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Recent research indicates that museums hold great potential for children’s engagement and learning. To date, most research has either focused on school-aged children or young children’s independent...

This chapter examines the significant benefits of engaging in risky play and the environments that support this type of play. In the context of children’s play, the focus on the potential adverse outcomes associated with injury risk has had a detrimental impact on the provision and quality of outdoor play linked to the regulation of playspaces. The outdoor environment is inherently a dynamic, constantly changing space in response to the weather, the seasons, the time of day and the interaction of humans and the environment. As a consequence, it is unpredictable and typically involves some element of risk. Risky play can be described as a form of play that involves physically challenging activities where there is potential for injury. The chapter concludes by examining how educators can provide challenging physical outdoor play for children by taking a risk–benefit approach to managing risk in play.

The notion of ‘belonging’ is a core component of many early childhood curriculum frameworks and recognises the importance of children’s sociocultural context for their self-identity and well-being. Children’s risk-taking in play has also been the focus of contemporary research in examining its beneficial role for children’s physical, social and emotional development. This study applies diverse disciplinary and theoretical lenses, including Hedegaard’s cultural-historical model and Gibson’s affordance theory, to present a critical and multi-perspective understanding of children’s experience of ‘belonging’ and risky play. The study involved naturalistic observations of 18–26-month-old children’s outdoor play in an environment designed to provide affordances for risky play. The findings suggest that children’s engagement in risky play also supports their sense of belonging through their shared engagement in risky-play experiences.

This article presents data from a survey of Early Childhood Education and Care services in Australia. The study investigated outdoor play provision in terms of space, resources and planning for risk-taking in play. Overall, the results indicate that the participating centres are well-resourced to promote physical play, but vary in terms of opportunities for risk-taking in play. Although the majority of respondents believed their centres’ environments supported risk-taking in play, there were diverse perspectives among the teachers as to behaviours that constituted risky play. Regulatory restrictions relating to heights, arrangement of gross motor equipment and having insufficient space were also identified as factors limiting opportunities for challenging play. Furthermore, inconsistency in the way regulations were interpreted and applied arose as a key factor in the diversity of experiences reported by the respondents. The findings from this study have implications for pre- and in-service training for teachers in understanding how children’s risk-taking in outdoor play might be supported and managed.

Many international studies have highlighted reduced opportunities for young children’s risk-taking and associated physical activity in home, neighbourhood, and early childhood education contexts. At the same time parents and educators express positive attitudes towards children’s engagement in challenging, physically active play. In the early childhood education context, the mismatch between expressed intentions of educators and what happens in the outdoor environment is attributable to a number of factors, including the difficulties that educators experience in theorising about the outdoors. In this chapter we examine the current status of physically active play in Early Childhood Education settings. We then consider contemporary approaches to affordance theory, with a particular emphasis on the contributions of E.J. Gibson, J.J. Gibson, Heft and Kytta. We argue that affordance theory provides an important approach for active play research and pedagogy.

The importance of stimulating and challenging outdoor play for the health and development of children, as this Chapter describes, is now the topic of copious research. Play provision has, however, been set on a different trajectory in recent decades; one which has been more preoccupied with the creation of injury free or 'safe’ environments and is in part driven by the fear of litigation. An unintended consequence has been the curtailment of essential childhood developmental opportunities. The workplace model of zero tolerance to accidents and associated risk exposure is inappropriate in the context of children and play. It is proposed that a more balanced approach to play provision is needed which recognizes that risk exposure is not entirely bad and that children benefit from and require risk-taking opportunities. This has implications at all levels of play provision, from policy formulation to play practice.

Motor competence and physical activity (PA) patterns are established during the early childhood years. Early childhood education (ECE) settings are an important context for children’s engagement in physically active play. This paper reports the findings from an online survey examining resources, spaces and affordances for PA and risk-taking in outdoor play provision at 245 ECE centres across Australia. Centres were generally well resourced to promote physical play and provide a diverse range of experiences that support PA and motor development, although varied in terms of opportunities for risk-taking in play. Most respondents believed the environment at their centres supported children’s engagement in moderate to vigorous PA, however, regulatory restrictions relating to recommended height limits on climbing apparatus and having insufficient space were identified as factors limiting opportunities for challenging, physically active play. Outdoor space and teacher support are identified as important factors in childhood settings to promote PA and risk-taking. The emphasis on outdoor environments as a mediator of physically active play should be beneficial in directing limited resources to the provision of environments that are most likely to produce positive PA outcomes.

Changes to social and environmental contexts impact on children’s opportunities for and the nature of outdoor play in many ways. A number of studies over the past decade have noted a trend towards over-protective parenting practices that restrict children’s activities and limit children’s independent mobility and engagement with their neighbourhoods. Through semi-structured interviews with mothers of four-year-old to five-year-old children, this study examined beliefs about children’s outdoor play opportunities and exposure to and management of potential risks in outdoor environments. Whilst the mothers overwhelmingly acknowledged the benefits of risky outdoor play, tension existed between their desire to provide opportunities for their children to safely engage in such play and overcoming their own fears and concerns about their children’s safety. The study has implications for examining ways in which children gain access to outdoor play and the role that early childhood settings may have in providing ac...

