Safe Risk- in Block Building

Safe Risk is Important for Children:  

• Allowing children to take risks develops their self-confidence, to plan, to solve problems, to engage their creativity, to be challenged and to use judgment.
• Risk can include gross motor activities such as climbing on a jungle gym, using shovels in a dirt pile, building with large tree stumps or sensory activities such as touching the gooey insides of a pumpkin, walking in paint, or playing in the mud.
• The teacher is the guide who provides an environment in which safe risk can occur, monitors children’s efforts and allows the child to do the work instead of stepping in with a “That’s not safe.”
• Yes, we need to manage the risk; we stay close, but we allow the child to experience that joy of accomplishment or be able to determine how to do it differently the next time.

Block Building:

Staying safe while building high:

• Place a hula hoop around the block structure so that other students are a safe distance while also allowing the opportunity to develop skills of balance.
• Provide softer materials instead of wooden blocks such as plastic cups, cardboard blocks, plastic food containers such as lemonade cylinders, lunchmeat containers, and toilet paper rolls. 

 

In what ways do you encourage children to take risks to become problem-solvers, inventors, and resourceful individuals in your classroom?

Intentionally Designed Environments: Pictures of Classrooms

WOW! Teachers in the Union Public Schools in Tulsa, OK are incredible. I recently had the opportunity to visit some of their classrooms. They so graciously allowed me to take pictures to share with you the intentionality of their classroom design.

The environment in which children spend their day at school needs to support developmentally appropriate practices that allow children to freely move, to explore with hands-on opportunities, to engage in dramatic play experiences, to build social/emotional skills, and to develop their symbolic thinking and cognitive flexibility among others.

Learning theories from constructivism to social learning
to experiential learning underscore the importance of
active and inquiry-based learning, knowledge construction
through interaction with the environment, social contexts
and meaningful experiences.

-“Most Influential Theories of Learning,” Unesco Education

 

Intentional Design for hands-on exploration while encouraging symbolic thinking, problem solving, and cognitive flexibility.

 

Intentionally Designed Art Centers that encourage the process of art instead of the product,  and free exploration of creative ideas instead of template art.

 

Intentional Design of the Classroom Aesthetics so that the students can live and breathe in a beautiful space. Use of natural colors as we use in our homes for a calming effect.

Intentional Design of Student Contributions, the classroom belongs to the students. It should be a reflection of the students instead of the teachers passions or “cutesy/pinteresty” type themes.

Intentional Design to Include Dramatic Play. Students require dramatic play experiences to build executive functioning skills.

Safe Risk- important for students

Risk is an important part of children’s play. Allowing children to take risks develops their self-confidence, to plan, to solve problems, to engage their creativity, to be challenged and to use judgment. All of these skills are critical for children’s growth in social – emotional, executive functioning and cognitive skills.
Risk can include gross motor activities such as climbing on a jungle gym, using shovels in a dirt pile, building with large tree stumps or sensory activities such as touching the gooey insides of a pumpkin, walking in paint, or playing in the mud. It also includes allowing children to create using real tools such a hammer and nails, maybe even building a bridge to cross the creek to explore the other side!
The teacher is the guide who provides an environment in which safe risk can occur, monitors children’s efforts and allows the child to do the work instead of stepping with a “That’s not safe.” Yes, we need to manage the risk; we stay close but we allow the child to experience that joy of accomplishment or be able to determine how to do it differently the next time. “Risk-taking is an essential part of children’s play. Managing that risk is the key to providing opportunities that support growth and development and keep children safe from unreasonable risk and injury. The balancing of these two is vital for our children’s health and development. (Allen and Rapee, 2005 cited in Sanseter, E. and Kennair, L. 2011) We need to remember that clothes, hands and feet can be washed, bumps and bruises are a part of growing and risk taking allows children to build resiliency, persistence, proprioceptive skills, confidence, independence, wonder and curiosity.
In what ways do you encourage children to take risks to become problem-solvers, inventors, and resourceful individuals in your classroom?

Great resource for further information on the benefits of risk:
http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/sites/allianceforchildhood.org/files/file/Adventure_-_The_Value_of_Risk_in_Children_s_Play.pdf