A study by the Canadian Paediatric Society is recommending parents allow their children to engage in “outdoor risky play” as a tool for healthy development, an issue that has become increasingly more important in the aftermath of years lost as a result of pandemic lockdowns.
“Risky play helps facilitate children’s exposure to fear-provoking situations, providing them with opportunities to experiment with uncertainty, associated physiological arousal, and coping strategies, which can significantly reduce children’s risk for elevated anxiety,” reads the study.
The group defines risky play as “thrilling and exciting forms of free play that involve uncertainty of outcome and a possibility of physical injury.”
“Based on evidence gathered over the last 15 years, primarily in children 1 to 13 years of age, risky play is often further categorized into various play types,” reads the study.
Risky play is said to be important for children physically and mentally, as well as having a positive impact on their early social-emotional development.
Physical studies assessed that a child’s independent mobility (their ability to travel and play in their neighbourhood without adult supervision) is directly linked to helping their cognitive and physical skills to ensure practice of lifelong physical activity-related behaviours.
It also reduces the likelihood of future sports-related injuries.
“Outdoor play provides children with opportunities to develop risk-assessment and fundamental movement skills,” reads the study.
Risky play contributes to the modulation of the immune system, according to a study released in 2020. Adding natural elements like plants, trees and shrubs to a daycare yard for climbing and digging can aid skin bacterial diversity and gut microbiota in children.
Introducing loose elements, such as tires, logs, barrels, also provides a more hospitable environment for rough-and-tumble play at playgrounds, which is of great benefit to children’s social development and conflict resolution skills.
One study found that while children playing in these types of environments were more likely to push and shove one another, there were less signs of bullying and children were better able to build up their resilience, particularly boys.
“Following a 3-month school-based intervention providing risky play opportunities, teachers reported lower conflict sensitivity and higher self-esteem and concentration among children in Grade 4,” reads the study.
“Also, the ability to communicate, cooperate, and compromise with others improves in situations where children can test and push their own limits.”
The time for children to engage in risky play is more pertinent than ever, following the negative effects inflicted upon them during the pandemic lockdowns.
According to a study by the Fraser Institute, children will face long term negative consequences due to prolonged school closures ordered by governments during the first three years of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The study entitled, The Forgotten Demographic: Assessing the Possible Benefits and Serious Cost of COVID-19 School Closures on Canadian Children found that provincial governments could have avoided these effects if they had listened to the evidence that was available to them at the time when those decisions were first being made.
“There was information available to policymakers early on showing school closures would do more harm than good,” said Paige MacPherson, co-author of the study.
