Providing opportunities to encounter and navigate appropriate levels of risk in play environments provides children with important skills. In the context of play, risk refers to opportunities children can easily assess and make decisions about. Hazard, on the other hand, refers to potentially dangerous conditions that are not easily assessable from the perspective of the child and that may lead to harm. Resources in this section will help you consider how to design play environments that include appropriate risk for different developmental ages and how to identify and remove hazards.
Additional information about risk and hazard may be found here:
Alliance for Childhood
www.allianceforchildhood.org
Click here to download a report on the value of risk for children
Play England
www.playengland.org
Play England promotes the right of children to play through a range of projects including playing in nature, street play and other innovative projects and ideas. The goal of Play England is to enable the whole country to protect a child’s right to play; to work to promote play; and work with others to provide opportunities across the country. Play England offers many examples of play projects and explanations of play workers or facilitators to encourage children’s play. Click here to download a report on managing risk in play.