Playing is critical to your child's development and playgrounds offer a variety of equipment such as swings, slides and monkey bars that your child can use to grow and develop their physical and problem-solving skills.
Outdoor play equipment can however have the potential to be dangerous if it is not properly maintained and managed.
In addition to ensuring that all regular equipment checks are carried out (see our previous blog (Checklist for Jungle Gym Safety), there are other factors which we need to take into account to keep our little ones safe in the playground:
Proper Dress
Make sure that there are no loose items of clothing such as necklaces, bags, watches, and scarves and tuck in clothing drawstrings and cords that can get caught on playing equipment and result in entanglement causing a strangulation accident or a fall.
Jungle gym surrounds
Check the area around the jungle gym for anything dangerous or harmful, such as broken glass, and other objects such as backpacks, lunch boxes etc. that children can trip on or injure themselves on while running around.
It can reduce the severity of falls if you surround your jungle gym with a shock-absorbing Surface such as sand, synthetic turf, wood chips or mulch.
Use only age-appropriate playground equipment
Children should only play on equipment that’s suitable for their size (weight and height), motor skills and muscle strength. Make sure children know which equipment they can and can’t use. Children younger than age 5 may not have the upper-body strength necessary for climbing and should only be allowed to climb 1.5m high and school-age kids should only climb 2.1m.
Teach safe equipment usage and behaviour
It is important to demonstrate how to safely use equipment – especially moving equipment like swings.
Teach them:
to slide feet first
not to climb outside guardrails
to use two hands when climbing
to be aware of where other people are to avoid collisions
to always sit on swings and never put more than one person on the swing at a time
to stop a swing completely before climbing off
to look out for other people before jumping down, starting to swing or sliding
to always slide down feet first and sitting up, never head first on their back or stomach
to not climb up the slide itself
to only have one person at a time, on the slide platform and the slide
to check for a person on the slide before they slide down and to move away quickly afterwards
Encourage good manners and explain taking turns and sharing.
Teach them not to shove, push or overcrowd equipment
because that too can lead to accidents.
Actively Supervise
Over 40% of all playground accidents occur when a child is not under supervision.
Whether in your garden or in the school-ground, children need to be actively supervised when climbing, swinging, or jumping to keep them away from accidents.
Pre-schoolers are prone to testing their abilities beyond their boundaries and must be always be supervised on playground equipment.
Be Mindful of the Weather
Put sunscreen on children every day to prevent painful and harmful sunburn and test the temperature of the swings and slides to ensure that they are not too hot to the touch. Teach them not to use wet equipment as steps of slides and platforms could become slippery.
Understanding how to play safely and how to be kind while playing will help your children to develop great skills that they will use throughout life.
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