Playground Safety For Your Baby

A parent should consider many things when choosing the right playground for their child to enjoy:

Playground surface

If the surface of a playground is concrete, asphalt or blacktop coated, a parent should find a playground that features loosely filled wood chips, sand, shredded rubber or pea gravel. These surfaces are more capable of cushioning a child’s fall and preventing injuries. Even soil, grass and packed-earth are unsafe, because they have a tendency to wear down over time and will not cushion falls when they occur.

Design and construction

A playground would be considered safe if it has a cushioned surface that extends at least 6 feet past all equipment that is on a playground. The height of the equipment should not be more than 12 feet high at any point. This includes the cushioning that is around the swings on a playground, and if the swings extend past 6 feet then other cushioning should be put into place to cover this vulnerable area.

A playground that is designed to be used by two age groups will make excellent play areas for your child. Preschool children that are between the ages of 2 to 5-years old should have a designated play area that is filled with play equipment that is perfect for their body size. Children in the 5 to 12-year old age range should be cautioned about playing on the smaller sized equipment that was not designed for their body sizes.

Any play structure that is more than 30 inches, must be spaced at least 9 feet apart. This includes see saws, swings, and any other playground equipment that has moving parts. There should be separate bays on swing sets, and they should be spaced at least 24 inches apart in both areas. The frame of a swing set should be at least 30 inches away from a full motion swing.

Any space that could trap a child’s head, arm, or chest should be avoided. All openings on playground equipment should be less than 3 Ѕ inches in diameter or they should be wider than 9 inches to prevent children from becoming trapped.

Teach your child to behave

It is important that children realize that any type of roughhouse activity is not acceptable. They should never push their friends when they are on slides, swings or any other type of playground equipment, and most certainly know going headfirst down any equipment is not allowed.

Many children carry backpacks filled with small toys that they can sit and play with and enjoy the sun. All of these small play items should be kept a good distance away from all areas where playground equipment is present. They should also know that when they jump off equipment, they should bend their knees slightly to absorb the impact, and never jump off of equipment when other children are present.

Maintenance

Playground equipment should be clean and well maintained and sand boxes should be free of foreign objects. There should be no rust on any metal surfaces and wooden surfaces should be free of splinters and cracks. No equipment should be broken, and all ground surfaces should be inspected to make sure that loose packing is present and provides ground cover to all playground equipment areas. Any bolts, or equipment hardware that pokes out is a hazard and should be secured as quickly as possible. Fences should be inspected for holes to keep the child within their play area and hinder access to streets.