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At Owl House Children’s Sanctuary, we believe that adventurous play is extremely beneficial for growing brains and bodies.

For an extensive and detailed look at this subject, we refer you to “Adventure – The Value of Risk in Children’s Play,“ an Alliance for Childhood publication by Joan Almon that looks at the value of risk from many angles, including interviews with directors of adventure playgrounds that encourage adventurous play, yet have very low accident rates. The key takeaway? When children are given genuine opportunities to assess risk, they rise to the challenge — building confidence, problem-solving skills, and resilience along the way. At Owl House, we embrace this philosophy by providing adventurous and age-appropriate play opportunities, allowing children to challenge themselves in a safe and supportive environment.

Joan Almon explains, “Children’s free play is full of risk-taking, a fact that frightens many adults who have become risk-averse. Yet many experts feel that this aversion is excessive and even harmful. They point to children’s natural capacity for risk-assessment which needs to be developed rather than suppressed.”

This is the Owl House free play philosophy, the reason we intentionally provide many places to explore, strider bikes to ride, low walls to jump off, low trees to climb, and a child-sized zipline. We consider these activities to be important aspects of their independent play, and that the value of an Owl House day would be diminished without these physical challenges.

Because of this, and due to insurance restrictions, we request that families sign this waiver giving their child permission to play freely, including riding the zipline and climbing in the small trees.