The Role of Risky Play in Early Years Practice: Creating Confident, Capable Learners
The aim of this InfoBlast is to highlight the importance of integrating risky play into daily practice in early years settings, you’ll find links to useful resources and documents at the end.
Risky play is a central element of quality early childhood education, fostering resilience, decision-making, and physical confidence in babies, toddlers and young children. When implemented thoughtfully, it supports children’s holistic development—socially, emotionally, and cognitively—while respecting their innate curiosity and competence. In line with Aistear, Siolta, and Tusla guidance, this InfoBlast explores how early years educators can meaningfully embed risky play in their practice, balancing safety with challenge, and ensuring inclusivity for all children.
Gender and Risk: Challenging Societal Bias
Risky play must be inclusive. Unfortunately, gendered attitudes often shape how children’s play is managed. Boys are typically encouraged to be adventurous, while girls are cautioned more quickly—undermining their confidence and opportunities for growth.
As Play Scotland (2023) explains:
“A boy climbing a tree might be allowed to climb higher, whereas a girl will be told to ‘be careful’ much sooner.”
Educators must be aware of these biases and actively challenge them by offering equal opportunities and encouraging all children, regardless of gender, to explore and test their abilities in supportive environments.
Risk Indoors and Outdoors
While risky play can be associated mainly with the outdoors, it is equally important to create opportunities indoors. Small-group activities using tools, balancing equipment, or soft obstacle courses can be adapted to suit indoor environments with proper risk assessment and supervision.
The Aistear-Siolta Practice Guide (2024) notes that both indoor and outdoor spaces should support children’s autonomy, self-reliance, and well-being. Risky play, when thoughtfully planned, offers children countless opportunities to explore spatial awareness, problem-solving, and perseverance in both settings.
The Educator’s Role: From Theory to Practice
Moving risky play from theory into meaningful practice requires reflective, knowledgeable educators who observe, scaffold, and adapt to the needs of each child. Risky play should begin gradually, with clear boundaries and opportunities for children to learn the “rules” of the experience. Over time, activities can become more complex as children demonstrate competence and awareness of safety.
Aistear Blog 5 (2025) reinforces the importance of the educator’s role:
“The agentic, competent, confident and reflective educator… inspires joy, fiosracht (curiosity), determination, bravery and sonas (happiness).”
This professional intentionality is what transforms risky play into a powerful developmental tool.
Risky play is not a fringe activity—it is a core component of high-quality early years education. It supports confidence, creativity, self-regulation, and resilience, all of which are essential for children to become capable and independent learners.
By building strong relationships, working collaboratively, conducting thorough risk assessments, and challenging gender and societal biases, early years educators can embed risky play in a way that is both purposeful and safe. As Aistear (2024) reminds us, children learn best through play that is meaningful, engaging, and just a little bit risky.
Resources:
https://www.tusla.ie/uploads/content/EYI-GDE12.65_When_the_Roof_is_the_Sky_.pdf
https://www.aistearsiolta.ie/en/play/resources-for-sharing/risky-play-birth-six-years-.pdf
https://www.earlychildhoodireland.ie/scealta-blog/risky-play-indoors/
https://knowledge.barnardos.ie/items/9522a269-f913-476d-8644-da02f11a41af
https://www.froebel.org.uk/uploads/documents/Froebel-Trust-Research-Highlight_babies.pdf
