About
Playing with Risk invites educators to rethink how risk shows up in children’s and young people’s play, and in adult decision-making.
Rather than viewing risk as something to eliminate, this learning explores why children and young people are drawn to challenge, uncertainty and testing their limits, and what these experiences offer for wellbeing, learning and development. Educators are supported to reflect on the difference between risk and hazard, and to consider how adult beliefs, fears and systems can unintentionally shape opportunities for adventurous play.
This course introduces shared language and foundational thinking around risky play, also referred to as adult-supported adventurous play. It can be completed as a stand-alone online learning experience, or used as preparation for deeper exploration through a 2–3 hour face-to-face workshop where practice is unpacked in greater depth.
The learning is reflective rather than prescriptive, supporting educators to build confidence, clarity and professional judgement when engaging in thoughtful conversations about risk, safety and play.
We will
- explore how social and cultural shifts have shaped adult perceptions of risk, and how these influence children’s and young people’s play opportunities, agency and confidence
- develop a clear understanding of adventurous and risky play, including the types of challenge children and young people seek in everyday practice and how educators can support supportive risk-taking safely and responsibly
- clarify the difference between risk and hazard, strengthening confidence in identifying and responding to each in real contexts
- examine legislation, regulatory expectations and common misconceptions related to risky play across early learning and school-aged care settings
- explore risk–benefit analysis as a collaborative practice, including meaningful ways to document decision-making and incorporate children’s voices, perspectives and lived experiences
- reflect on the language adults use during adventurous play, focusing on autonomy-supportive, confidence-building communication rather than fear or control
- begin intentionally planning for adult-supported adventurous play within your service, considering culture, environment, team confidence and alignment with philosophy
Participant Outcomes
Upon completing this course, participants will have:
- a strong foundational understanding of why adventurous and risky play matters for children’s and young people’s holistic wellbeing and development
- a clear understanding of the recognised categories of risky and adventurous play, and how these may appear in behaviour and play
- confidence in distinguishing between risk and hazard, and making sound, professionally informed decisions in practice
- practical understanding of risk–benefit analysis, including how to incorporate children’s ideas and perspectives into documentation
- strategies for supporting children and young people to engage in adventurous play using problem-solving language that builds judgement, confidence and risk literacy
Theoretical underpinnings
Evolutionary Play Theory
Peter Gray
Psychologist Peter Gray highlights children’s innate drive to seek challenge, uncertainty and emotional intensity through play. From this perspective, risky and adventurous play is a natural, strengths-based pathway through which children build resilience, self-regulation and coping skills, with freely chosen challenge supporting healthy development.
Risky Play Theory
Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter
Ellen’s Risky Play Theory identifies common forms of risky play that reflect children’s curiosity and competence, including engagement with height, speed, tools, uncertainty and physical challenge. These experiences are positioned as developmentally meaningful and expected aspects of childhood.
Risk-Benefit Perspective on Outdoor Play
Mariana Brussoni
Research led by Mariana Brussoni emphasises balancing both risks and benefits when making decisions about children’s play. Her work highlights that overly restrictive approaches can limit experiences that support physical confidence, emotional wellbeing and social competence.
Adventurous Play and Anxiety Reduction Model Dodd & Lester
Dodd and Lester’s model positions child-led adventurous play as a protective factor for mental health. Through manageable challenge and uncertainty, children develop emotional literacy, confidence and adaptive coping strategies over time.
National alignments
Quality Area 1 - Educational program and practice (Elements 1.1.3, 1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.2.3) supports educators to be intentional and thoughtful in their actions, respond to children’s play ideas, support agency and maximise opportunities for each child’s learning.
Quality Area 2 – Children's health and safety (elements 2.1.3, 2.2.1) educators provide for children’s physical activity needs, emotional development and safety whilst ensuring supervision and reasonable precautions to protect children from foreseeable harm and hazard.
Quality Area 5 – Relationships with children (elements 5.1, 5.1.1) strengthens relational safety, positive guidance and meaningful interactions with children.
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Standard 1.2 - Know students and how they learn; guides participants to reflect on their community and family contexts to thoughtfully and respectfully embed risky play approaches for all children.
Standard 1.5 - Know students and how they learn; examines individualised approaches to risky play and how intentional scaffolding builds children’s risk competence and risk literacy
Standard 2.1 - Know the content and how to teach it; provides content and teaching strategies for understanding and supporting risky play experiences
Standard 3.3 - Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning; support teachers to adapt strategies to support and scaffold children's engagement in risky play whilst also building children's risk competencies and literacy.
Standard 4.4 - Maintain student safety; strengthens understanding and capability in risk and hazard identification and risk benefit analysis.
Standard 7.2 - Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements: strengthens understanding of legal and regulatory expectations of safety and supervision while supporting children to engage safety with risky play.
Principle 1 – Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture. The course promotes service-wide considerations and reflection around risky play to foster children’s long-term wellbeing, agency and skill development over risk aversion and adult comfort.
Principle 2 – Children are informed about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them, and are taken seriously. The course supports educators to involve children and young people in decisions around risky play including developing risk benefit analysis as a collaborative venture with children and young people, not for them.
Principle 3 – Children are involved in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously. The course supports child-led play and agency, ensuring children’s ideas, choices, and perspectives shape learning experiences.
Principle 4 – Families and communities are informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing. The course equips educators to communicate the benefits of risky play with families and communities and encourages educators to think critically about the needs and beliefs of their community and families.
Principle 5 – Equity is upheld and diverse needs are taken into account. The course positions risky taking and adventurous play as an individual need of children which differs across individuals, supporting equitable approaches to risky play for all children – not by age.
Equity and Access for All
- Supporting educators to uphold equitable approaches to pedagogy by recognising that all children have a need and a right to set themselves challenge and engage in appropriate risk, regardless of background, ability, age, culture, or confidence.
- Strengthening educators’ capacity to identify and remove adult-imposed barriers that limit access to physical challenge, particularly for children who are more likely to be excluded due to perceived vulnerability.
Social and Emotional Learning
- Developing educators’ understanding of how risky play supports emotional regulation, confidence, and social competence through experiences of challenge, uncertainty, and recovery within safe, trusting relationships.
- Enabling educators to intentionally use risky play as a context for fostering empathy, communication, self-advocacy, and collaborative problem-solving.
Physicality
- Building educators’ knowledge and confidence to intentionally support gross motor development, body awareness, balance, coordination, and spatial judgement through developmentally appropriate risky play.
- Expanding educators’ approaches to physical learning by moving beyond low-challenge activities and providing rich, meaningful movement experiences.
Executive Function
- Enhancing educators’ ability to strengthen children’s executive function by facilitating play that requires planning, impulse control, working memory, flexible thinking, and sustained attention.
- Supporting educators to intentionally use risky play as a context for helping children assess risk, adapt strategies, persist through challenge, and make considered decisions.
Online course option
Prefer to engage in this training from the comfort of your own home? We get it!
That's why we created the self-paced online course, with video content and downloadable workbooks.
More on playing with risk
Interested in playing with risk? You can read all about it in our blog.