Risky_Play

I attended a forest kindergarten once a week over four weeks with a local nursery to make observations and take photographs of children involved in risky play. In my plan I had intended to attend the forest kindergarten over five weeks but due to unforeseen circumstances I was only able to attend four sessions with one of them being a morning and afternoon session. A further adjustment that was made was the area that the children played in. After the dog incident (see observation 1j) it was decided between the nursery teacher and the forest ranger that it would be in the best interests of the children if they moved to a new area. The new area that we moved to in the second week was the area that the children visited when they were working on the play structures so I made a great deal of observations on the children using the play structures so I felt that there was no need to carry out my activity on ‘play structures, problems solving and team work’ as throughout all my observations I feel I have gathered enough information. I observed the children using incidental observations while engaged in risky play within the forest involving height, motion and speed, hanging, rolling....... I feel this method was appropriate because it helped me to find out what risks children take in their play. Each week along with observing the children engaged in their play I decided to have a focus for my observations. The focus for week one was ‘The Right to Play’. The Right to Play is underpinned by article 31 of UNCRC. It states that ‘Every child has the right to rest & leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and arts.’ The children’s right to play was evident in the forest environment and this was reflected within my observations of them participating in risky play (see observations 1b-1p) I feel that while it is important to eliminate hazards, opportunities for challenge need to be maintained to ensure that the children’s experience the perception of risk. The Nursery teacher and