Nowadays, children face many challenges and obstacles while growing up. These obstacles often include the lack of ability to satisfy one's own needs in a socially acceptable way, which can lead to the manifestation of different forms of unacceptable behavior. Most commonly observed with preschool children are forms of aggressiveness, lying, intrusiveness, timidity, depression, reticence and the like. These behaviors can be transitory stages of a child's development, but if they are not reacted to in a timely and adequate manner, they can turn into more serious disorders. Protective and risk factors play an important role in the development of preschool children9s social behavior. Understanding their role enables the development of effective strategies for prevention. By providing support through the family, kindergarten and social community, it is possible to reduce the influence of risk factors and encourage the positive development of the child, enabling it to grow into a healthy and socially competent individual. The aim of this paper is to describe the most frequent forms of risky behaviors found with preschool children, to clarify the protective and risky factors and their roles, and to highlight the importance of high quality preventive action and the influence of families, educational institutions, as well as wider social communities.