PART 1: DISCUSSION

The context for the generalization of the research reviewed is an education non-profit
institution located in Port Macquarie New South Wales, Australia which was created and
built in 2015 to provide opportunities for children and their families to be able to spend
more time with nature. It is the institution’s mission to establish a community where
children can learn by means of real experiences in and with nature. The context was
specially selected by reason of its unique characteristic of making nature an essential
element in the learning and development of the children by letting them spend more
time outside.
Play has always been a part of the everyday life of every child from the moment of birth
and as they grow, which makes it an integral part of early childhood education and
development. Yet, some educators and schools are still unable to realize and
understand the importance of play and its contribution to the learning and development
of a child. This is why in some schools, play is often undervalued (Murray, 2018); it is
not a part of the curriculum and is merely perceived as an activity which can and should
be done only after learning or during recess. On the contrary, this paper subscribes to
the notion that play is neither superficial nor is it frivolous as it has various benefits and
contributions to the physical health (Janssen, 2014; Sallis et al., 2000), mental health
(Nijhof et al., 2018; Gomes et al., 2018); and functioning and development of children,
including their relationships and bonds (Ginsburg, 2018; Gomes et al., 2018; Nesbit et
al., 2021). Brown (2001), a psychiatrist, believes that play deprivation of the lack of play
experiences can result to aggression, depression, feelings of hostility and difficulty to
response to stress and to handle life problems. Studies in support of these contentions
regarding the benefits of play found that persons who lack social skills and have
difficulty interacting and work and learn together with other people experienced very
minimal play as children (Lauer, 2011; Nichols, 2020). This goes to show that, indeed,
children should not be deprived of play opportunities as they grow, develop and learn in
order to maximize and see its benefits.
Play is often a topic of serious debates particularly on the matter of its role in early
childhood and the importance of incorporating it to children’s learning and development.
It is said that early childhood education should be a period where a child develops
curiosity and interest through play activities and experiences (Irvin, 2017). However,
play has various definitions. Lev Vygotsky, as cited in Gray (2013), defines play as an
activity that is desired by the child, involves imaginary situations and always has rules.
According to Garvey (1990), as cited in Bulgarelli & Bianquin (2016), play consists of a
wide variety of voluntary, inherently motivated activities which are usually linked with
pleasure, relaxation and enjoyment. In both definitions, a common element is
voluntariness. In the same article by Bulgarelli & Bianquin (2016), there was a different
interpretation of play—an uninterrupted and deliberate engagement in activities that
includes toys, games, objects and materials which can be done alone or with others.
Some even say that play is an ambiguous and multifaceted concept (Gomes et al.,
2018; Larsen, 2015; Eberle, 2014).
Notwithstanding the many definitions and interpretations of play, there is one form of
play that offers a different view and has been a subject of interest in several studies and
research, and that is adventurous play, which is also oftentimes referred to as risky
play. This type of play attracted interest mainly because it runs contrary to the parents’
longstanding belief that very young children should be cherished, nurtured and cared for
in a safe environment as they are fragile beings. Contrary to this perception, Sandseter
(2009b) contends that risky play is an integral part of child’s play, thus the need to
incorporate it in early childhood setting.
This essay argues that outdoor risky free play and the child’s risk-taking aid the child in
addressing, acknowledging, and coping with future anxiety, risks, fears and challenges.
According to Sandseter (2009b), risky play is an exciting and thrilling form of play that
involves risk or injury. This definition, however, was later developed by Tovey (2010) as
to interpret risky play as an outdoor and nature-based activity as well. Thus, in this
paper, adventurous play is referred to as an outdoor and/or nature-based activity that is
thrilling and exciting which involves risk or injury to the child. The main focus of this
essay is the concept of risky play as an outdoor activity which contributes to the
development of children physically, socially, academically and mentally. This paper
supports the contention that outdoor adventurous/risky play promotes healthy child
development, including the mental health and well-being of children, as it prepares the
child to facing future challenges as they grow up into adults.
A child, freely explores and discovers the world through various forms of play. In her
literature review, Nichols (2020) found that play has a significant effect on children’s
development when it is integrated in early education. However, over time, active play,
especially those done outdoors and freely by children, has been declining due to the
risks and dangers to which it might expose children. People have different opinions
regarding this matter as some believe that risky play is harmful while some believe that
it is beneficial. This is further discussed later.
