More children are injured falling out of beds than out of trees each year, yet many adults focus on new ways to constrain play. Today’s children often lead sedentary lives with limited opportunities to explore the environment around them and develop the skills necessary to protect their overall health. The encroachment of safety in children’s play has been insidious, without evidence, and entirely counterproductive to development of the knowledge and skills children need to negotiate a complex world. The consequences of this disruption of childhood are massive and have life-long implications for healthy outcomes. Falls are one of the consequences, but one from which we can draw a direct line to physical literacy and activity levels. In this presentation we will explore the connections between physical literacy, perspectives on risk in childhood, and fall prevention.