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Let Them Leap: Supporting Risky Play · Talking FACS

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  Welcome to Talking FACS, what you need to know about family,
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  food, finance, and fitness.
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  This nationally recognized, award-winning podcast is hosted by the University
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  of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
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  Our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families,
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  and communities to improve quality of life.
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  Play is fun. Play is important. Play is the work of children.
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  But there's this aspect of play that we might want to consider, and that's risky play.
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  Welcome to Talking FACS, where we share research-based information that you
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  can use to strengthen your family, your community, and our state.
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  I am Mindy McCulley, Extension Specialist for Instructional Support with Family
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  and Consumer Sciences at the University of Kentucky.
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  My guests today are Dr. David Weisenhorn, our Extension Specialist for Parenting
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  and Child Development, and Katherine Jury, our Extension Specialist for Family Health.
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  Welcome to you both. Thank you, Mindy. It's good to be here.
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  I'm so glad that you're both here to talk about the concept of risky play because I know,
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  that young parents I'm seeing today are really concerned about giving their
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  children the opportunity to play in a risky manner.
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  So let's talk about what healthy risky play looks like and how we can give parents
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  the confidence to allow their children to engage in it.
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  So there has been a lot of chatter on social media about risky play lately.
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  So what exactly does risky play mean and how can parents balance healthy risk
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  taking with safety concerns?
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  Well, Mindy, I think that the definition for risky play is thrilling or exciting
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  activities that involve a risk or injury.
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  You might be thinking, wait a minute, if this involves risk or injury,
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  should my child avoid this?
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  And indeed, there are limits to when it's risky. But I think the real answer
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  is no, we don't need to avoid risky activities because of the benefits that they provide.
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  Life is risky. Everything in life involves risk. And so we want to teach our
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  kids how to make good choices, but they're not going to make good choices inherently.
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  We have to give them those opportunities.
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  And so we want to give them opportunities in, you know, in an appropriate environment,
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  opportunities to make good or bad choices and to.
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  Reap the consequences of them. That's how they learn.
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  That's right. You know, it's funny, we're three scientists in here talking about risky behaviors.
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  And what's interesting about risky, risky play for children is it really is
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  kind of their own scientific experiment, right?
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  It's an opportunity for children to kind of begin to examine something and think
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  to themselves, right? Form a hypothesis, if you will.
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  Can I do this, right? Can I, can I accomplish this task?
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  Can I get from here to there with only stepping on the cracks?
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  Or not stepping on the cracks or by jumping from rock to rock or from log to log.
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  And so there is some risk, but it's really neat to see a child get into that
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  scientific mindset of, I want to experiment and to see if I can or not.
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  And one of the dangers with parents not allowing that to happen is that they
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  begin to squash some of the initiative that children would naturally have and
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  that our natural instincts to try and.
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  To move towards something that might feel difficult, that if we're not given
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  the opportunities or told that it's not safe, that's oftentimes when we learn things are not safe.
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  We learn that from parents saying, don't do that, don't do that, don't do that.
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  And so when we do that, inherently, oftentimes as parents, because of our own
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  fears, maybe that our children might get hurt.
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  The reality is they might get hurt, but it.
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  It shouldn't be to the point to where it would be a broken bone or something
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  like that, but the fact that they might fall and skin their knee,
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  there's a lot of lesson in that.
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  There's a lot of life in learning about poison ivy, like we talked about in
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  one of our other podcasts, that these three leaves are not for me, right?
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  It's true. And it's so good for our kids to have those opportunities.
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  As parents, we have to say no
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  a lot, right? Because there are some things that are just not an option.
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  You know, you may not touch the burner on the stove that is on.
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  You may not go play in traffic.
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  All kinds of things that we have to say no to.
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  But plenty, and especially within certain contexts, is a place to let them learn,
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  to say, I don't know if you can do it or not, but we won't know until,
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  and you won't know until you try it and see.
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  So definitely one of those opportunities as a parent to get to give our kids
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  some of those decision-making opportunities and then the skills that come with it.
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  You know, our kids don't learn what they can't do until they try.
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  I love it. And I was one of those parents that my son would get up on a little
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  wall when he was probably two or three.
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  And I'm saying a little wall. He might be a foot, maybe a foot and a half off
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  the ground. And he'd look back at me and say, Dad, you think I can jump off
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  this? And I would say, there's only one way to find out, buddy.
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  Give it a go, man. And his mother would oftentimes be like, no, I'm in the background.
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  But the reality is, is allowing the children to make that decision to like,
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  well, it's up to you and letting them know a lot of times I was right there. I'm here. I see you.
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  I'm aware of what's taking place. I think you can do it.
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  And so much of that is about building confidence in our children,
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  allowing them, like you said, to test where they are and then to take those
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  risks and to learn from those.
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  And if they're done properly, and even if they fail, there's lessons learned
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  in that and the opportunity to come back and gain some confidence,
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  to gain some knowledge, and then hopefully beginning to grow in that independence.
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  Well, and failure is not the end, but the opportunity to try again, right?
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  Yeah, I love it. So as we are giving children more and more opportunity to play appropriately, but,
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  take risks, we're giving them the opportunity to grow their brain cells, right?
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  Absolutely. Yeah.
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  Yeah, taking small, manageable risks helps children become more comfortable with uncertainty.
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  And that is what life is all about.
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  I thank you both for taking the risk and coming on the podcast with me.
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  If you are just tuning in, you're listening to Talking FACS
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  and you will find us wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.
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  Thank you for listening to Talking FACS. We deliver programs focusing on nutrition,
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  health, resource management, family development, and civic engagement.
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  Visit us online at fcs.uky.edu. To learn more about the University of Kentucky
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  Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program or contact your local extension
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  agent for Family and Consumer Sciences,
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