Science shows that adventurous games (and “risky”) favor the development of children. Yet we struggle to allow them to experiment.
Try to accompany a son or grandson in a playground with the rope pyramid a few meters high, several hiding places and bridges suspended from one part of the slide to the other: how many minutes you can stay, without asking him to go down or advise him to be careful ?
Science tells us that the possibility of take controlled risks during the game – How to climb, jump from a higher point than usual or move away from the gaze of the adult – helps children to develop coordination, awareness of space and body, safety in their skills, empathy and problem solving qualities. Yet parents and educators feel very often called to Protect the little ones from all kinds of risk. Including those who could help them grow.
Prohibited risk. As explained in an article on Naturethe beginnings of scientific research on the benefits of the risky game date back to 1996, the year in which Norway approved a law to minimize the risks of accidents in public places intended for children. A few years later, the psychologist Ellen Sandseter, today at the Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education in Trondheim, in Norway, noted that, due to the law, if on the one hand the playgrounds had become safer, with blended corners and railings added, on the other hand Almost all the positively “adventurous” game elements had disappeareda fact that the scientist called worrying. So it was that Sandseter began to study the effects and usefulness of the risky game in children between three and five years.
In what sense “risky”? By risky game we mean any “compelling and exciting game that involves uncertainty and risk, real or perceived, of physical injuries or loss”. They are, for example, adventurous activities such as training climbing a treeor Try walking in balance on the rocksand all those activities that trigger a mix of joy and chills. But it is good to remember that risk is different from danger: the latter is something that a child does not have the tools to evaluate and understand – it is dangerous and certainly not recommended to walk barefoot in an area full of broken glass.
The concept of risky game changes, with the vary of age: for a one year old child it is also risky to try to walk alone without being held by the hand; A three -year -old boy takes a different risk from one of six, if he tries in a leap from one meter in height.
An indispensable tool box. Being able to measure themselves in adventurous games is important both for children with a more cautious and reserved character, and for the most daring and exuberant ones because, clarifies Sandseter, “all children need to be able to extend their limitsand the children want it ». Scientific studies show that adventurous game allows the little ones to mature better risk assessment skillsOf refine the skills of negotiation and empathyface it with others, to improve the qualities of Safety in oneself and the ability to react to situations.
Better outside. The adventurous game practiced in the open air has the additional merit of acting like anxiety regulatorbecause it teaches children to recognize theArousal Physiological (accelerated beat, frantic breath, sweaty hands) that accompanies a risky situation and feel that this activation attenuates when you are safe again. Experiment several times, in all in all controlled situations, this cycle of “high” and “low” It makes the child feel that that adrenaline feeling is transient, and that stress like all other things passes.
Play you calm down. Helen Dodd, a development psychologist of the University of Exeter, United Kingdom, tested this regulatory effect of the game on stress during the first month of Lockdown for Covid in 2020. Children who were able to enjoy more time spent in adventurous games, albeit among the domestic walls, they showed minor levels of anxiety and depression reported by the parents compared to those who had not been allowed. The adventurous game was even more protective for mental health for children from low -income families.
The help of the VR. Given the free and fluid nature of the very game concept, the research on the benefits of these activities are difficult to conduct in a rigorous way. One of the prevailing hypotheses is that adventurous games help children to refine their skills to manage difficult situations, qualities to be exploited later in truly risky contexts (for example, when crossing a road).
Since it would not be ethically to expose the little ones to dangerous situations for scientific purposes, a group of psychologists from the University of British Columbia of Vancouver, Canada, created Scenarios actually virtual reality In which 500 children from Canada and Norway were able to experiment with risk situations without real dangers: while crossing the road, while they were a river passing from one rock to another and while they expressed a virtual playground.
Their parents responded to questionnaires about how often children were involved in adventurous games and their tendency to seek adrenal situations. The results have yet to be published, but suggest that Norwegian parents are not hostile to risk, and that their children know how to manage it well.
A change of perspective. The purpose of these studies is not to tell parents that they are wrong educational style, but to underline The benefits of less rigid management of game situationsin which children have all the necessary securities, but they are not “as sure as possible”. Of course, even game contexts should be designed to offer adventurous game opportunities that minimize the risks for the safety of children.
The adaptation work will be different on the basis of the culture in which you live: if for example it is known that in the Scandinavian countries the adventurous outdoor activities are encouraged, it is difficult to imagine the same style for other countries (including Italy). While in rural realities, and in the contexts where you live immersed in nature, the adventurous game is probably on the agenda.
It matters up to ten … But how do you understand if a game is risky in a positive way, or only unnecessarily dangerous? According to a study by Mariana Brussoni, a psychologist of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, if the children are hired in a risky “edifying” game are trying in situations outside their current skills with an expression determined on the faceseem in control of their body and proceed For attempts and errors. If you see them like this, the suggestion is to wait a little longer before telling them a “no” and understand if they manage to get away with them.
