risk-taking

Is this a New Year’s Resolution for You? Help Kids Manage Risk

Allowing risky play is such a concern for adults as we balance kids’ safety and needs but, hard as it is, we need to help kids manage risk during play. We’ll all have different views and places where we draw the line as children’s parents, caregivers, and educators. This post is a sort of discussion to encourage thinking about the issue. Looking up the topic on the internet reveals that is a subject for debate in homes, around staff meetings and school boards, at neighborhood playgrounds and international conferences, and all the levels in-between.help kids manage risk

Just as we have our own ideas about risk and risky play, so do kids. Some children are frightened by change, the unknown, and anything out of the ordinary. Other kids seem unafraid of anything so we end each day with a few new, gray hairs. We need only pour ourselves a cup of coffee to find the gate across the stairs totally unnecessary as the baby has climbed up the outside using the rails and the little edges. Or, the toddler has climbed from the floor to the top of the wall unit and is jumping from up there down to a landing spot made of sofa cushions. What kind of risky things did you do as a child? Does that make your fears worse or better?

help kids manage risk

Most of the time, kids have some ideas about how much risk to take on at a time. They’d like to try the slide but make sure we are there at the bottom to catch them. They only go so high on the monkey bars. Our job is to help kids manage risk by judging if it’s safe to encourage them to try a little more or to put on the brakes. This is a fine line. We hate to see kids hurt themselves but it does happen.

help kids manage risk

Is this a concern and worry for you? If so, it might be something you choose as a new year’s resolution, to help kids manage risk. In the book, Children Who Soar: A Parent’s Guide to Helping Children Take Good Risks, psychologists Susan Davis and Nancy Eppler-Wolff state, “As parents, we have a fundamental responsibility not only to understand the inevitability of risk, but to know the importance of taking life’s risks, small and large. Risk is part of development….” As theywrite, risky play now becomes risk-taking in business and great discoveries. Parents get this task too. Really, do you think the world gives enough credit to the hardest job on the planet, raising kids? How are you coping with this challenge for your child?

 

 

Off to School Toolbox: Risk Management for Kids

Another social and emotional tool needed in an off to school tool box is risk management for kids. Learning, of all sorts, involves taking risks. Here is part of a blog from last summer discussing kids and risks, and helping them learn the skills needed:

(Excerpt from How Does Your Child Manage Risks?)

helping kids with risks and fearsWe all have different ways to assess risks and to manage it. What are you like when faced with new information or ways of doing things? How about your child? We don’t really think of children as having comfort zones and risk levels, but this can be why some kids leap off the top bunk and others cling tightly to a parent’s hand. Where is your comfort zone when it comes to critters like this snake?

Learning to cope with risks and the unknown is part of development. It is certainly our task as parents, teachers, and caregivers to help children learn healthy risk limits. We often have to balance and decide if we need to encourage our child or if it’s better to put the brakes on. This can be controversial. On the one hand, we don’t want to be helicopter parents or teachers, hovering constantly. On the other, safety is always a consideration. This will be a debate and discussion to have at home and in care centers, and lately in various places on a national level.

Taking risks can be considered a skill or strategy and kids will need time and opportunity so they can learn from their own experiences. Each child can vary between refusal and impulsiveness, depending on the situation, and in some ways dealing with risks is also dealing with fears.

risk management for kidsRecently, Little Sister worked on her fear of the bridge at the playground. Because the bridge has quite a curve in the middle she needed to hold on with two hands. After going only part way across several times, she made it from one side to the other. Now, if only I had invisible hands in my brain to help me get across the gap from ‘no-idea’ to ‘got it figured-out’ when it comes to new technology…

This time of year often involves some new fears for kids. Are there some ways you can help your child manage risk?

Getting Ready for Kindergarten and Taking Risks

Series Part #18: How Does Your Child Manage Risks?

The ability to manage risks is not just important for grownups. it can impact children’s learning and influence their getting ready for the adventure of kindergarten. Because each child is unique, some will eagerly anticipate starting school and others will be hesitant or anxious. This can be because of their willingness to take risks and try something new and unknown.

helping kids with risks and fearsWe all have different ways to assess risks and to manage it. What are you like when faced with new information or ways of doing things? When it comes to languages, I am fairly risk-tolerant but for technology, I avoid taking any. How about your child? We don’t really think of children as having comfort zones and risk levels, but this can be why some kids leap off the top bunk and others cling tightly to a parent’s hand. Where is your comfort zone when it comes to critters like this snake?

Learning to cope with risks and the unknown is part of development, It is certainly our task as parents, teachers, and caregivers to help children learn healthy risk limits. We often have to balance and decide if we need to encourage our child or if it’s better to put the brakes on. This can be controversial. On  the one hand, we don’t want to be helicopter parents or teachers, hovering constantly. On the other, safety is always a consideration. This will be a debate and discussion to have at home and in care centers, and lately in various places on a national level.

Taking risks can be considered a skill or strategy and kids will need time and opportunity so they can learn from their own experiences. Each child can vary between refusal and impulsiveness, depending on the situation, and in some ways dealing with risks is also dealing with fears.

helping children manage risksSometimes, children will try by themselves to overcome a fear. We have all seen children who will climb up a slide, wait at the top and even climb down before eventually sliding. After practice, those kids who could only go down on their tummies try it head first.

Coping with new information can also involve risk and fear. It’s too bad we don’t have nightlights for being in the dark when it comes to learning. How do you help your child manage risks?

What Makes Childhood Magical? #22 Risky Play

The Magic of Risky Play By the time there have been 21 previous posts on ways to make childhood magical like imaginative play, singing, science fun, sharing books, connecting with nature, blanket forts, and others, it’s probably time to include some comments on risky play. As parents and caregivers, we want to keep our kids … Continue reading What Makes Childhood Magical? #22 Risky Play

Playgrounds Help Kids Learn About Risk

Management studies for adults talk about learning to deal with risk and how to manage risk is also important for kids. Some children have a Geronimo reaction to risk, launching themselves into activities that are scary and causing their parents and caregivers grey hairs and near panic attacks. Can you relate to these daredevils? Many … Continue reading Playgrounds Help Kids Learn About Risk

Kindergarten Readiness & Early Learning Basics: Risk-taking

Parents and caregivers often ask what young children need to know before kindergarten; this is the 13th in a series of blog posts on kindergarten readiness and early learning basics. No matter the age of your little one, this will give you a general picture of what to do as your child’s very first teacher. … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness & Early Learning Basics: Risk-taking