According to Sandseter (2009b), there are six categories of risky play with
corresponding subcategories (See Figure 1). In her study where she interviewed and
observed children and staff in two Norwegian preschools, she found that great heights,
high speed and rough-and-tumble are the categories which the children themselves and
the staff perceived as risky; while dangerous tools and dangerous elements were
perceived as risky by the staff only; and disappearing or getting lost was perceived as
risky only by the children (Sandseter, 2009b). However, she recommends that further
research be done on the same subject matter in order to strengthen its claims and
findings although an experienced preschool educator whom she interviewed as well
firmly supported her findings as reliable and accurate based on said educator’s years of
personal observations and experiences as such.

This part focuses on the question of whether risky play is beneficial or harmful. It is
believed that children like to engage in play because it is fun; it excites them and it
brings them happiness. In particular, it was found in an interview that children like
engaging in risky play because it brings them thrill, and self-confidence. Hinchion et al.
(2021) explored the perspectives of children aged 6 to 8 years old regarding outdoor
risky play and he found that during risky play, children play in groups and they
encouraged each other to test the extent of their boundaries and see what they can do
and how much further they can go. The influence of their friends plays a huge part
during such play. It is thus evident that the children themselves seek for thrills and
challenges in order to make their activities more exciting and to achieve a higher level of
self-confidence.

Figure 2. The risky play process (Hinchion et al., 2021)

It must be emphasized that what type of play is risky and exciting is a subjective
question and it varies from the perception of every child. If the level of risk in a particular
activity is greater than their current abilities and experiences, then children will label it
as too risky or too dangerous. Otherwise, such activity is too easy or not challenging
enough, and is thus boring and uninteresting for them. This is supported by the Figure 2
which shows the subjectivity of risky play; and the influence of levels of challenge and
the skills, capabilities and preferences of a child to the flow of risk play.

In the same study by Hinchion et al., (2021), it was found that natural elements during
play provided the children with more unpredictability, thrill, fun and excitement,
compared to merely playing in a playground or play spaces since such areas are
designed with focus on safety and without taking into account children’s preference for
risky/adventurous play (Dodd & Lester, 2021). Looking at the findings of Hinchion et al.
’s (2021) study, it seems that risky play is dangerous and undesirable despite the fact
that children like it. On the other hand, Sandseter (2009b) argues that through
opportunities in risky or adventurous play, children are able to learn and develop a
deeper form of judgement when it comes to assessing risks and confronting it taking
into consideration their own capabilities. It is worth-noting, however, that the study
conducted by Hinchion et al. (2021) was only a small-scale study which covered one
rural town, with children coming from the same sociocultural background and
environment. Still, his study was significant because knowing the perspectives of
children as to outdoor risky play will give the parents some insights and it might, in a
way, help the parents have a better understanding of risky play in order to lessen their
disapproval and dislike of it.
On the basis of the preceding discussion, this essay supports the argument that outdoor
risky play is as beneficial as it is dangerous to children. The benefits and the dangers
co-exist, however, as firmly believed by Sandseter (2009a), no one can protect children
100% at all times from challenges and risks; therefore, what adults can do instead is to
put emphasis and act on the importance of learning to manage risks and challenges on
the development of children. Moreover, Sandseter & Kennair (2011) contend that
regardless of how much safe the equipment is, it is the excitement of the children which
makes the use of such equipment and the activity dangerous. Again, the subjectivity of
risky play is significant at this point since the dangerousness of an activity is largely
dependent on the perceptions of the children, and how they are going to handle the risk
depends on their capabilities, skills and other internal factors. Nevertheless, during risk
taking in risky play, children are given opportunities to rehearse how they are going to
handle real-life problems and risky situations. Through exposure to risky play, children
learn to judge risks by making use of their experiences with past risky situations and by
developing reasoning skills needed to come up with a more accurate decision. Hence,
during risky play, they assess which is safe and which is not, which risky activities to try
out, and when children eventually decide to take risks, that is when they learn more
about risks and improve their perception of it, and their mastery of handling risky
situations. According to Apter (2007), this is important to survival especially taking into
account the fact that adults will not be with their children forever, thus the need to learn
how to effectively adapt to various situations. Through risky play and risk-taking,
children are able to gradually master risks and challenges which will eventually help
them handle and overcome future risks.
