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Children and playgrounds go hand in hand. A playground can be a safe way for your children to meet other children, learn social skills, develop motor skills, and just have a good time. Playgrounds shouldn't be a place where children end up injured. In America over 200,000 children are injured every year on playground equipment. This is unacceptable. By following a few simple guidelines, you can prevent injuries from occurring. One of the biggest causes of injury on playgrounds is that the equipment is not age appropriate for the child using it. Toddlers should not be permitted to play on regular sized equipment but should be allowed to play on equipment designed for their age and size.
Another danger on playgrounds is outdated, unsafe equipment. Broken swings, rusted metal slides with jagged edges and unpadded solid ground can cause serious injuries. When choosing a playground for your child, look for newer ones with updated safer equipment. Never let your child play on broken or faulty equipment. If the local playground in your community is outdated or in disrepair, take it up with city hall. Insist on newer safer equipment.
More than half of all playground accidents occurs because a child is left playing unsupervised. Children of all ages should have adequate adult supervision when playing on equipment. Before allowing your children to play, inspect the equipment. Is it in good repair? Is the ground cushioned enough to protect your child from injury? Is the equipment adequately anchored to the ground? You will want to make sure that these and other conditions are safe before allowing your child to play.
Make sure that your child's clothing is free of drawstrings. These can get caught on equipment and cause strangulation. Swings are the most popular equipment on a playground, and the most dangerous. Before allowing your children on a swing, make sure the seats are not hard wood or plastic. These can cause additional injury if the child falls off and gets hit by the swing. Make sure the chains or ropes are secure and free from damage. Check to be sure there are no open "S" links. They should all be closed completely to prevent the chains from slipping off. Also make sure the ground in adequately cushioned with soft material. Grass blacktop cement asphalt and dirt are never acceptable. Sand, mulch, and wood chips are safer. Most injuries on playgrounds are caused by falls to hard surfaces. Make sure all slides and other climbing equipment have guardrails to prevent kids from falling. They should be spaced close enough together to prevent kids from getting their heads trapped between the bars. The same rules of safety apply to school playgrounds.
Another danger that people rarely think about is exposure to the sun. No matter how safe the playground is there's always a risk of your child getting severely burned while playing in the sun. Make sure your child is wearing sunscreen and that it is applied correctly. Just because it's a cloudy day doesn't mean the risk is any lower. UV rays still get through the clouds.
With properly maintained, age appropriate equipment and adequate supervision the playground can be a fun and safe place for a kid to be a kid.
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