath and help our little ones learn to analyze and embrace risk. Early childhood educators are trained to help children assess risky situations and learn to be safe without being paranoid. Parents can learn to foster this type of awareness, as well, although it's not always the easiest thing to do. To get a better understanding of the difference between risks and hazards, check out this post from our archives: The Do's and Don'ts of Risky Play. ******************* It's (slightly) easier to let your little ones take acceptable risks when you're surrounded by other parents who are on a mission to do the same thing. (Positive peer pressure, right?) Connect with local parents and caregivers who are happy to help you take a deep breath and just let your child play. Learn more about Hike it Baby's mission and how you can get involved. About the Author Sarita Li Johnson believes in unstructured play, inquiry-based learning, and road tripping as much as possible. You will often find her and her two roadschooling children somewhere between Denver, Colorado, and Morro Bay, California. Follow along on Instagram @thelandlockedmama.             The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and not necessarily the opinions, thoughts, or recommendations of Hike it Baby. Image courtesy Michelle Pearl Gee. About Hike it Baby Hike it Baby is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to getting families outdoors and on trails across the U.S. and internationally, supporting, educating and inspiring families through their more than 300 communities across North America. Since its grassroots inception in 2013 in Portland, Oregon, Hike it Baby is now a growing community of 270,000 families and 500 volunteer branch ambassadors hosting more than 1,600 hikes per month. More information, as well as daily hike schedules, can be found at HikeitBaby.com, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram. Editors Note: We hope you enjoyed reading this article from Hike it Baby. We’re working hard to provide our community with content and resources that inform, inspire, and entertain you. But content is not free. It’s built on the hard work and dedication of writers, editors, and volunteers. We make an investment in developing premium content to make it easier for families with young children to connect with nature and each other. We do not ask this lightly, but if you can, please make a contribution and help us extend our reach.