Encountering risks and challenges can cause anxiety and fear. It is submitted that
anxiety is a normal part of a child’s development and maturation; and that it disappears
gradually due to natural interaction with various stimulus as normal part of development
Poulton and Menzies, 2002). According to them, fears and phobias are innate and not
provoked by experiences. Therefore, the more children normally interact with their
environment, the more that anxiety is reduced. If a child is deprived of opportunities for
risky play, the child might not be able to experience and realize that he/she has the
natural capability to overcome fear-inducing and anxiety-causing situations. Dodd &
Lester (2021) supports such arguments as well as they believe that adventurous play is
a way of lessening children’s subsequent anxiety and risk by providing them with
opportunities to learn about coping and healthy risk-taking. When it comes to the matter
of environment for adventurous play, it was found that natural play areas provided
children the most challenging and thrilling play, thus making the children more active
and enthusiastic. In addition to this, Bundy et al. (2017) found that providing children
with materials with no designated purpose resulted to prolonged engagement by the
child in the physical activity. This means that if children are free to decide how they are
going to use the materials and their environment during adventurous play, then there
are more opportunities to discover and learn, and there will also be more activities that
will encourage exploration, risk-taking, and independence. According to Chawla (2015)
and Mygind et al. (2019), as cited in Dodd & Lester (2021), children’s exposure to
nature or to the natural environment has benefits to mental, social, and physical health
and well-being.
PART 2: GENERALIZATION
The chosen context for this generalization is a nature school where children are given
opportunities to spend more time outdoors with nature. This context was specifically
selected because distinct from other schools, this nature school exposes the children to
nature and uses nature and the vast natural materials in it as tools for child learning and
development. In such set up, children are given autonomy and independence on how
they are going to engage in adventurous play, and there are more opportunities for
adventurous playa s well since the are is spacious. Here, play opportunities is endless,
subject only to very minimal supervision from adults.
The reasons for the generalization of the cited research to the selected context are as
follows:
First. The research by Sandseter (2009b) can be further thoroughly researched by using
the same methods and theories she used in her research in another context such as a
nature school. Her study was mainly centered on the setting of school playgrounds and
her subjects were four- and five-year-old preschoolers. The observation can be further
extended to cover children as young as three years old up to six years old.
Second. In the same study, Sandseter’s (2009b) observations of the children were only
limited to their play activities and interactions within the school playgrounds. It will be
interesting to try her methods in the context of a nature school where most activities will
be done in and with nature where children can freely play, explore and experience more
adventure. Her categories of risky play can also be used in the context of nature
schools since such risks are expected to be highly present in such environment.
Third. The research of Hinchion et al. (2021) is also interesting and applicable to the
nature school context in Australia. They used an ethnographic approach in their
research where they sought to explore the different perceptions and experiences of
children (6 to 8 years old) about outdoor risky play in a rural town. Among the limitations
of their research was the fact that the children were all from the same sociocultural-
spatial background. The results could have been more interesting if they tried to include
children from various backgrounds. Also, the study should have been extended to
include also three- to five-year-old children because learners from these age groups are
also at the stage of development where play is still vital.
And fourth. It should be pointed out that the same research was conducted only in a
small rural town in Ireland where people know and are familiar with each other, and of
the play spaces within the area. Emphasis must be put on the fact that it was not a
school context, rather it is a community outside of school. Different results are expected
to be found once the same research methods and objectives are applied in the context
of a nature school. It should also be noted that such research will be very helpful not
just in theory but in actual teaching practice as well because it can give educators some
ideas as to how children perceive risky play and how adults such as educators and
parents should respond to it and perceive risky play as well instead of just subscribing
to the belief that children are fragile beings which should be overly protected.
Other articles cited can be used as well in exploring further the concept of adventurous
play in the context of nature schools and its effect to the ability of children to cope with
future risks, anxieties and fears and their capability of risk-taking.
REFERENCES
Apter, M. J. (2007). Danger: our quest for excitement. Oneworld.
Bulgarelli, D., & Bianquin, N. (2016). 3 Conceptual Review of Play. Play Development in
Children with Disabilties, 58–70. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110522143-005
Bundy, C., Engelen, L., Wyver, S., Tranter, P., Ragen, J., Bauman, A., Baur, L., Schiller,
W., Simpson, J., Niehues, A., Perry, G., Jessup, G., & Naughton, G. (2017).
