Adventure education: fun games and activities for children and young people

Ritson’s book provides a guide to the implementation of the adventure education model. She defines adventure education as hands-on learning through activities involving risk. The first chapters of the book introduce the history and philosophy of adventure education to provide context for a researcher or practitioner. Key aspects of the adventure education approach are explained, including features of its curriculum and the roles of instructors and participants. From a theoretical perspective, the book presents adventure education as being aimed at promoting holistic development, linking it with other theories, for example of cognitive development and social learning theories. It emphasises the importance of practical and interactive learning experiences through adventure activities to achieve learning outcomes such as problem-solving and decision-making. In pursuance of this aim, the book offers a toolkit for practitioners, including games and activities which can be used in adventure education.

In my doctoral study, I used parkour which involves overcoming obstacles in urban and natural environments quickly and effectively (Gerling et al., 2013, p. 26), as a tool for adventure education. The aim was to examine the effect of using parkour on the motor, cognitive and social-emotional skills of students aged 9 - 12 years. The book played a guiding role for me in integrating a non-traditional and risky activity into physical education. For example, the book states that balancing challenge, skill development and success encourages personal development, and that failure is potentially as valuable as success. I have used activities of different levels of difficulty, aiming to cover a range of skill levels. In this way, I have observed that somehow students of all skill levels are able to find challenges for their own success. This book is a valuable resource for intervention, design and implementation for practitioners and researchers interested in promoting young people’s holistic development.