Children as “Risk Assessors”

A recent conversation with one of my students, Justine, got me thinking!

As we talked about allowing children to take risks in their play as well as opportunities to make decisions about their play, this led us on to talk about could children be part of “risk assessment” in our services?

Justine shared with me a strategy she used in one of her services, where a mascot Bear would be placed in areas of the environment that were potentially unsafe. This alerted children to the idea of having to be aware of and  “assess” the situation and make some decisions about how to engage in this space. It might be simple things such as scissors are used in this space or climbing is higher than usual.

So I started to think and considered could children then participate with educators and engage in risk assessment such as outdoor checks and set ups, excursions, experiences and materials, how we set up for lunch and /or rest times? By allowing children to become active and conscious in this process not only exposes them to identifying and managing such potential dangers, hence reducing fears of the unknown, but more importantly it actually supports critical thinking, mindfulness, problem-solving and collaboration, factual and reflective dialogue. This also provides significant opportunities for children to manage their own behaviours and decisions, be conscious of how they can impact on others as well as developing deeper understanding and respect for the environment, it’s resources and people.

What are your thoughts?