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How Risk Helps Your Child Develop
Photo courtesy of Rochelle Brown Forest School is a perfect environment for children to push and challenge themselves.
It gives them the opportunity to take risks that they may not normally be exposed to. It provides a living environment for them to nurture and explore and put’s them at the heart of a learner led setting which empowers them to make choices and decisions for not only themselves but also for those around them.
What is risk?
As a responsible parent or carer, our instinct is never to take risks with our children. By definition, risk is a “situation involving danger.” We go out of our way to make sure that our little ones are never at risk. We remove hazards and continually warn our children of the dangers around them.
In reality, our children are continually exposed to risk as they grow and we can’t keep them wrapped in the proverbial cotton wool for ever. How many times have you watched a child stumble and fall as they try to walk? Despite the many bumps and bruises, the child gets right back up and tries again, and what’s more, we let them! We actively encourage them but we take precautions to keep them safe whilst they are exploring.
Risk Vs. Hazard
Risk and hazard are two different things. A hazard for a child is often not even on their radar, they won’t necessarily see the danger when it comes to a hazard. For example, in heavy snow, the child only sees the fun aspect of the fluffy white stuff, not appreciating that under that layer of snow is thick ice that can cause them to loose their footing and potentially hurt themselves.
A risk however is slightly different. The first time a child climbs a slide, they are often unsure and need a little hand holding. They know they are going up high and may be afraid to fall but they are prepared to take the risk to experience the journey down the slide. It may take several attempts before they are actually brave enough to let go, but they do get there in the end. Risks are the challenges a child encounters in their environment – physical, emotional, cognitive and/or social.
As carers for our children, we have a duty to expose them to an element of risk in order for them to develop. Scary as it sounds, children need risk!!
By allowing children to take supported risk, we are equipping them with the tools they will need to grow up safely. I am not suggesting here, that we let them have a free reign and run riot with risky endeavours but through risk we are giving our children confidence and teaching them to trust their bodies, themselves and those around them.
Risk taking helps children with their growth and development. They gain strength, dexterity, executive function, balance, and body awareness through risk taking. Forest School enables children to move their bodies in different ways, it encourages them to explore reaching, climbing, jumping, lifting, carrying, using tools and working with fire….yes really!!
It is natural for us to be wary for our children, to want them to stay safe and protected. However, in controlled situations, risk taking builds confidence and helps our children be mindful and compassionate of others. It will equip them with coping strategies and skills which they can bring into practice when you are not around to hold their hand. Our job as parents, carers and leaders is to encourage them to take those risks safely and mindfully.
If we didn’t ever expose our kids to any kind of risk, how would they learn to ride a bike? Learn to swim? Climb a tree or ride a quad bike?
The picture above is my grown son taking our neighbours 5 year old out on his first quad bike trek. My son has worked with quad bikes since he was 15 and yes, I was anxious at the time and still worry when I see the air ambulance head over in the direction of his place of work. He has had his hairy, scary moments when the quad bike got away from him but over time, he has learnt to respect the machines and acknowledge the risk. Ultimately, this has made him a great quad bike instructor.
Risk has it’s place in our children’s growth and development. It is up to us to support, encourage and reassure them as they contemplate their risky endeavours.
