Curious Conversations: How to Talk to People Who Are Hesitant Of Risky Play

THEY’RE GOING TO BE DOING WHAT?! - says those who are seemingly scared of a little bit of risky play

But, what if we told you that perhaps it’s not actually the play part that they’re scared of?

You see, sometimes we jump on the backfoot and become defensive, mainly because we KNOW just how beneficial this kind of play is to children. Yet sometimes, most times, it’s the adults that we spend most of our time with “convincing” them that children MUST play this way.

And what if it’s not actually the play they’re scared of, but the ramifications and subsequent work that is resulted BECAUSE of the risky play - playing with mud, for example.

In today’s podcast episode, we cover the experiences we have dealt with in talking to adults who are adverse to risky play AND how we handle these conversations to help make everyone's lives easier.

As someone who is *passionate* about Child Development, sometimes we spend too much time talking about these passions….. and not enough time listening (I’m guilty of this too!)

Here’s what it looks like:

Children come to the Forest, it’s a huge muddy mess because whaddayaknow it’s been raining for what? Three weeks straight in Queensland currently?

And the adults in charge let out a huge “uugggggggggghhhhh NO!! Stay out of the mud!”

And we immediately think “oh gosh, this person just doesn’t understand how they are limiting these children’s experience” and we feel awkward and defensive.

However, instead of feeling put off by this person’s views - what if we become curious as to where it stems from?

When it comes to having these curious conversations…

We do something very similar to children at play…

We LEAP! Listen, Explore, Acknowledge & Propose the way forward

You see, by listening deeply we can actually explore what the person’s concerns actually are…

Perhaps it’s not the play itself….. but the mess it leaves in the car afterward?

And we have to acknowledge that this is a big deal for the person - because let’s be honest, kids can be hard work even without the additional mess!

And if we can propose ideas about how we can make things easier for adults AND still let children benefit from free time in Nature - well, then everyone wins! 

We all had a childhood - we can all relate to the stories, the adventure, the messiness.

So try having more curious conversations with those who are risk averse.

L.E.A.P. forward and see what happens

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