Many children naturally seek challenging physically active play which may involve injury‐risk. Prior studies have attempted to describe the characteristics of risky play but to date none have considered factors that impact on opportunities for risky play or the likely resultant outcomes. Using semi‐structured interviews and naturalistic observations, this study aimed to investigate adult attitudes towards risk‐taking and whether children's experiences of risky play differ according to the contexts in which the play takes place. Although the children's mothers and Early Childhood practitioners believed risky play was an important aspect of learning and development and encouraged this type of play, observations of children's play at a local playground and their Early Childhood centre revealed that these contexts provided limited opportunities for risky play. Regulatory factors and requirements for playground safety were identified as having a detrimental impact on the quality of play in these setti...

Child characteristics including age, gender, risk-taking behaviour and sensation seeking are thought to influence children's ability to appraise risks. The present study investigated children's risk perceptions and appraisals in the context of common outdoor physical play activities. Risk perceptions and appraisal of four- and five-year olds were assessed using a pictorial risk appraisal measure and through individual semi-structured interviews examining children's decision-making. Sensation seeking and risk-taking behaviour were assessed using self- and parent-report measures. Results revealed that the children were able to identify injury risk behaviours however differentiating the severity of the potential injury was less accurate. Furthermore, the children appeared to use these judgements in their play to inform their behaviour whilst using playground equipment. Whilst they actively sought out those activities that offered challenge and excitement, they were aware of their abilities and showe...

Learning how to respond appropriately in risk situations comes not only from the child’s direct experiences but also through the guidance of those around them. The role of parent practices in guiding children’s decision-making in risky situations has mainly been investigated in experimental contexts. The present study examined children’s risk-taking behaviour and parent responses in everyday outdoor play settings. Parents’ own risk-taking beliefs and behaviours were assessed using the Attitudes Towards Risk Questionnaire (ATR). Interviews explored parents’ attitudes towards children’s risk-taking and parents (11 mothers, one father) were observed as they supervised their four- to five-year-old children on playground equipment at a park. Parents’ ATR scores were predictive of children’s risk-taking behaviour. Parents mainly supervised their child’s play and provided encouragement and support to foster children’s engagement in challenging use of the equipment. Parents rarely intervened to prevent children’s risky play but provided advice on how to complete the activity safely. Parents emphasized that their responses to children’s risk-taking are context dependent.

The safety of children as they learn and develop is of prime concern for parents, teachers and legislators alike. Legislation governing the provision of early childhood services provides guidelines and procedures for reducing the likelihood of children being exposed to injuries and unsafe environments. Such strategies, however, only take account of aspects of the physical environment that can be manipulated to ensure the safety of children and do not consider those aspects of the individual child’s behaviour that may contribute to unintentional injury. One such factor is children’s risk‐taking behaviour. The paper presents a critical review of current risk‐taking literature. Components of risk taking, including sensation seeking and optimism bias, and contributory factors such as gender, temperament, and parent socialization practices are examined in light of the current legislative and accountability documents relating to the provision of early childhood services in the Australian state of New South Wale...

In many countries playground design is driven more by safety than developmental benefits. As risk minimisation strategies become more stringent, many researchers and practitioners are questioning whether young children are able to take sufficient risks in play in order for their play experiences to be interesting and developmentally challenging. This study examined the outdoor play choices and risk-taking behaviour of 38 children (25 boys, 13 girls) aged between 48 and 64 months from Sydney, Australia. Semi-structured interviews examined children's play preferences and playground equipment usage. Observations of play explored engagement in risk-taking behaviour. Selection of equipment indicated a strong preference for challenge and excitement. However, the dominant observed play behaviours involved little risk suggesting equipment at these parks provided few opportunities to practice mastery of skills already in their behavioural repertoire, learning new skills or building on current capabilities. The findings have implications for play provision and playground design. © 2010 EECERA.

ALTHOUGH THE TERM ‘RISK-TAKING’ often has negative connotations, the reality is that the willingness to engage in some risky activities provides opportunities to learn new skills, try new behaviours and ultimately reach our potential. Challenge and risk, in particular during outdoor play, allows children to test the limits of their physical, intellectual and social development. This paper examines the current status of outdoor play in urbanised, Western societies such as Australia and provides a critical analysis of the literature to present an argument for the inclusion of positive risk-taking experiences in children's outdoor play, principally in the context of early childhood education. The increasingly restrictive regulation of early childhood services is considered in terms of the impact of risk avoidance in outdoor play for children's optimal growth and development. Finally, a model of possible developmental outcomes resulting from the minimisation of risk-taking in early childhood contexts is proposed.