Outdoor Play Risk in Singapore Early Childhood Education

A contemporary perspective.

Play is an important part of young children’s development. Vygotsky believed that play actually facilitates children’s cognitive development (McLeod, 2018). There are many different ways a child can experience play. Hymes (1981) states that it is advisable for children to be able to learn through play in two settings – indoors and outdoors. The later being an extension of what was taught indoors. In Singapore, the interest in providing young children aged 0-6 with outdoor play opportunities has received new attention as the nation builds on the efforts to improve the quality of the early childhood education (Early Childhood Development Agency, 2019). Children’s outdoor play opportunities can occur in different environments; home, public playgrounds or parks and in school itself. When children engage in outdoor play, there are bound to be risks involved. In order to provide young children with the best outdoor play experience, we must first understand and manage outdoor play risks or better categorised as risky play.

What is Risky Play?

Risky play is defined and understood by Sandseter and Kleppe (2019) as an activity that involves excitement and thrills which involves the use of psychomotor and uncertainty of physical injury. Through research and observations, Kleppe, et al. (2017) categorised risky play into eight parts: (1) height – involving danger of injury resulting from falling such as climbing, hanging or balancing above ground, (2) speed – uncontrolled high speed running or cycling which holds potential for a collision with another person or an object, (3) impact – intended crashing into a person or a space repeatedly, just for fun such as bouncing on a gym ball so hard they keep falling off it, (4) rough and tumble – activities that holds potential for children to cause physical harm to one another such as wrestling or gymnastics, (5) tools – involving the use of ropes or sticks and stones found in outdoor natural settings, (6) elements – environmental considerations such as the roadside near the children’s playground, falling into a nearby drain or tripping over a tree’s root, (7) run away – areas with a lot of blind spots or no given boundaries such as national parks or reservoirs and lastly, (8) vicarious risk – where younger children experience the thrill of watching older children participate in activities which are not yet age appropriate for them, such as a 2 year old observing a 5 year old playing at the monkey bars. The risks involved in outdoor play opportunities for young children is a common topic of discussion amongst parents, early childhood educators and policymakers. Therefore, it is important for early childhood educators to be equipped with the skills and understanding of risk management when planning for outdoor play. In order to be able to deliver quality outdoor learning experiences for young children, we must first understand why the Singapore government is giving new attention to outdoor play and how it benefits young children’s holistic development.

Reasons and Benefits for Outdoor Play

Outdoor play provides young children with the opportunity to expand their creativity, socialise with peers and enhance their psychomotor development. This can happen in either a natural setting such as an open field or the National Park or urban outdoor spaces such as a man-made playground or any open spaces within the Centre’s vicinity. In Singapore, the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) states in it’s guidebook to setting up a child care centre that the premises should hold an area for outdoor play (Early Childhood Development Agency, 2017). This is a requirement for every childcare centre as the nation strives to improve the quality of childcare in Singapore. In order to ensure quality across the nation, ECDA came up with the Singapore Pre-school Accreditation Framework (SPARK) (Early Childhood Development Agency, 2013). In 2017, ECDA increased the duration of outdoor play for young children from 30 minutes to an hour, daily . This became a compulsory requirement for Centres who were accredited by SPARKS and every other centre with the intention to undergo the accreditation. The increased duration for outdoor play is to provide children with more opportunities to spend time outside their classroom.

In early September 2019, ECDA released the Outdoor Learning: National Guide for Early Childhood Educators crafted by the Outdoor Learning Committee. In the guidebook, the committee envisioned outdoor play to be a fundamental component in children’s daily lives. It has to be engaging and exciting for both a stimulus and an extension of what was taught indoors (Outdoor Learning Committee, 2019). This supports both Vygotsky’s theory that play develops children’s cognitive skills (McLeod, 2018) as well as Piaget’s assimilation theory where he classifies play as a way for children to apply what they have already learned, for example, a child who has just learnt about paramedics and goes out to play and pretend to be one when he sees an injured peer (Fox, 2008). Therefore, outdoor play is an important part of children’s development despite the risks involved.

