At Learn and Laugh Hornsby we believe in the benefits of adventurous or ‘risky play’ and its ability to enhance the overall wellbeing of the children in our care.
What is risky play?
Risky play does not mean putting young children in harm’s way, rather; allowing them the opportunity to explore and test their capabilities in a safe and supportive environment.
Risky play assists children in learning important life skills such as:
- An awareness of their own strengths and limitations
- Self confidence
- Independence
- Problem solving and
- Decision making
Some of the ways we have included risky play into our curriculum include:
- The introduction of a fire pit to our outdoor space – Our children have enjoyed learning the bushcraft of fire making and cooking over open flame. They have learned to respect fire and the importance of fire safety.
- Climbing trees
- Uneven terrain – A group of fathers from our centre built a sandstone boulder edging for our sandpit which the children enjoy climbing and jumping from.
- Preparing meals – we regularly involve the children in their own meal preparation using real kitchen tools such as knives, peelers and graters.
The children have proven their ability to safely manage risk during these opportunities so we are currently researching adding woodworking tools to our program. Stay tuned….
