Not all risk is bad, playgrounds as a learning environment for children

Incidence and cost of hospitalisation of children with injuries from playground equipment falls in New South Wales, Australia

“…The introduction of playground equipment safety regulations that require compliance with the Australian Standards for playgrounds may contribute to the prevention of fall injuries. While acknowledging that childhood injury in playgrounds is often seen as an intractable problem, the majority of play on playground equipment does not result in fall injuries, providing an opportunity to view playgrounds as a learning environment for children, rather than a location for childhood injuries …”

“…While acknowledging that childhood injury in playgrounds is often seen as an intractable problem, the majority of play on playground equipment does not result in fall injuries, providing an opportunity to view playgrounds as a learning environment for children, rather than a location for childhood injuries. 39 Given the cost of these injuries, and the projection that hospitalisation rates will continue to increase, 25 targeted preventive strategies to increase playground safety are necessary. 40,41 The Cool to be Safe programme, for example, reduces risk-taking behaviour, through hazard awareness, engagement in advocacy and communication about risk-taking on playgrounds, 9 and the Stamp in Safety programme develops supervision skills in teachers and caregivers.…”

Reliability and validity of a new instrument to measure tolerance of everyday risk for children

“…Appropriate amounts of risk in play provide children with opportunities to explore and experiment in their environment, contributing to their holistic development (Ball ; Greenfield ; Little ; Mitchell et al . ). Research evidence indicates children experience a number of benefits through engaging in risk during play, such as development of problem‐solving skills and social competence (Greenfield ), and learning to evaluate and manage risks (Christensen & Mikkelsen ).…”

Çocukların Riskli Oyunla İlgili Algıları ile Ebeveyn Tutumları Arasındaki İlişkinin İncelenmesi

“…Appropriate risk amounts in the play gives children the opportunity to research and make experiment with their environment and contribute to their whole development (Ball, 2002;Greenfield 2004;Small 2006;Mitchell et al 2006). Children want and need challenging play experiences involving the risk for developing their competence (Green and Hart 1998;Pellegrini and Smith 1998;Stephenson, 2003;Ball et al 2008).…”