At the rate of how fast the digital world is moving, it is crucial for parents and early childhood educators to provide outdoor play opportunities for young children to prevent a sedentary lifestyle. According to research done by Ebbeck, et al. (2019) on the views and teaching practices of early childhood educators in Singapore regarding outdoor play with young children, the results yielded proved that early childhood educators felt that outdoor play supports at least two aspects of young children’s development despite the risks involved – mainly their psychomotor and social emotional skills. These two developmental domains can be honed during indoor activities, however outdoor activities and interaction can boost positive mood and helps reduce stress (The Straits Times, 2013). In the Outdoor Learning guidebook, there are three benefits to outdoor play. Firstly, the benefit of holistic development and learning where a child is able to explore in a less-structured and open environment that an indoor classroom setting cannot provide. It also improves children’s interpersonal skills when they learn to resolve conflicts amongst peers while engaging in authentic scenarios not planned or facilitated by adults. Secondly, it improves children’s health and well-being by minimising the opportunity to live a sedentary lifestyle as digital natives. When children are given the opportunity to play outdoors, they reduce the risk of developing myopia, builds bone and muscle strength as it develops their psychomotor skills when they run, climb or jump. Lastly, children are more aware of their environment and rooted in the community that they explore while they are playing and learning in the outdoors. They learn to appreciate, care and take responsibility of their environment as they observe and explore first-hand and build a bond with their outdoor environment. It also allows a child to familiarise his/herself with their community when they go for nature walks around their school’s premises. In order to achieve optimal benefits for young children, the adults involved in a child’s microsystem of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory - parents and early childhood practitioners must first work in partnership when it comes to accepting and understanding risky play when children are learning and playing in the outdoors (Zhang, 2018).

Factors Affecting Children's Risky Play Experience

There are several factors affecting young children’s risky play experience in the outdoors. Mainly, it is the increasing concerns from adults about children’s safety that affects this experience for young children. According to research, factors such as urban areas where playground are located near traffic areas, adult’s fears and beliefs as well as the possibility of accidents or injuries that may occur during risky play are the reasons for the limitation of children’s risky play opportunities (Kalburan and Ivrendi, 2016). The perspectives from the adults in children’s lives also plays a part.

Parent’s concerns about their child’s safety may consequently limit the child’s risky play opportunities due to the parenting style which is influenced by their own personal fears and beliefs to minimise children from getting hurt through risky play. Baumrind’s theory of parenting styles were used in a study to help determine if the different parenting styles was a factor to how much opportunity for outdoor risky play a child gets (Kalburan and Ivrendi, 2016). The results of the study showed that different parenting styles provided different opportunities for children to experience risky play. The parenting styles adopted will have a direct effect on the school where the child is enrolled as the early childhood educator has to work in partnership with the parent. In the event that a parent deny consent or discourage their child to participate in a particular outdoor activity, early childhood educators are unable to override parent’s authority and decision. Therefore, the child will not be able to participate and lose out on an experience he could otherwise have due to his/her parent’s perspective on the activity.

Another factor which is significant to the factors affecting children’s risk play experience falls down onto the early childhood educator’s risk taking personality and beliefs. As early childhood educators are held accountable for the well-being of the children under their care, studies have shown that early childhood educators expressed concern about encouraging risk-taking behaviours in young children due to the fear of litigation if a child is injured when participating in risky play (Little, Wyver and Gibson 2011). Early childhood educators have to conduct proper risk-management and planned age-appropriate activities while trying to meet parent’s expectations. Due to the complexity of planning an activity involving risky play, some early childhood educators choose to limit the opportunities for outdoor play instead of providing more opportunities for children.

In Singapore, the access of age-appropriate natural areas for outdoor play and learning experiences for young children is limited, therefore the urban areas can be a contributing factor as well. It is important that the environment that children interact with is able to provide safe exploration and supports risk-taking behaviours within reasonable precautions (Little, Wyver and Gibson 2011). The environment also includes available resources such as tricycles, jump rope or even balls, the weather conditions; if it was too hot or cold to conduct outdoor activities and even the location and size of playing area; ensuring that it is not near the roads and is big enough for children to run away and play. In order to achieve this, the early childhood educator should be equipped with the proper skills and knowledge to assess and manage outdoor risks in the immediate environment.

Adult's Perspectives on Risky Play

Parents

Parents are children’s primary caregiver, therefore their perspective on the matter of risky play plays a key role in their children’s experience. Every adult has their own personal belief and risk-taking personality which influences their parenting styles when it comes down to risky play. There are several types of risks that are involved during play – social risks such as resolving conflict when playing in a group of friends or getting along with new friends at a new play area, intellectual risks such as finding new ways to be creative and resourceful when playing outdoors and lastly, physical risks where children can potentially get hurt with broken bones or a cut on their body (Adams, 2001). Amongst the three identified risks, parents’ view on physical risks is given the most attention because they have high safety concerns for their child’s well-being. When a child gets physically hurt, the medical cost incurred is high and the medical after-care is tedious (Kalburan and Ivrendi, 2016). In recent studies, even the parent’s and child’s gender also plays a role in how much risky play they are allowed to experience. Kalburan and Ivrendi (2016) found out that sons are allowed to take on more risks during play as compared to daughters and fathers are more accepting of risky play as compared to mothers. This is a factor that stems from gender related issues and perspectives on how men are generally physically stronger than women.