Sydney Playground Project: A Cluster‐Randomized Trial to Increase Physical
Activity, Play, and Social Skills. Journal of School Health, 87(10), 751–759.
https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5048&context=sspapers
Dodd, H. F., & Lester, K. J. (2021). Adventurous Play as a Mechanism for Reducing
Risk for Childhood Anxiety: A Conceptual Model. Clinical Child and Family
Psychology Review, 24, 164–181. Springer Link. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-
020-00338-w
Eberle, S. (2014). The Elements of Play Toward a Philosophy and a Definition of Play.
Journal of Play, 6(2), 214–233. ERIC.
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1023799.pdf
Ginsburg, K. R. (2018). The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child
Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds. PEDIATRICS, 119(1),
182–191. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2006-2697
Gomes, N. R. R., Maia, E. C., & Varga, I. V. D. (2018). Os benefícios do brincar para a
saúde das crianças: uma revisão sistemática. Arquivos de Ciências Da Saúde,
25(2), 47. https://doi.org/10.17696/2318-3691.25.2.2018.867
Gray, P. (2013). Definitions of Play. Scholarpedia, 8(7), 30578.
https://doi.org/10.4249/scholarpedia.30578
Hinchion, S., McAuliffe, E., & Lynch, H. (2021). Fraught with frights or full of fun:
perspectives of risky play among six-to-eight-year olds. European Early
Childhood Education Research Journal, 29(5), 1–19. Taylor & Francis Online.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293x.2021.1968460
Irvin, M. (2017). The Importance of Play in Early Childhood Education [PDF]. In
Master’s Theses & Capstone Projects (pp. 1–24).
https://nwcommons.nwciowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1067&context=education_masters
Janssen, I. (2014). Active play: An important physical activity strategy in the fight
against childhood obesity. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 105(1), e22–e27.
https://doi.org/10.17269/cjph.105.4154
Larsen, L. J. (2015). Play and space – towards a formal definition of play. International
Journal of Play, 4(2), 175–189. https://doi.org/10.1080/21594937.2015.1060567
Lauer, L. (2011). Play deprivation: is it happening in your school setting? ERIC.
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED524739.pdf
Murray, J. (2018). The play’s the thing. International Journal of Early Years Education,
26(4), 335–339. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2018.1527278
Nesbit, R. J., Bagnall, C. L., Harvey, K., & Dodd, H. F. (2021). Perceived Barriers and
Facilitators of Adventurous Play in Schools: A Qualitative Systematic Review.
Children, 8(8), 681. https://doi.org/10.3390/children8080681
Nichols, R. M. (2020). The Power Of Play In Early Childhood Education (pp. 1–25)
[PDF]. https://nwcommons.nwciowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1265&context=education_masters
Nijhof, S. L., Vinkers, C. H., van Geelen, S. M., Duijff, S. N., Achterberg, E. J. M., van
der Net, J., Veltkamp, R. C., Grootenhuis, M. A., van de Putte, E. M., Hillegers,
M. H. J., van der Brug, A. W., Wierenga, C. J., Benders, M. J. N. L., Engels, R.
C. M. E., van der Ent, C. K., Vanderschuren, L. J. M. J., & Lesscher, H. M. B.
(2018). Healthy play, better coping: The importance of play for the development
of children in health and disease. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 95,
421–429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.09.024
Poulton, R., & Menzies, R. G. (2002). Non-associative fear acquisition: a review of the
evidence from retrospective and longitudinal research. Behaviour Research and
Therapy, 40(2), 127–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0005-7967(01)00045-6
Sallis, J. F., Prochaska, J. J., & Taylor, W. C. (2000). A review of correlates of physical
activity of children and adolescents. Medicine and Science in Sports and
Exercise, 32(5), 963–975. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005768-200005000-00014
Sandseter, E. B. H. (2009a). Children’s Expressions of Exhilaration and Fear in Risky
Play. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 10(2), 92–106.
https://doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2009.10.2.92
Sandseter, E. B. H. (2009b). Characteristics of risky play. Journal of Adventure
Education & Outdoor Learning, 9(1), 3–21. ResearchGate.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14729670802702762
Sandseter, E. B. H., & Kennair, L. E. O. (2011). Children’s Risky Play from an
Evolutionary Perspective: The Anti-Phobic Effects of Thrilling Experiences.
 Evolutionary Psychology, 9(2), 257–284.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/147470491100900212
Tovey, H. (2010). Playing on the Edge: Perceptions of Risk and Danger in Outdoor
Play. In Play and learning in the early years: from research to practice (pp. 79–
94). Sage.