Cara Zukewich is the Child Injury Prevention Program Coordinator with the Saskatchewan Prevention Institute and says they are promoting the concept of “risky play” for children.

She says playing outdoors gives children a chance to learn new skills and capabilities which allows them to identify habits surrounding those activities which thus, prevents, injury.

The Institute says on average approximately 1,657 children in Saskatchewan are hospitalized every year due to unintential injury and Saskatchewan has a particularly high rate of child injury compared to the rest of the country.

She says risky play, unlike screen time indoors, allows children to learn decision making skills as well as about timing and space around them, how to socialize with other children, what they are feeling, and about their emotions.

“Do they get butterflies in their stomach when they’re climbing that tree, right? And are they only going to go up to a certain branch or do they feel comfortable going beyond that branch. And that is going to look different for every child.”

Zukewich says riding a bike quickly down a hill is an example of risky play and that risky play will vary greatly depending on age. What is appropriate for a 3 year old might not seem very risky for a 5 year old but ultimately they are not talking about activity that causes significant injury but about taking chances and doing behaviors they can manage themselves.