What are the benefits?

Risky play can build confidence as well as providing children with a better understanding of the world around them. It also allows them to navigate obstacles and overcome challenges by taking risks. Risky play has substantial benefits across various aspects of children's health, including their physical, mental, and social-emotional development. Physically, it increases activity levels and reduces sedentary time, contributing to lifelong physical literacy and possibly enhancing the immune system. Mentally, it supports resilience, problem-solving and conflict resolution, while socially, it fosters cooperation, communication and a sense of belonging. (Suzanne Beno, 2024).

Are there any limitations?

Children do not set out to deliberately hurt themselves, but they do not always realise their own limitations or the limitations of the environment that surrounds them. However how will children know wether to test something that is not deemed safe if they have no previous exposure to risky play to allow them to make judgments? (Melanie Pilcher, No date)

Children need to experience bumps and falls to determine the difference between what is safe and what is not.

Bob Hughes developed 16 different play types. The Various Play types attempt to describe the full range of children’s play behaviours and how they might contribute to children’s physical, mental and emotional development.

It is important to be able to recognise the different types of play in order to:

• Understand the power of different kinds of play and the benefits of different kinds of play

• To monitor the types of play already happening

• To ensure to support and extent different kinds of play so all children have wide-ranging high-quality play experiences as engaging in each play type is necessary for a child’s healthy development

Jean Piaget (1962) was the first psychologist to

make a systematic study of children’s cognitive development.

Piaget's theory of cognitive development viewed play as integral to the development of intelligence in children. His theory of play argues that as the child matures, their environment and play should encourage further cognitive and language development. According to Piaget, children are not passive recipients of information; instead, they actively explore and interact with their surroundings.

This active engagement with the environment is crucial because it allows them to gradually build their understanding of the world.

According to Piaget, children play in 4 ways, functional, constructive, fantasy, and games with rules.

The Reggio Emilia Play Approach was created after WW2 in Reggio Emilia in northern Italy. Loris Malaguzzi is the founder who is also a teacher, believed that the community of Reggio Emilia needed a new and improved educational system for their children. Malaguzzi believed in an education that would enable critical thinking and teamwork.

Malaguzzi believed in a child-led learning approach and developed his beliefs into “The 100 Languages Approach.” Malaguzzi deemed that children have 100 languages to express themselves. His teachings, therefore, were based on using these languages to support children and their learning as well as understanding the environment around them.

Role

“The 100 Languages” is a metaphor describing how children show their understanding, learning, and thinking.

A key learning practice central to the Reggio Emilia Play Approach is expressive arts. Putting emphasis on many non-verbal “languages” such as gestures, glances, and emotions. It also encourages children to express themselves and improve their knowledge through many expressive activities such as dramatic play, dancing, painting, sculpting, writing, construction, puppetry, and many more.

Parents and the community play a huge role in the Reggio Emilia approach.

Reggio Emilia settings tend to use neutral tones, hessian materials and open ended resources to create a calmer, more aesthetically pleasing learning environment.

Role of the adult- Observer and facilitator.

Dr. Maria Montessori an Italian physician, scientist, and anthropologist devoted her life to identifying how children progress socially, cognitively, physically, and emotionally.

 Her work looked at the holistic approach to developing children’s emotional, social, physical, and cognitive capabilities through exploring the world around them whilst at the same time using their imagination.

Montessori focuses on child-led learning through hands-on activities. It encourages independence and curiosity by providing a structured yet flexible environment. Kids explore, play, and learn at their own pace, making education natural and engaging.Montessori approach to play is learning skills that have a practical application but in a fun way. Montessori believed that play and activities are a process with no particular end goal. Montessori also allowed children freedom of what they played with and when as a pose to structures set activities that the children may not be particularly interested in.

Montessori favoured natural, open-ended materials such as wooden blocks, fabric and baskets over plastic toys.

This emphasises the importance of play in relation to a child’s development. This also links closely to play deprivation and the impacts this can have if children are not exposed to play.

Other countries have since implemented policies that support play such as Sweden, Germany and Scotlands Play strategy for Scotland (2013).

What is the Welsh play policy?

It makes clear the commitment of the Welsh Assembly Government to ensure that

children and their needs are central to policy making and that provision is made to meet those needs.

The policy is a broad statement of principles, rather than a detailed prescription of how play provision should be implemented.

The Welsh Assembly Government, in seeking to ensure the full implementation of Article 31 of the Convention, intends that this statement should contribute to creating an environment that fosters children's play and underpins a national strategy for providing for children's play needs.

The Welsh Assembly Government believes that:

• play is the elemental learning process by which humankind has developed. Children exhibit a behavioural imperative and instinctive desire to play. It has contributed significantly to the evolutionary and developmental survival of our species. Children use play in the natural environment to learn of the world they inhabit with others. It is the very process of learning and growth, and as such all that is learnt through it is of benefit to the child.

' the name given to the idea that not playing may deprive children of experiences that are essential to their development and result in those affected being both biologically and socially disabled.(Play Wales,2024)

What impact can this have on children?

Isolation

Depression

Reduced self control

Poor resilience

Lack of confidence

Adults play a big role in supporting children’s play. Adults should facilitate a safe and enhancing environment in which children can explore. Adults and practitioners should implement children’s interests into activities to enhance holistic learning and development. The implementation of children’s interests into planning and conducting activities is known as purposeful planning.Purposeful planning can be defined as a structured approach to setting and achieving objectives that aligns with an individual's or organisations values and mission.(Anderson,C 2021)

Appropriate modelling of language and communication should be used as well as question prompts to promote cognitive development.

