We have been enjoying exploring Risky Play on our playground. We have attached some plastic blocks to our wacky posts for us to climb. We also have enjoyed climbing up on our big log and stumps and jumping off of them into the woodchips. To expand on this interest, we decided to go and explore in the forest that is behind the child care. As we started to get ready by placing our muddy buddies on we began to discuss what we might see in the forest. Avery asked, “will we see any animals?” Amy answered, “we might. We will just have to wait and see.” Once we were all dressed it was time to go. Holding onto our safety buddy’s hand we made our way to the forest. As soon as we entered the forest we were excited to start climbing on one of the logs that was propped up again a tree. Using our gross motor skills, we climbed up and moved our bodies along the log until we were on the other side. Brynne and Adrian decided that they wanted to try standing up. Once they were up, with the help of an educator, the walked across the log. Brynne said, “look! I’m walking.” Once Adrian got to the other side he held onto the educator’s hand and jumped down. Enoch practiced balancing using the help of a tree that was near the log. He held onto the tree to help him stand up. Once he was standing he had a big smile on his face. Once we were done climbing we started to look for sticks and rocks to bring back to our classroom. Emerson enjoyed looking for the biggest sticks. Once he found one he picked it up and was excited to show everyone. He placed the stick back down and continued to look for some more. While exploring in the forest we learned more about the different bugs that were climbing the logs as well as examining the pieces of bark and what was on the other side of the bark. Exploring in the forest helped build on our gross motor skills as we had to balance and navigate some of the sticks that were on the ground. We used our hand eye coordination to help us climb up onto the log. Some benefits of Risky Play are building on our self confidence as we try new things and building resilience. We had so much fun exploring in the forest and are excited to go back.
