Bringing Back Risky Play in the Netherlands

Playgrounds have been made significantly safer. There are soft surfaces to play on and all those dangerous play equipment like tall metal slides and rusted carousels where children jumped on and off at high speeds have been replaced by much safer plastic swings, chutes, and climbing structures. All the risk has been taken out. But is that really a good thing?

Has removing the risk also removed the fun and the challenge? In Amsterdam, the Dutch capital, local councilors believe that to be the case, reported The Guardian. That’s why they want to replace rubber tiles and boring playgrounds with outdoor places with spaces that allow kids to play with water, climb, sword-fight with sticks, build with hammers, wrestle, and fall. There may be some bumps and bruises on the way, but that’s an acceptable risk.

“The inspiration, and it really is a huge problem, is that children are hardly moving,” said Rob Hofland, head of the local D66 counsel. “All kinds of problems stem from just sitting behind a screen. We see increasing numbers of burnouts and we are learning ever more about how unhealthy it is that the Dutch – the sitting champions of Europe – are so sedentary. Things need to change, and it starts young.”

What is Risky Play?
Risky play is defined as an activity that could contain an element of risk for children like climbing or sports or even an emotional risk like starting school or meeting new people, reported The BBC.

This type of play is a necessary part of a child’s development, Gaynor Rice, an early years professional, told the BBC. “With risky play, we can thread risk and challenge into children’s lives in a safe way.”

Children start to assess risk at a very young age. Babies will start to crawl and pull themselves up on furniture even before they can stand. This is how they learn what they are capable of doing or not.

Older children can be introduced to a large range of activities that come with potential risk like working with tools. Parents and teachers’ role is to explain any new tools or activities, as clearly as possible, including any  potential risks.

“Basic tools we take for granted like scissors, staplers and hole punches can be boring to adults, but to children they can be fascinating,” Rice said.

After all your favorite childhood memories were probably those where you and your friends hung out in neighborhood streets or parks until dark unsupervised. That stressed CBCCA is what today’s kids are missing out on.

The Benefits of Risky Play
Risky play allows children to experiment and push themselves to figure out what can happen. If play is predictable, they don’t learn anything or reap any benefits.

“When we have kids engage in play, it’s really a fundamental way for them to figure out the world — how the world works, how their body works,” Mariana Brussoni, a professor at the University of British Columbia and BC Children’s Hospital — featured in The Nature of Things documentary The Power of Play told CBC.  She added that these little experiments are all done “in [the] context of a relatively safe space.”

Engaging in risk play helps young children to develop self-confidence, resilience, executive functioning abilities, as well as risk assessment.

The 17-Second Rule
While it is still a parent’s job to keep  kids safe from glass or other dangerous material in playgrounds, it is important to make informed choices before prohibiting risky play.

It’s all about not sharing your own anxiety as a parent, children do have to be bubble wrapped to play outside. That’s why parents should practice what Brussoni calls the 17-second rule. So instead of telling your child not to climb a tree so high or run so fast, take 17 seconds and observe how your child is doing and what they are capable of.  

She said that this will allow your children “the opportunity to figure out for themselves what’s comfortable and what they can do.”  She added that the most important thing you can do is get out of the way and just let children play.

Give a child the outdoor spaces they need to play and just let their imagination take over. The benefits far exceed the risks.