Peer-reviewed article
Facilitators and barriers to adventurous play in British preschool-aged children: cross-sectional findings from the British Preschool Children's Play Survey.
Rance T, Oliver B, Dodd HF, Hesketh KR ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study surveyed parents of 1,166 British preschool children (ages 2-4) about what helps and prevents adventurous play, defined as play involving thrill, fear and uncertainty. Safety and supervision were the most common reasons parents said they supported adventurous play, while safety concerns and injury risk were the biggest barriers. The study found differences by parent gender, with mothers more often worried about injury than fathers.
Key points
- Safety (15.0%) and supervision (10.4%) were the most commonly reported facilitators of adventurous play
- Concerns about physical injury (18.8%) and safety (11.7%) were the most commonly reported barriers
- Risk of injury was reported as a barrier more frequently by mothers than fathers
- Child preferences and parental attitudes were more likely to be reported as facilitators by white parents compared to minority ethnic parents
- Adventurous play is recognised as having health and developmental benefits for preschool-aged children
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional survey based on parent report only, so it captures beliefs and experiences rather than observed play behaviour or objective outcomes. The study does not measure whether children actually engage in adventurous play or its actual impact on their development.
Abstract
Introduction Adventurous play (AP), defined as play involving thrill, fear and uncertainty, has health and developmental benefits but can be challenging for parents to support. This study aimed to explore parent-reported facilitators and barriers to AP in preschool-aged children and whether these differ by sociodemographic characteristics. Methods Cross-sectional data were from the British Preschool Children's Play Survey, a nationally representative survey investigating play in British 2-4-year-olds. Parent-reported facilitators and barriers were analysed using a coding framework, with χ2 tests used to determine whether facilitators and barriers differed by sociodemographic characteristics (parent gender; child gender; ethnicity (white vs non-white); urbanicity (urban/suburban/rural); social grade (higher/lower); child age (2, 3 or 4 years); and child's perceived motor skills). Results Parents of 1166 children provided valid data. Safety (15.0%) and supervision (10.4%) were the most commonly reported facilitators, with child preferences (χ²=10.74, p=0.0008) and parental attitudes (χ²=5.60, p=0.006) more likely to be reported by white (vs minority ethnic) parents. Barriers were dominated by concerns about physical injury (18.8%) and safety (11.7%), with risk of injury reported by mothers more frequently than fathers (χ²=21.5, p<0.001) and parental attributes reported more frequently than fathers (χ²=17.2, p<0.001). Conclusions Ensuring safety and supervision are important facilitators for children's AP. Similar concerns about injury are perceived barriers. Given the benefits of AP for preschool-aged children, efforts to support AP opportunities should be prioritised. As the largest identified factor (both positive and negative) is children's safety, future research efforts should acknowledge this.