Children and Play Essay

In my experience I have witnessed many children challenging themselves to take risks, for example when my target child was playing outside he challenged himself to climb higher on the climbing frame, which he achieved and then after I explained to him how this activity provides risks for him and other children, also I explained to him that there is nothing wrong with taking risks and that they help you learn how to do certain things. Another time when one of the children at my setting was challenging them self was when they were learning how to ride a bike, I saw the child getting frustrated and angry with them self because they kept stumbling and nearly falling off, I then stopped the child and told him how learning to ride a bike is a challenge and a risk for them and explained that it is fun but it comes with a few risks e. g. possibly falling off and injuring themselves. After I told him this he was more careful on the bike and after some encouragement he felt more comfortable when challenging himself and taking risks in the near future. Children benefit from play activities that challenge them in many ways, one way is that it provides them with a learning curve to try new things even if they can’t do them at first, for example climbing high ropes. Everyday life always involves some kind of risk and children need to learn how to cope with this. They need to understand that the world can be a dangerous place and that care needs to be taken when negotiating their way around it. Inevitably the most powerful learning comes from not understanding or misjudging the degree of risk. Similarly the toddler who ignores the warning, for example if the child says â€Å"don’t climb too high, you might fall†, and experiences this then they are not likely to make the same mistake again. Being told about possible dangers is not enough, children need to see or experience the consequences of not taking care. When I observe young children, I have seen that from an early age, they are motivated to take risks; they want to learn to walk, climb, ride a bike and are not put off by the tumbles they experience as they are developing coordination and control. In my setting children find their own physical challenges and, in doing so learn about their own strengths and limitations. Children who are sheltered from risk and challenge when young will not be able to make judgements about their own capabilities and will not be well equipped to resist peer pressure in their later years.