3 Things Children Need for Exploring "Play with Impact"
Jumping, Crashing, Rolling, Pushing. Many children actively seek out this type of play because their bodies need it from a sensory input perspective. In addition to the sensory input though, there is an element of thrill seeking and risk taking in this type of play, which makes it enticing for many children.
Sandseters Categories of Risky Play identifies:
- Play at heights
- Play with speed
- Play with dangerous tools
- Play with impact
- Rough and tumble play
- Play with elements such as fire and water
- Play where there’s a chance of getting lost or “disappearing”
- Vicarious play
Sandseter, E. B. H. (2007). Categorising risky play—how can we identify risk-taking in children's play? European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 15(2), 237-252. (note that Sandseter's original work identified six categories of risky play, however subsequent research has identified a further two categories)
How can we support children's need to explore Play with Impact?
If we want children's play to thrive, it's important that we provide the right environment, resources, support and conditions. But what does that look like?
We're getting you started with 3 Things that children need...
1. Freedom to Move
Children need time, space and freedom to move their bodies in the way that they need to. This can be hard for adults at times - to trust that children know how to move their bodies safely. Our first instinct might be to say "be careful" or "you might hurt yourself", and of course - safety is paramount, but we need to give children the opportunity to move. Sure, we might worry about what the child who is jumping onto a crash mat again and again is learning, but when we trust children and give them freedom to move, we respect their play and the learning does happen (PS - a child jumping onto a crash mat repeatedly is learning about movement, speed, impact, repitition, social skills, timing... and so much more)
2. Soft Surfaces
We need to create play spaces where this type of play is supported. While working in a toddler room, we recognised that our toddlers were wanting to crash and jump and roll - even when we were indoors. So, we bought some of the large crash mats and foam shapes inside and created a corner of the room that allowed that to happen safely. When a group of preschoolers wanted to "crash" their bikes, we built a wall of crash mats to allow for a safe impact and landing.
3. Support to Develop Agreements with Peers
If you are not familiar with the term "agreements", this is a concept made notable by Teacher Tom. The idea is that instead of making rules for children, we make agreements with children. When children are engaging in impact play (particularly where it involves wrestling, pushing, tackling, crashing etc), having agreements in place is vital. It is important that children consider how they would like to play, and what things would not be okay. For example, during a school holiday program, a group of children wanted to have "sword fights" using pool noodles. The educators respected the desire for this type of impact play, but identified a need for some agreements or boundaries to ensure it didn't descend into chaos. The children worked together to identify things that they thought would keep themselves and others safe and the game was able to continue without injury.
These aren't the only three things!
We'll be discussing this topic at length in our upcoming online workshop (5th February 2025) If you can't make it live, you can register for the 2025 PD Pass and get access to the recording of this session (plus 9 others, and some amazing bonuses!) to watch anytime.
