Studies reveal how risky play can benefit child development. But encouraging it can be a challenge for parents.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.dk/post/9969468

From the article:

Risky play is associated with greater resilience, self-confidence, problem-solving and social skills such as cooperation, negotiation and empathy, according to studies by Sandseter and others. When a study in Leuven, Belgium, gave four- and six-year-olds just two hours a week of opportunities for risky play over the course of three months, their risk-assessment skills improved compared with those of children in a control group2. In this study, the risky play took place at school, in a gym class and in the classroom.

  • psud@aussie.zoneEnglish
    141·
    2 days ago

    Especially when the mistakes hurt. I was a kid in the '80s when this was practiced.

    All the stuff I played on now has softfall padding under it, the giant slide has had a dirt bill built up under it so kids can’t fall off the ladder; the high up stuff was removed

    Me and my friends would climb to the high cubby house and feel very daring. I think it was 10m up. There were three of them with the lowest being maybe 5m up - parents couldn’t reach it.

    We were not daring enough to try the Tarzan swing - a circle of tiered seats rising in the arc of the rope that hung above the centre, so you could take the rope to any point on the tiers and swing from there. I think there was a knot in the bottom of the rope, but the older boys swung with their feet loose, hanging on Tarzan style. That was the only one they pulled out during the '80s. Everything else survived to the late '90s

    • Björn Tantau@swg-empire.deEnglish
      4·
      2 days ago

      Especially when the mistakes hurt. I was a kid in the '80s when this was practiced.

      The more important lesson is that the pain stops. Some consequences aren’t as bad as you imagine them to be.

      I was really astonished when some parents took a knife away from their kid after he had cut themselves. He already learned the lesson! Let him reinforce it!

      I made many mistakes as a parent. But I’m very proud of my kids standing up for themselves or others even against adult authority figures. And they are not afraid of telling me about the stupid stuff they did with their friends. The friends’ parents never even suspect the stuff. So we must’ve done something right.