What is the role of early education and care in advocating and providing for nature play in an era when children's exposure to nature play and risk is threatened? This review deconstructs the word 'nature,' as well as discusses nature's role in centuries of theorists and early childhood care pioneers. The article concludes with some hopeful current directions in early childhood education, advocating for the role of teachers and institutions as powerful activists in providing intentionally risky affordances for nature play in early childhood settings. (author abstract)