Children love risky games, What you should know about it ?

In each child, there is a natural potential for risk assessment that needs to be developed and not suppressed during childhood.

What's the risk in a kid's game?

A risk game can be defined as an act of enthusiasm that includes the risk of physical injury and a game that provides the ability to challenge, test and investigate the boundaries and learn about the risk of injury. So, a risky game is an important factor for children's health and development including self-confidence, social skills and physical activity.

When we try to limit a child's risky game, we capture their primary need for risk, which can ironically cause children to be less secure. This is because the child learns the skills of risk management precisely through risk research in the game, thus gaining the knowledge and skills they can apply in other situations. If they have an adult who manages a risk they will never learn how to do it independently.

Statistics vs. Reason

During the years of work with children I notice that many parents watch over their children, they do not let them get tired, jump, fall ... And today children are in the indoor space, their games are uniform, standardized, I would say even boring. Do not have contact with nature and natural materials. Around them is a plastic, commercial toy that offers ready-made solutions ... And - lack of stimulation.

Statistics say: The kids should play outdoors every day for 3 hours and 10 years to earn a serious injury. So the statistics are on our side. Seduction outside will not endanger the safety, but on the contrary, it will strengthen the skills. During my long-time work experience, I have found that children who are more often outdated fall short, while children with multiple restrictions and bans are usually less likely. Viewed from the perspective of the educator and the practice of the accident, they happen because they are driven by fear and concern, not by the fact that children need freedom with justified and understandable limitations.

Why is the risky game important?

A risky game in the form of jumping, climbing, squatting, and dumbbells ... helps children learn important things about themselves, to be safer, to find out where their boundaries are, how to preserve them and how the world works. By limiting children's risk game, we deprive them of the opportunity to independently gain security, responsibility, and trust in them.

Why is that so? Because the kid learns the skills of risk management by exploring the risk of a game that can later be applied in other situations. Just imagine that you always had mum and dad over your head: would you learn how to cross the river without letting it into the water?

The main obstacle in this game is the care and limitations of parents and educators. There are strict child safety regulations in kindergartens, and the greatest fear of the educator is child injury because responsibility is great. For this very reason, the whole world began to increase the number of kindergartens where the children are staying outdoors a lot during the day.

What do parents need to do?

Set unnecessary restrictions or give too much freedom - both approaches are problematic. Our role as  teachers or parents is to give the freedom of exploration and gaming the way they choose, while at the same time pointing them to pay attention to the real dangers that could jeopardize them.

Your role is to supervise and provide the feeling of independence & confidence. 

Try this recipe as well: Count up to 30 before you say words like: watch out, do not or stop ... Give your baby a chance to just get up.