Adventurous play

By Sue Wiedermann

Play in the past was at times very adventurous. Children were not so carefully supervised, they climbed trees, hung upside down, jumped off heights, played in creeks, rolled down hills and spun until they were dizzy. Then we became super safe and vigilant and often discouraged children from this type of play. The intention of this was to keep our children safe, however children who have never played in an adventurous way or taken risks in their play appear to be no safer than those that do. In fact many children are less safe because they haven’t had the opportunity to learn and discover for themselves what their bodies are capable of and how to fully use and protect their bodies. Through risky and adventurous play children develop confidence, strength, co-ordination, balance, problem solving skills, resilience, persistence and an amazing sense of achievement, which can only be good for their mental health. When involved in this type of play outside children’s whole sensory system is exposed to a large range of movements and stimulations such as, force, speed, direction, touch, smells, sights, sounds for example, all of which help to develop, strengthen and integrate their senses. Without this positive integration children’s overall development and learning can be impacted.