Ask the Expert: Snow safety

The snow has arrived. How can I keep young children safe while having fun?

The snow provides great learning opportunities for all children because it is such fun. You need to balance the play and educational benefits for children, with adults’ anxieties about children’s health and safety. But that should not detract you from enabling children to run, jump, roll and build in the snow.

Do a risk assessment to show how you will mitigate potential problems. It is not designed to eliminate risk – children need some risky play. They will find danger in the most unlikely places so bear that in mind.

Share the risk assessment with parents if they are worried. It is often things like ensuring they wear gloves and boots that worry parents. Yet often the first thing children do when they go outside is to remove their gloves because they get in the way of building the best snowman.

Norway, which has a lot more snow than us, runs outdoor schools and children thrive there. It’s probably one of the reasons it gets such high scores in the wellbeing ratings.

Answered by June O'Sullivan, chief executive of the childcare charity and social enterprise, the London Early Years Foundation