The benefits of risky play for babies
Risky play goes against the most basic instinct of a professional working in early education and care: to keep children safe is paramount to our job. But, paradoxically, risky play actually promotes everything best practice in early education and care stands for too: creating engaging and stimulating environments that test boundaries, sustain and expand confidences in individual ability and provide opportunities to grow.
When it comes to thinking about working with babies, though, our instinct to protect is often the dominant approach, making it challenging to incorporate risky play into the baby room. But it’s a valuable part of early learning through play!
Developing strong physical health
Risky play encourages babies to be physically active, climbing and using a variety of body parts to pull themselves into different places and spaces, developing strong bones and muscles through active and sustained use of the whole body. Exploring a variety of settings, such as in shared outdoor play, also holds a greater risk for exposure to germs which helps to build upon infants’ growing immune systems, helping them to get better quicker.
Understanding limits and capabilities
Through risky play, babies begin to understand their physical limits and capabilities, which helps them make safer decisions as they grow up and get moving more. Establishing clear boundaries about risk-taking with adults also supports communication to forming strong trust and respect between children and their trusted grown-ups.
Exploring with curiosity
Risky play is often about exploring unfamiliar territory and so it stimulates a baby’s natural curiosity, motivating them to explore their environment. Try to support babies to get involved and try things – whether we perceive them to be risky or not, any new experience is strange.
Promoting problem-solving
Unfamiliarity brings questions and questions need answers! Engaging in risky play encourages babies to figure out how to navigate obstacles and challenges that present themselves in new situations, supporting their problem-solving skills and develop a sense of resilience to finding new ways to fix things. Ensuring there are multiple avenues to explore solutions fosters early problem-solving skills and confidence to persevere when things get tricky.
Becoming aware and coordinated
Risky play, like climbing on structures or navigating uneven surfaces can help babies develop their balance and coordination whilst supporting their wider movements and exploring their bodies in new ways. Climbing in and out of spaces, squeezing into different places and playing with varied materials all contribute towards our spatial awareness, supporting babies to understand space and their place within it.
Conclusions
Risky play incorporates a variety of play that brings with it a heightened sense of challenge. For older children, using tools like scissors and garden tools can be considered as risky play but, for babies learning to navigate their gross motor skills – crawling, cruising and walking – a greater sense of their risk comes from these greater movements and physical activity.
