Take a Risk – If You Dare (and Have PREPARED)
Today’s September to Remember experience is to allow your students to engage in “risky business”.
Last week, a substitute assistant in our Outdoor Learning program told me, “I understand what you are trying to do here, but I don’t agree with all the risks you let the children take.”
Tree Swing in our outdoor learning environment
She was talking about our tree swing, the use of real shovels for digging, our pond and letting the children walk on top of the log stumps we use at the meeting place.
I appreciate her point of view and I am thankful she feels comfortable enough around me in the short time we have worked together to share her opposing opinion.
The pond
I am confident in my students’ ability to assess the risks of these learning experiences because I have been giving them the knowledge and skills to do so. During September to Remember, I will share with you how we teach the youngest learners to be safe at the pond, when using the tree swing and when digging with real shovels.
Before providing our students with activities involving risks, a thorough risk assessment of our Outdoor Learning Program , Use of Tools, and Use of Fire was conducted by my inspiring colleague, Kayleigh Goode.
We use real child-sized tools.
When you see the risks some young children are allowed to take in Denmark’s Forest Kindergartens, you will quickly realize the risks we let our students take are quite limited. We have a fence around our school grounds, the children don’t climb trees at school and our pond is very small in contrast to a lake or the ocean.
Once an attendee at one of our outdoor learning conferences asked me, “What would happen if a child fell in the pond?”
I replied, “He would stand up.” (I apologize for the gender stereotyping there. I did assume it would be a boy, not a girl, who would fall into the pond.)
Clearly, for child safety reasons before letting your students take risks, it’s important that you
- conduct a risk-benefit analysis. To learn more, click here.
- eliminate or reduce the possibility of danger as much as possible
- have a plan in place in case injury occurs
Click here for another explanation and example of a risk assessment document.
Staying indoors to avoid all the risks of outdoor learning is unnecessary. Assess your learning environment for risks and benefits, take action to make it as safe as possible, establish a plan in case of injury and then relax and enjoy learning OUTSIDE!
