Risky Play Outdoors

Appalachian Forest School

Did You Know?

Risky play helps children “dose” themselves against anxiety. When they experience a racing heart or butterflies in their stomach, they learn that those feelings are temporary and manageable. Practicing small moments of uncertainty now can reduce anxiety later in life.

What is Risky Play?

Have you ever held your breath as a child walked across a slick log or prepared to leap from a large rock? While it’s natural to want to protect children from harm, these moments, often called “risky play,” can be powerful opportunities for growth. Activities like tree climbing, bike riding, and stick play help children test their limits, understand their bodies, and build resilience—skills they’ll rely on throughout their lives.

Understanding "Risk vs. Hazard"

It’s important to know the difference between a risk and a hazard.

A risk is a situation in which a child can recognize the challenge and decide whether to engage based on their own skill (e.g., how high to climb).

A hazard is a hidden danger that the child cannot see or manage, such as a rotten tree limb or broken glass.

The goal is to eliminate hazards so that children are free to take manageable risks that build confidence and problem-solving skills.

Rooted and Free Nature School

Nature Ninos Prescott

Balancing Benefits with Risks

A helpful way to understand whether a risky activity is “worth it” is to consider the benefits and how well the risks might be addressed. (Schools often formalize this thinking into a benefit-risk assessment.) Dr. Rachel Larimore, nature-based early childhood consultant, suggests asking questions like this:

What are the benefits of this activity? Why would we do it?
Are there ways children could get hurt doing this activity?
What safety precautions should be in place while doing this activity?

It’s also important to evaluate your own comfort with an activity before proceeding, asking yourself, “Do I feel ready to support this activity?” What you feel capable of or comfortable with can change day to day, and that’s ok!

In some cases, it can be helpful to include children in the discussion, in which you might frame the questions differently. You can ask them, are there things we can do to keep ourselves and each other safe while doing this activity?

Lindsey Brown

Nature Ninos Prescott

Let’s use walking across a wet log as an example:

Benefits: Children build balance, coordination, core strength, and body awareness. They have to problem-solve and adjust their movements when the log is slippery or uneven.
Risks: Children might slip and get a scrape or bruise, but serious injury is unlikely if the log is not high off the ground.
Precautions: Check the log and surrounding area for stability and sharp edges before crossing. Have children take turns, with a grown-up nearby to offer a hand if needed. If the log is very slippery, come back another day when it is dry.

Keep in mind that risk is not one-size-fits-all. A log that feels daring to a preschooler might feel routine to a child with more experience, and wet weather or uneven ground can change the level of challenge entirely. Thoughtful supervision means noticing the child and the conditions, not just the activity itself.

Start Small and Grow Your Comfort Zone

A good way to grow your comfort with risky play is to start small. Choose something familiar, like holding a child’s hand as they balance along a low ledge, and observe their movements and emotions. Are they wobbling or taking confident steps? Gripping tightly or relaxed? If they seem secure, try walking beside them, ready to offer help as needed, instead of holding on.

The same approach works across many types of play. Whether it’s riding a bike, climbing a tree, exploring near water, or navigating uneven trails, the pattern is the same: observe, assess, adjust, and support. As children gain skill and awareness, and as you gain trust in their abilities, you can gradually expand the range of challenges they take on.

The Sunroom | The Steward School

Jenny Hanlon

Try These Strategies

Even when you’ve assessed the risk and know it’s manageable, it’s normal to feel nervous. When the urge to intervene kicks in, you can rely on the following practical strategies to stay supportive without taking over the experience.

Watch and Wait: To help determine whether a child needs more support, watch closely to see how they are managing. Notice their facial expressions. If they show determination and try different approaches, they may not need your help. This pause allows them to resolve problems themselves rather than relying on an adult to intervene.

Reflect What You See: Navigating risks and hazards is a part of everyday life. Adults often do this on instinct, like slowing down when walking over uneven ground. To help children develop awareness of their environment, adults can reflect their own actions and children’s actions aloud: “I’m stepping over these brambles to avoid getting poked.” Or, “I notice that you are taking more careful steps near the edge of the river.” This invites children to actively assess risk as a normal part of daily, outdoor exploration.

Model the Activity: If a child is hesitant, encourage them to observe a peer or demonstrate the activity yourself, narrating your thinking (e.g., “I’m going to avoid jumping near that bit of mud, because it might be slippery.”). This offers just enough support for a hesitant child to try it themselves and expand their comfort zone.

Reframe Your Language: Instead of saying, "be careful" or "slow down,” which can unintentionally impact a child's confidence, use phrases that increase their situational awareness. Try asking, “Do you have a good grip?” or “What is your plan for getting down?” This shift models an internal dialogue that helps children learn to assess risks for themselves.

The Eagle's Nest Play to Learn Center

Saying Yes

Risky play isn’t about courting danger; it’s about cultivating awareness of the world and our limits and abilities within it. When we remove hazards and allow children to navigate appropriate challenges, we nurture their confidence, problem-solving skills, and trust in their own bodies. Each small “yes” to manageable risk helps children grow stronger—not just physically, but emotionally and mentally too. And perhaps just as importantly, it helps us grow more confident as the adults at their side.

Try This!

For Parents and Caregivers:

Take time to self-reflect. Your personal experiences and perceptions inform how you lean into or away from risky play on any given day. Before engaging in a risky activity, check in with yourself: Do you feel capable of supporting that particular activity at that moment?
Talk about risk at home. Have open conversations about safety and decision-making. Ask questions like, “What helped you decide that felt safe?” This builds your child’s ability to reflect and self-assess over time.
Create repeat opportunities. Children build confidence through repetition. Visit the same park, climbing rock, or hill frequently. Familiar places allow children to gradually increase the challenge at their own pace.
Embrace small scrapes as learning opportunities. Shift your goal from keeping children "as safe as possible" to "as safe as necessary," allowing for minor scrapes that teach valuable lessons.

For Educators:

Establish shared agreements. Co-create simple safety agreements with students like, “Only one climber at a time,” or “Do not go beyond the orange cones without an adult.”
Conduct regular scans for risks and hazards. Outdoor environments change. Do a quick environmental check each day—looking for wet surfaces, loose branches, insect activity, etc.—and adjust accordingly.
Scaffold the challenge for different learners. Children’s readiness will vary widely. Offer multiple entry points to the same activity so no child feels pressured to participate beyond their comfort zone.
Reflect as a team. Discuss benefit-risk decisions with colleagues. What feels reasonable? What needs adjustment? Shared understanding creates consistency and confidence among staff.