Are You A Play Worker or Play Working?

It’s true what they say: Children’s work IS play.

But do our adult agendas impact child’s play? And if they do, how do we know when is the right time to intervene or to observe? 

How does “play working” create space for children’s autonomy for risk-taking but also how do we direct learning if it’s necessary?

In today’s podcast, I talk with professional playworker and child advocate, Marc Armitage. We are chatting all about the role of adults and he asks us what is our agenda when it comes to providing play opportunities for children.

We know children are destined to play in risky ways. 

But this isn’t to say that you give any random toddler a sharp handsaw and expect them to know how to use it.  

Quite simply, although children don’t need us to facilitate play they do need us to guard the spaces in which they choose to play this way.

And in order to do that you need one thing.

Time.

Time to get to know and observe the children. What they can do and what they can’t. What tools are the right size for their hands and what activities support their current stage of development.

But you can’t do any of that until you observed their play without intrusion. 

The truth is and as Marc says “You cannot make a playworker. It’s a state of mind”.

And this is such a huge shift for most of us, conditioned to believe that MORE training is the secret to understanding children and play.

Here’s Marc’s advice on reflecting on whether to get involved in child’s play.

• Sit
• Watch
• Listen & Don’t Move

Then ask yourself...

What did you see? 

What was happening? 

What difference would I have made if I got involved?”

9 times out of 10 we would’ve made no difference at all and we will learn so much more about children by stepping back than we will by jumping in. 

By doing this, we will get to focus on the things they don’t actually know how to do rather than planning things they are already doing on a day-to-day basis.

This is the wisdom of children at work.

P.S.  At the end of May we are going to be walking through EXACTLY how to incorporate risky play with groups of children, during our free private training for Playworkers, Educators and Aspiring Forest School Leaders ready to learn Wild School Skills.

Apply to get an invitation to our FREE training in May