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Risk-Benefit Analysis for Outdoor Play More Common in Europe than US
July 15, 2021
Winning doesn’t always mean being first. Winning means you’re doing better than you’ve done before.
-Bonnie Blair, Speed Skater
European countries have long been using the tool of risk-benefit analysis to guide decisions on safety in outdoor spaces. Here, for example, is an introduction to information for educators on the Scottish National Improvement Hub website:

"This tool supports those who are responsible for outdoor learning to recognise that there is a balance between risk and benefit. It aims to identify risks, eliminating them or reducing them to a tolerable level. Focusing on risk alone can inadvertently create a negative situation where any risk is seen to be unacceptable."

Rusty Keeler in his popular new book, Adventures in Risky Play: What is Your Yes, which just won a gold medal from the Independent Book Publisher Awards, has this to say about the subject: "We want to say yes more but children push the limits and we see danger. In split seconds we scan a situation and make decisions whether to allow play or stop play. Even as super-supporters of play we do that and we should be doing that. But how do we make those decisions? What do we take into consideration? What inner guidance are we listening to?...A great way to get some practice is by going through the risk-benefit analysis process on any given element your child might encounter."




Adventures in Risky Play
What is Your Yes?

Use coupon code TWENTY to get Adventures in Risky Play and Oh Boy! for 20% off!

Adventures in Risky Play: What is Your Yes? goes to the heart of risk-taking and children. As educators working with young children, we all have boundaries and feelings around what risky play is allowed. Rusty Keeler invites us to examine the cage of boundaries that we have created for ourselves and our children. He challenges us to rattle our cage and discover where the lines are movable. In our role as educators and caretakers, when we allow children to play and confront risk on their own terms, we see them develop, hold their locus of control and make choices on how to navigate the bumpy terrain of a situation. What better teaching tool for life is there?

May not be combined with any other offer.
Offer ends May 25, 2022, at 11:59 pm PST.
Not valid on past purchases or bulk discounts.

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