Playgrounds are fun, but they can cause accidents. In the United States, hundreds of thousands of children are rushed to emergency departments for playground injuries. Falls are the most common accidents in play structures, resulting in bruises, cuts, sprains, dislocations, broken bones, or concussions.
Playground safety is relevant year-round. However, understanding various hazards and ways to neutralize them is particularly important ahead of the new school year. Here are practical tips to keep your kids safe at playgrounds — even when you’re not present to watch them.
Inspect the Playground for Red Flags
Evaluating a playground’s condition before letting your young ones use it is essential to preventing most injuries. Even well-maintained structures can have obscure hazards, and those discovered too late can harm unaware users.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has a 57-page handbook for public playground safety. This resource requires more than a cursory inspection to determine whether a play area is up to standard. Still, a quick visit to a play area with a short checklist is enough to decide that it is safer than most.
Ensure the surfacing material is slip-resistant and covers a wide area surrounding equipment. Adequate clearance between structures can avert serious playground injuries if your children fall. Look for sharp points and edges, and watch out for trip, entanglement, and entrapment hazards.
The Correlation Between Playability and Safety
Playground playability may correlate with safety. A study measured the playability of 70 parks in Chicago, based on safety and other metrics included in the Play Space Audit Tool. The researchers observed 2,712 playground users and quantified their physical activity by intensity.
The research found that the play amenities and structures with 28% moderate and 15% high physical activity levels recorded higher playability scores. Moderate activity occurs when kids are not sedentary but not active enough to pause for breath to talk, whereas vigorous activity occurs when children play more energetically.
Based on the activity intensity and increased playability scores, the study demonstrates that playgrounds supporting active play may be safer than others.
Advocate for Accessibility Features
An accessible playground is usable by children of all ages and abilities. By factoring the needs of people with disabilities into the design, these playgrounds promote inclusivity. Addressing the diverse needs of kids of every hue inherently promotes safety. Accessible playgrounds don’t discriminate against specific users, so their features are suitable for all.
Inclusive playgrounds have soft surfaces, ramps, and wide paths to reduce the impact of falls and prevent accidents caused by uneven terrain. They also provide clear sight lines, making it easy to keep an eye on children, identify hazards from afar, and mitigate disasters.
These play areas have sensory-friendly environments. Such zones help little ones with sensory sensitivities have fun, socialize, and regulate their emotions with calming features. Introverted kids usually prefer quieter areas and recharge their social batteries.
Overstimulation can result in impulsive behaviors, increasing the risk of safety incidents. Accessible playgrounds offer sensory-rich features, such as interactive panels and textured surfaces, while safeguarding users against sensory overload.
Ensure Constant Supervision
If you can’t be with your children at the playground, make sure at least one reliable grown-up accompanies and engages with them.
Ask teachers how they remind students of recess expectations and supervise children on the playground. The presence of adults encourages more kids to play, inspires them to participate in more physical activity and develop social skills, and minimizes conflicts. A school should have enough staff to supervise kids during outdoor play. Know the teacher-to-student ratio to ensure enough adults are in the area to monitor and keep everyone safe.
Collaborate with school officials to plan for emergencies. Learn about their protocols if somebody gets hurt to gauge their ability to provide urgent medical attention to injured children. Find out how they seek assistance, who they notify during a crisis, and what students do during and following an emergency.
Kids are active participants in playground safety. Children’s active engagement helps adults learn about potential or actual recess safety incidents as soon as possible. Train your little ones to be observant and recognize when something is wrong in the environment. Tell them to report a hazard, a conflict between kids, or a child injured on the school playground to an adult.
Train Children to Use Equipment Correctly
Kids are naturally curious and adventurous, so teaching them how to use playground structures properly is vital for safety. Leaving them to their own devices endangers them and other children.
When visiting a new playground, only use the equipment as intended together. Tell your young ones always to swing alone, sitting down. Instruct them to slide on their bottom only and use monkey bars exclusively for climbing. Using structures correctly the first time may satisfy your young ones’ curiosity and discourage them from exploring risky ways to play with them.
Forbid your kids from roughhousing, bullying others, jumping from high structures, and performing acrobatics when using any equipment. Remind them to wait for their turn on any structure. Playing gently helps them use structures and amenities appropriately.
Children may disobey your rules when they don’t fully understand the dangers you protect them from. Explain the hazards associated with every piece of equipment and how they could affect them. Shedding light on playground pitfalls allows kids to assess risks properly while exploring their limits.
Require Proper Clothing
Garments can protect kids from harm or jeopardize their safety. Children shouldn’t wear anything that can get caught on equipment, such as scarves, jackets with drawstrings, and jewelry.
Dress your young ones in clothes made with durable, breathable fabrics. Well-fitted garments don’t restrict movement and aren’t loose enough to get caught on projections. Expose as little skin as possible. Pants and long sleeves protect against sunburn and help prevent abrasion.
Sneakers are the safest footwear for playground use. Laced ones are safe as long as they’re properly tied, but close-toed slip-ons are better.
A helmet may prevent head injuries on the playground, but your kids shouldn’t wear one when using the slide or playing with climbing structures. The chin strap of this protective gear can become a hazard.
Foresight and Preparedness to Promote Recess and Playground Safety
Outdoor play comes with risks. While getting hurt while playing is part of growing, no playground should pose life-threatening hazards. Unfortunately, poorly maintained and outdated play structures remain accessible to children. Follow these tips to identify dangerous playgrounds and empower your little ones to play safely.
