The purpose of this policy is to explain what we mean by challenging play, why we believe it is important and how we ensure it is carried out in an appropriate way.
WHAT IS CHALLENGING PLAY?
“Play providers fail in their responsibility if they do not create opportunities that allow children and young people to explore both themselves and their world through the medium of play. An essential element of this…is the opportunity…to experience freely-chosen activities and situations, where they can take acceptable risks and push against the boundaries of their existing capabilities. The benefits of allowing them to do this are the learning of new skills and the development of their ability independently to judge risks.” Play Policy, South Gloucestershire Council
“Play provision is uniquely placed to offer children the chance to learn about risk in an environment designed for that purpose, and thus help children equip themselves to deal with similar hazards in the wider world”. The Play Safety Forum
“Children need and want to take risks when they play.” The Play Safety Forum Position Statement on Managing Risk in Play Provision
“Without opportunities to take acceptable levels of risk children’s development is inhibited, undermining their capacity to deal with the wider unsupervised world.” The Play Safety Forum Position Statement.
“When children avoid risk, they internalise the message that they aren’t strong enough to handle challenges. When children embrace risks, they learn to push themselves.” ACES training https://www.acesonlinelearning.com/
- Challenging play is not dangerous play. Challenging play is about providing a range of activities that enable children to explore something new which helps them develop skills and experiences. Challenging play is exciting, varied and enjoyable.
- Challenging play is different for every child. For one child it may be using scissors, for another child it may be going down a slide. Our aim is to provide a range of activities so that all children constantly have the opportunity to try something new.
- We will always ensure that challenging play is age appropriate.
WHY CHALLENGING PLAY IS IMPORTANT
- Developmental experts say that children should be exposed to challenges and risks because:
4.1 Encounters with challenges and risks help children learn how to manage those challenges and risks.
4.2 Children have an appetite for challenge and risk-taking and if given a sterile environment, will seek out situations to find greater risk
4.3 There are many benefits to challenging play, especially when this is outside. For example, health and physical development benefits when children are allowed to play freely in an outside space.
4.4 Children build character and personality through overcoming situations that are challenging to them.
- We believe in promoting the “I can do it” mentality – children will gain this by being given the opportunity to stretch themselves and learn new skills
- We have rules at nursery for the collective safety of all children and staff, but we also ensure children are not limited by always being told “no”.
- We believe that in merely keeping children “safe” we are not undertaking our duty as practitioners to stimulate and challenge them to help them learn and feel fulfilled.
- We aim to offer stimulating, challenging environments so children can explore and develop their abilities within play.
- We recognise and implement South Gloucestershire Councils Seven Play Objectives, as set out in Appendix 1.
HOW WE ENSURE CHALLENGING PLAY IS APPROPRIATE
- We cannot say that accidents will never happen, but we will ensure that the environment is safe so that children are free to challenge themselves in it and can explore their play environment without danger.
- Risk does not mean danger. We ensure that children are not exposed to dangers, for example, cars driving at speed.
- We carry out Risk Assessments for the nursery environment and specific activities. A risk assessment is an analysis of severity and likelihood to determine a risk. Staff always ask “what can children learn from this experience? Do the benefits outweigh any risks?”
- Staff are mindful of what each child is capable of and will design activities according to the children.
- Often, challenging play is building on the children’s interests, which is crucial to foster a desire to learn and curiosity. For example, where children have shown an interest in the toast they eat for tea, the practitioner will show them the toaster and enable them to experience how bread becomes toast.
- When setting out challenging activities staff will consider time of day; staffing; the abilities and awareness of the children; their developmental age; are there any dangers, if so, what needs to be done to minimise those dangers – eg, in the above example, ensure the children cannot burn themselves on the toaster.
List of Appendices