How risky is your child’s play? If climbing a tree sounds too dangerous, you may want to consider loosening up.
"We want to protect our children from hazards, but if we're protecting them from risk - that's a harm in itself,” said Sarah Prowse from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.
According to the WRHA, age-appropriate risk involves play where a child can assess the potential danger. This can lead to bumps and bruises, a natural part of childhood that is crucial to development.
"They start taking small risks, and they get to taking larger and larger risks as they become more confident,” Prowse said. “They learn how to assess risks and manage risks and how to make decisions appropriately."
That’s why three-year-old Alice confidently crawls across the monkey bars, without help.
Her mother, Leah Edmonds, sits at a picnic table ten feet away; purposely giving her children space to take risks on their own.
"I want them to be independent people - then (they) can make choices on their own without someone constantly telling them what to do,” Edmonds said.
Once outside, Alice and her older brother Owen, 5, have no trouble climbing trees and rolling down hills.
Childcare instructor Ruth Lindsey-Armstrong says that’s the case for most children, and wants parents to think back to their own childhood.
"When you were five, six years old - did you go outside and play by yourself or with other kids in the neighbourhood? People will say, ‘Oh you know, times are different now,’ but they're really not,” Lindsey-Armstrong said.
The same philosophy applies at one Winnipeg daycare.
“We try to be as safe as necessary, but not as safe as possible,” says Ron Blatz, executive director at Discovery Children’s Centre.
Staff at the centre monitor the kids outside, but carefully consider when – or if – they need to step in during play.
“Sometimes we handicap them by being too available to them. They don’t figure their own way through,” Blatz said.
The WRHA said the best way to prepare children for problem-solving later in life is to start with small risks early.
Risky play does not include hazards like sharp edges a child cannot see, or situations which could lead to serious injury.