-Play has changed quite dramatically over the last 10 years, particularly as we seen the lasting effects of Covid -19.

Covid -19 placed an importance on outdoor play and social interaction for children as they were deprived of these areas during the pandemic

-More children now are utilising online learning, using devices to interact and enhance their learning. This may be a positive in a developing technological world however this can mean less time spent outdoors doing hands on activities.

-There has also been a shift in the last few years from colourful plastic toys to more neutral beige toys in nurseries and schools. The change in materials is inspired by educational theorists such as Reggio Emilia,Montessori and Steiner.

The use of Beige and wooden toys are simpler and open-ended, meaning children can imagine different uses for objects rather than being limited to the bright coloured single use design.

examples of neutral open ended toys commonly used in educational settings are, wooden blocks fabric pieces, baskets, and natural objects like pinecones as these are thought to enhance problem-solving and creativity.

-Real-life experiences in childcare refer to activities and environments that allow children to engage with the world around them in a meaningful, hands-on way, For example using a china tea set instead of wooden. Real life experiences help develop social, cognitive, physical, and emotional skills while making learning more engaging and relevant.

‘Only one in four children play out regularly on their street compared to almost three quarters on their grandparents generation’(save the children,2022)

This is a quote taken from save the children which demonstrates the changing times in which children are currently living. As I previously mentioned the use of screens are far more prominent within educational settings than they used to be. This can draw children away from outdoor and hands on experiences as well as depriving them from social and emotional interactions.

It is also evident that current child play is seen as more

structured and often technology driven and lacks the need for imagination and creativity. This is seen as set within a

context of society where academic pursuits are prioritised

and where parents feel the need to restrict outside play

because of fears for their children’s safety. A potentially

damaging aspect of video game play is social isolation and a lack of opportunity to learn and practice social skills. (Mquade, L et al,2019).

Play helps children understand their own feelings and those of others. In addition, play helps children build resilience through supporting the development and understanding of relationships and through experiencing positive feelings and reactions.( play Scotland,No Date)

Play has many benefits as it:

-builds confidence

-independence

-Self esteem

-Promotes problem solving and critical thinking

-Encourages use of imagination and creativity

-Allows children to develop their fine and gross motor skills.

-helps children make connections and learn about the world around them.

-curiosity

-interaction

-social skills

-understanding risks and challenges

-resilience

The IPA promote and support Article 31 of the UNCRC.

The countries included are:

Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England/Wales/No.Ireland, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, USA

• Communication play- play consisting of body language, mimes etc.

• creative play-experimental play with different textures tools and resources.

• Deep Play- taking risks or dangerous play such as balancing beams.

• Dramatic play - for example recreating characters through role play.

• Exploratory play-Play which involves finding out information through manipulation of an object, for example handling or throwing clay,

• Fantasy play-Play at pretend in ways that are unlikely to occur in real life.

• Locomotor play-Movement for its own sake, for example playing chase, running, jumping.

• imaginative play- using imagination to enhance play.

• Mastery play-Control of the natural environment, for example making a dam in a stream, building a bonfire etc.

• Object play-Hand-eye manipulations of objects, for example examining shells.

• Role play -Play that explores trying out roles not normally experienced, for example driving a car.

• Recapitulate play-Play which involves engaging in rituals, making and using weapons, building shelters etc.

• Rough and tumble -Play that involves play fighting, tumbling, tickling, play with body contact, but no deliberate hurting where children involved are laughing and squealing and from their facial expressions obviously enjoying themselves.

• Social play-Playing with others where the rules for social engagement can be explored, for example

  conversations, making things together or creating a club.

• Symbolic -The recreation of scenes from children's lives for example playing at mothers and fathers or house.

• Socio dramatic -The use of objects or signs to represent other things, for example a stick to represent a sword or a piece of fabric to represent a room.

The Welsh curriculum provides a more holistic approach to learning than the previous curriculum. The new curriculum also places focus on life skills like critical thinking and problem solving. Emphasis on Welsh culture and language has also been implemented.

Key areas of this video include:

-image of the child

-project based learning

-creativity and experimentation

-promoting creativity

-the role of the teacher

-risk takers and explorers

Forest school incorporates play for learning and play for fun as children can explore their senses through the outdoors whilst still learning critical life skills and having fun.

Comparing Wales and Englands Curriculum.

Flexibility- England has set rigid subjects and content that must be followed, whereas Wales allow schools to design and develop their own curriculum.

Structure - England set out schools in Key Stages where as Wales promotes continuous learning with no key stages.

Assessments and tests-Englands curriculum sets children up for SATs, GCSEs and A-levels with lots of pressure put on children. Whereas Wales removed SATs and now focus on progression and holistic growth.

Language and identity-the curriculum England follow is English-dominated, with Welsh taught only in Wales.

Wales places equal importance on Welsh and English, supporting bilingualism.

Skills versus knowledge- The national curriculum emphasises subject knowledge and academic performance .

However Wales focuses on skills for life, well-being, and a holistic learning approach.

Loose parts is an example of the incorporation of both play types, for example a child may be initially drawn to them, the child may then stack or count them. In turn allowing the child to learn through doing something they enjoy.

-Children are naturally drawn to bright colours.

-Quality wooden toys can be expensive- The price difference may exclude lower income families from being able to enhance their child’s play through wooden toys.

-Harder to clean- wooden toys may be more aesthetically pleasing however they are much harder to clean than the typical wipe clean plastic toy.