Engaging in adventurous or “risky” play requires children to identify, evaluate, and manage risk, providing opportunities to build confidence, independence, social and motor skills, and increase physical activity. Parents are typically the ‘gatekeepers’ to children’s activities – deciding what they are allowed or not allowed to do. Risky Kids is an evidence- and theory-informed strengths-based program facilitated by trained coaches. It aims to enhance children’s resilience and mental wellbeing through challenging physical movements (e.g., ninja and parkour skills) together with psychological ‘mindsets’ (e.g., “failure isn’t final”). We aimed to explore children’s and parents’ experiences of this innovative new community program.

We conducted 18 individual child interviews (aged 6-13 years) and 3 parent focus groups (15 parents) across metropolitan and regional Risky Kids clubs. We used inductive template thematic analysis to generate codes, categories, and themes.

The four overarching themes were (1) Learning to Navigate Risk; (2) Risky Kids is Different; (3) Coaches Facilitating Growth & Change; and (4) Stronger Minds & Bodies. Children described the program as “fun” and “exciting”. They enjoyed challenging themselves physically, often felt “proud” of their achievements and more confident in themselves. Parents reflected on their own childhoods and the value of risky play for children’s physical and mental development. Children and parents described Risky Kids as “different” to other extracurricular activities, offering a non-competitive alternative, where children can work towards their own goals and build resilience in a supportive and safe space.

Our findings describe how Risky Kids offers tailored support for children to develop risk management skills, with perceived benefits for mental and physical health, as well as social, emotional, behavioural, and cognitive skills. There are opportunities for program scale-up and implementation in schools or other community settings.