Early Childhood Educators

Similarly to parents, early childhood educators adopt their own teaching practices and holds their own beliefs when it comes to children’s development. However, these practices and beliefs can only be fully delivered if the early childhood educator has a risk-taking personality and ability to asses and manage risks during outdoor play. It is a challenge for early childhood educators to find the balance between children’s safety and their opportunities for risky play. With the increase in the culture of litigation of early childhood educators for negligence, early childhood educators minimise the opportunities for risky play because they want to avoid taking the blame for accidents that might happen (McFarland and Laird, 2018). In Singapore, despite the new attention given into outdoor learning opportunities for children; early childhood educators personal beliefs and personality controls the opportunities for this type of play and determines the type of risks children can take while under their care (Ebbeck, Yim and Warrier, 2019). For example, an educator who is comfortable with being outdoors and taking on risks are more likely to be more positive and receptive about outdoor play for young children as compared to an educator who does not enjoy being in the outdoors themselves. Furthermore, early childhood educators have to take into consideration parents’ views on this type of play themselves despite their own personal beliefs and risk-taking personality.

Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA)

The policy maker and governing body of early childhood education in Singapore has their own perspective on the matter. They made it compulsory for preschools and childcare centres to schedule an hour of outdoor play into the time-table for each day of the school week, despite the challenges early childhood educators face when bringing children for outdoor play (Early Childhood Development Agency, 2013). ECDA made it a requirement for preschools and childcare centres to meet this factor in order to achieve SPARK accreditation and meet the requirements of delivering quality early childhood education. The lack of considerations towards parents’ attitudes, resources and location of outdoor area from ECDA and other governing bodies such as the Ministry of Education when it comes to compulsory outdoor play experience, makes it hard for early childhood educators to hold positive views about the benefits of risky play for young children.

Social and Cultural Context

Singapore is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world and children are spending more time on IT gadgets than playing outdoors. It is a rare sight to see young children going on hikes or participating in water activities such as kayaking or sailing. Despite the benefits outdoor play offers to young children, it is not culturally accepted in Singapore for them to be participating in such activities as it is deemed as age-inappropriate and high-risk due. As compared to Australia, a country that developed guidelines stating that young children are required to be safe and active in outdoor activities during all weather conditions (Ebbeck, Yim and Warrier, 2019). These guidelines were implemented in Australia to promote healthy growth and development in young children residing in Australia. Weather isn’t a factor hindering opportunities for young children’s outdoor play opportunities, unlike in Singapore. Furthermore, SPARK requirement stated only 60 minutes of outdoor time daily for all age groups. However, the Australian Government Department of Health suggested that young children aged 1 – 2 years old to have at least 180 minutes of physical activity spread throughout the day. Children aged 3 – 6 years old to have an additional 60 minutes of energetic play spread throughout the day too (The Department of Health, 2017).

Besides the views of the society on risky play for young children in Singapore, the academically oriented educational system and parental expectations here may limit the time and opportunity for children to participate in outdoor play. There are so many extra-curricular activities for young children that is offered in Singapore such as Julia Gabriel Centre, Abrakadoodle, Kindermusik Singapore or music lessons in Yamaha Music School that occupies children’s time and decreases the opportunity for outdoor play.

Recommendations

Based on past research and studies, risky play is important for young children’s holistic development (Sandseter, 2019; Outdoor Learning Committee, 2019; Ebbeck, Yim and Warrier, 2019; Kalburan and Ivrendi, 2016). It has many benefits, especially for their cognitive development and social interaction skills. Parents and early childhood practitioners must work together and understand the definition of risks and how it is important for children to experience it when reasonable safety precautions are taken. Early childhood educators should also be equipped with the proper skills and knowledge of risk management when facilitating risky play for children in the outdoors. When parents see that their child’s teacher is confident and capable of conducting risky play with children, it could result in a more positive outlook on this type of play.

Parents can also play their part by bringing children outdoors more often over the weekends and holidays. As they experience and observe their child during outdoor activities, they learn how to better manage their expectations when their child is involved in outdoor activities when they are in school. Risks cannot be entirely eliminated, therefore it is important to prepare children in identifying the different types of risks during play and how to avoid or manage it by themselves or with adult’s assistance.

Factors Affecting Children's Risky Play Experience

The issue with risky play is that there is a lack of understanding on how important it is for young children in Singapore to experience it. As the society grows to be more technologically inclined and academically driven, activities that does not yield results benefiting children’s intellect and school readiness are not being culturally accepted by the society yet. Therefore, ECDA and the Ministry of Health has tried to promote outdoor play for young children by increasing the duration of play. However, it is also important to develop the early childhood educators to be perceptive of outdoor play and equipped with the right skills and knowledge when facilitating children’s learning and play in the outdoors. There should be training courses for parents and early childhood educators alike to help them understand why risk is important and how to manage it when young children are involved.

Parents have a socially assigned responsibility and obligation towards their children’s safety and well-being. However the need to protect their children from harm has to be within reasonable measures which does not hinders the child’s holistic development. When parents are more accepting of risky play, it is easier for early childhood educators to support their children in this type of play instead of worrying about litigation.

References

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