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Play and playgrounds provide essential experiences for young children's growth, development and enjoyment of life. However, such play experiences are now limited for many children due to excessive fear of risk, or 'surplus safety'. In this article, the authors examine the pervasiveness of surplus safety in the lives of young children. They argue that restrictions now imposed on children's play to promote safety may, paradoxically, expose children to more serious short and longer term threats of illness and limit children's life opportunities. By comparing experiences from Australia and Norway, the authors demonstrate that surplus safety is not a necessary outcome of living in a modern Western society. There is now a vast research literature identifying the importance of active, outdoor play (e.g.

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We examined the impact of an intervention on the playfulness of 5- to 7-year-old children who are developing typically. Materials that had no defined purpose were placed on a school playground for 11 weeks. The Test of Playfulness (ToP) was used to compare videotaped play segments pre- and postintervention. Teachers who did playground duty were interviewed regarding changes in play. ToP data were analyzed using a Wilcoxon signed-ranks test. Interview data were analyzed for themes. ToP scores were significantly higher after intervention (Z= -1.94; p = .025, one-tailed; Cohen's d = 0.55). Teachers reported that children were more social, creative, and resilient when the materials were on the playground. Children who were creative, rather than very physically capable, became leaders in activity. Our results revealed a potential role for occupational therapists with typically developing children in schools. This finding has clear implications for children with disability.

Positive risk-taking in the context of outdoor physical play is important for fostering children's optimal health and development. Despite this, there is mounting concern that many developmentally beneficial activities are now seen as dangerous and something to be avoided. However, perceptions of risk are very much subject to cultural interpretation, and the growing risk aversion evident in some developed Western societies, such as Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, is less apparent in other developed countries, notably some of the European and Scandinavian countries. To explore some of these cultural differences, early childhood practitioners from Australia and Norway were interviewed regarding their provision of outdoor play experiences for children and their attitudes towards risk-taking in play. Practitioners from both countries recognised the importance of risky play for children's development and well-being. However, differences in the extent to which children's risky play was supported were evident. Factors associated with the quality of the outdoor environment, regulatory requirements, and a litigious environment were identified as constraining teaching practice for the Australian practitioners. The findings have implications for the development of policy that supports teachers' pedagogical decisionmaking in providing developmentally challenging play environments for children.

Introduction: Children with disabilities often experience unsupportive environments that restrict their play opportunities and inclusion on the school playground. This exclusion can perpetuate inequities for children with disabilities, with lifelong implications. The Sydney Playground Project uses a simple, innovative intervention consisting of placing recycled materials on the playground and engaging parents and educators in risk reframing sessions to create increased playground choice, control, independence and inclusion for all children. Methods: The purpose of this study was to learn from participants about the utility of the intervention for promoting choice and control among children with disability on the school playground. Data included evaluative interviews with 27 school staff (teaching assistants, teachers, therapists, school leadership) across five participating schools after completing of the intervention. Analysis was thematic and explored prominent ideas first within schools, and then between schools. Results: Prior to the intervention, participating school staff focused on active supervision to support play and student needs. During the intervention, school staff experienced role shift and confusion as they allowed the children increased independence while using the recycled materials and learned to navigate how much independence to give the children. Children engaged in increased imaginative and social play, and school staff adopted higher expectations of children's capabilities. Conclusion: Interventions such as the Sydney Playground Project that collaboratively shift adult perceptions to focus on the capabilities of children with disabilities and increase the supportiveness of the physical environment have great promise in increasing play choice and inclusion on the school playground. | 63 STERMAN ET Al.