Casting a spotlight on risky play: a hopeful way forward

Global trends indicate that in recent years, children in many urbanised societies have been spending less time outdoors engaged in risky play. Our edited monograph casts a spotlight on the current state of risk and outdoor play for our young people across the globe. We aimed to achieve this by gathering a range of both Australian and international perspectives from diverse viewpoints, emphasising the importance of building and supporting children’s risk appetite and risk-literacy skills. Our purpose was to listen, respond, and act on these collective voices and standpoints. The volume includes both traditional and nontraditional works and represents perspectives that may occasionally go unheard. Our hope with this body of work is to elevate the importance of outdoor risky play, including its constraints, enablers, and affordances. In doing so, we can build upon these pivotal moments and amplify the existing momentum that has been amassed in this book. As the field moves forward to a heightened level of professional maturity, let’s openly embrace outdoor risky play as a necessary precursor to childhood health, wellbeing, and development.