By Jordan W. Smith, Ph.D. | January 15, 2025


Risky Outdoor Play in Urban Spaces: Why It Matters and How We Can Foster It


Embracing Risk in Play

Research has consistently shown that “risky” play—thrilling, uncertain, and often challenging—plays a vital role in children’s healthy development. Engaging in activities such as climbing, balancing, and exploring helps build physical skills, creativity, and resilience, while also supporting mental well-being. Outdoor environments, especially those with natural features like uneven terrain and vegetation, offer an ideal setting for this type of play, encouraging children to problem-solve, take calculated risks, and gain independence.

The Problem: Barriers in Urbanized American West

However, in many urbanized regions of the American West, these opportunities are dwindling. City planners, prioritizing safety over exploration, often design playgrounds, city parks, and greenways with limited options for risk and adventure. This shortage is especially pronounced among low-income communities, where children may have fewer chances to engage with nature. Research highlights the importance of elements like natural materials, varied topographies, and unstructured play areas—components commonly missing in modern urban parks. As a result, children who could most benefit from physical and social development through risk-taking are least likely to have access to it.

A Turning Point: Active Programming

Recognizing this gap, states like Utah are taking innovative steps to reintroduce nature into children’s lives. The Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation’s Every Kid Outdoors (EKO) Challenge encourages year-round exploration by providing activities such as stargazing, ice skating, and community gardening. This program is open to all children, including those with disabilities, thanks to adaptive equipment and financial scholarships. By making outdoor activities accessible early in life, the EKO Challenge inspires a lasting love of nature that can continue into adolescence and adulthood.

Many federal agencies offer active programing for children and young adults. The National Park Service, for example, offers a variety of programs throughout their 400+ park units. These programs include recreational, educational, vocational, and volunteer service opportunities designed to connect young people with the outdoors.

The Solution: Integrating Recreation in Urban Planning

While programs like EKO are critical, a sustainable solution requires integrating outdoor recreation spaces into urban planning and redevelopment efforts. Incorporating features such as natural trails, purposeful play elements (e.g., downed logs, placed boulders, etc.) into urban and suburban landscapes can encourage risky play. The addition of uneven topographies and natural play areas in public parks, for example, can provide children with the physical and social environments necessary for growth.

Collaboration across sectors is crucial. Urban planners must prioritize proximity to nature, while educators and community leaders can advocate for policies that support risky play. Designing playgrounds, city parks, and greenways that balance safety with adventure can ensure these spaces are engaging yet accessible to all.

A Collective Call to Action

The evidence supporting risky outdoor play is overwhelming. It not only combats rising rates of loneliness and obesity among youth but also nurtures essential skills like resilience, decision-making, and empathy. However, creating environments conducive to such play requires a collective effort. Academics must continue researching optimal designs, policymakers should promote outdoor initiatives, and communities need to embrace risk as a vital component of play.

State and local programs like Utah’s Every Kid Outdoors Challenge offer a glimpse of what is possible when communities invest in reconnecting children with nature. Expanding these efforts can ensure that every child, regardless of socioeconomic background, has access to the benefits of risky, outdoor play—a critical step toward healthier, happier, and more resilient youth.

Further Reading

Loebach, J., Ramsden, R., Cox, A., Joyce, K., & Brussoni, M. (2023). Running the risk: The social, behavioral and environmental associations with positive risk in children’s play activities in outdoor playspaces. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, 26(3), 307–339. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42322-023-00145-1

Nowogrodzki, J. (2025). Why kids need to take more risks: Science reveals the benefits of wild, free play.
Nature, 637(8045), 266–268. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-04215-2

Jordan W. Smith, Ph.D.

Professor and Director