About the blog

This is a blog for Ellen Beate. I am Professor at Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education in Trondheim, Norway. The aim of this blog is to share some of my research on children’s risky play and well-being in ECEC, and any other research project or theme that I happen to be engaged in!

I believe that children, all over the world, have the right to free play and that all childhood education should be based on play as a means for development, learning and well-being. I have a particular interest in children’s need for thrilling and risky play in a time when the western society in increasingly becoming even more safety focused, – some call it a society of surplus safety with cotton wool children and helicopter parents…

Feel free to contact me on ebs@dmmh.no

17 thoughts on “About the blog”

  1. I teach preschool and really fight to keep things play based despite all the pressures from others about ‘kindergarten readiness ‘.I grieve the Ioss of childhood and nature play in our society.

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  2. I teach preschool and really fight to keep things play based despite all the pressures from others about ‘kindergarten readiness ‘.I grieve the Ioss of childhood and nature play in our society.

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  3. Hello Dr. Sandseter! I listened to your segment in the Early Year Summit! I am very excited about your work and am trying to read as much of it as possible! I wonder if you have any thoughts about impulse control and how it impacts the safety of risky play. I often work with children whose impulse control is a work in progress! Rough and tumble play quickly escalates to the point of injury. I’m trying to understand how to better manage the interactions so they can experience the benefits of risky play without injuring others.

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  4. Hi Ellen, do you have a list of playground architects/designers you can recommend? I am trying to compile a list for a thoughtful playground project for an elementary school in the U.S.A. Best, Charlie

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  6. Hej Ellen,
    Jeg har læst en artikel om dit arbejde og ser til min glæde at du argumenterer for børn mulighed for at lege frit og med deres egen risikovurdering. Du er i Berlingske Tidende (DK) citeret for at legeplads standarderne gør næsten alle legepladser ens, men dette er jeg ikke enig med dig i. Man kan sagtens lave spændende legepladser inden for EN1176-rammen, og jeg mener at fejlen ligger i flere andre ting:

    1) Mange producenter mangler fantasi og mod til at designe spændende legepladser. Måske mangler også incitamentet til at designe disse løsninger – se punkt 2,3 og 4.
    2) Der er legeplads inspektører, der er ekstremt rigide i deres fortolkning af EN1176, og de kommer til at sætte standarden, fordi enhver producent frygter at de skal få deres produkter tjekket af disse.
    3) Mange indkøbere af legeredskaber kigger på hvor mange faciliteter/funktioner de får for pengene og ser ikke på hvilken fantasi og opdagelsespotentiale et legeredskab tilbyder.
    4) Afledt af punkt 3. Kommunerne indgår i stor stil rammeaftaler omkring indkøb af legepladser hvilket som oftest medfører at der fokuseres på pris og antal funktioner. Legeværdi nedprioriteres i denne proces – ikke fordi man ikke arbejder med “legeværdi”, men fordi man fortolker legeværdi som antal funktioner og os der har forstand på det ved at begrebet legeværdi rummer meget mere end hvor mange klatrevægge og balanceforløb, der er på en legeplads.

    Jeg håber at vi en gang kan have en dialog om disse ting. Mit firma deltager for tiden i et udviklingsforløb i Play User Lab (Danmark), hvor jeg har anbefalet dig som ekspert i børns (fysiske) leg. Det kan være at de kontakter dig.

    De bedste hilsner, Svend Støvlbæk

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    • Hei Svend,
      Jeg er ikke uenig i det du skriver 🙂 Det er indirekte virkningen av tolkningen av standardene som er oftest er problemet. I aviser kommer ikke alltid nyansene i det man sier frem. Jeg håper også vi får muligheten til å møtes!
      Hilsen Ellen Beate

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  7. Hej Ellen,
    I´m just about finishing my masterthesis about the phenomenon of Risky Play, of course with your (and others) knowledge as my basis-literature. Too bad, I only found out about this blog just now!
    In my research I was observing children´s risky play and their pedagogues reactions, as well as collecting data about their attitudes towards risky play – comparing outdoor and indoor-kindergartens in Austria.
    Exciting results!

    Best regards,
    Karin from Salzburg

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  8. Hey Ellen! I´m finishing my master degree and your research about risk play was my inspiration and my basis-literature. Here in Brazil, we are starting this discussion, and research about it was not very common. My research was about risk play in preschool with kids 4 and 5 years old. Thank you soo much for your researches! I wish to meet you!!

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  10. Greetings from Seattle!

    I am writing a book about childhood independence and will be discussing risky play/resiliency/risk management quite a bit. I would love to hear from any and all researchers, all over the world, who are working in the field of play. I am writing specifically about childhood independence and unstructured, unsupervised play for children aged 5 – 12 years old. My email address is elizabeth.leigh.hunter@gmail.com.

    Ellen, I will reach out to you directly via email. Thank you for your work and I look forward to speaking with you.

    My best-

    Liz Hunter

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  11. Pingback: Risky Play, Resilient Kids - MotherooHQ

  13. Hi Ellen

    I am undertaking a professional inquiry focused on risky play in early childhood education.

    My inquiry question is:

    How can I intentionally embed risky play into everyday practice to support children’s independence, confidence and decision-making?

    I chose this area after observing children naturally seeking opportunities to explore and engage with risk within their everyday play and routines. Some examples I have observed include children attempting to climb structures that are not traditionally intended for climbing, such as forts and the tops of tunnels; children independently using knives during mealtimes; and children representing risk through imaginative play, such as positioning a small doll climbing a very tall LEGO structure.

    I have also noticed that educators can have differing perspectives and levels of comfort regarding risky play, particularly around when adults should intervene and when children should be trusted to assess and manage risk themselves.

    As part of my inquiry, I am required to research my topic and seek professional advice from an expert in the area. Given your knowledge and experience with risky play, I would greatly value your perspective.

    If you have the opportunity, I would be interested in your thoughts on the following questions:

    1. How can educators intentionally embed opportunities for risky play into everyday practice rather than treating risky play as a separate experience?
    2. How can educators determine when to intervene and when to allow a child to assess and navigate risk independently?
    3. What role does risky play have in developing children’s confidence, independence and decision-making skills?
    4. How can educators balance their duty of care and safety requirements with children’s right to experience appropriate risk and challenge?
    5. What strategies would you recommend for supporting educators who have different levels of comfort or confidence around risky play?
    6. Are there any particular research, resources or professional guidance you would recommend I explore as part of my inquiry?

    Any insight you are able to provide would be greatly appreciated and would help inform both my inquiry and my developing practice as an early childhood teacher.

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