Risky play is not a category – it’s what children DO

Marc Armitage – This paper was originally written as an article for Barnardos Ireland and was published in their magazine Child Links’ issue 3/2011.

Abstract: We often throw around the term ‘risky play’ as though it was a category of play like social play or gross-motor play. But it is not. Taking risks is simply one of the things children do when they are playing and, because a significant amount of playing is about pushing boundaries and extending ourselves, it turns out that most play is
risky in one way or another.