Every parent wants his or her child to have a safe place to play. While it may be easier to control the safety of activities and equipment inside your own home, children need time outside. They also need time with other children. Playgrounds are wonderful places to exercise both of these needs. However, you want to be sure that the slides, tire swings, teeter totters, and other aspects of the place where your child plays are safe and well-maintained. Here are some tips for ensuring a safe playground experience for your child.
1. Work out a ways to ensure constant supervision. Even if you are unable to supervise your own child every time he or she is at the playground, it is important that an adult you know and trust is watching. Talk to the parents of the other kids who frequent the playground. Perhaps all of you together can work out a schedule for watching the kids, so that no one parent is overwhelmed.
2. Become aware of the playground's layout. Kids are very good at finding hidden spaces to get into mischief. Everyone who shares supervision responsibility should know where these areas are in the playground. Supervision should include walking around and making regular passes by these problem spots, to ensure that mischief does not turn into danger or injury.
3. Make sure the equipment is monitored. Small things such as rotting wood or rusty screws are sometimes overlooked, and they can become safety hazards. To put your mind at ease, find out who is responsible for checking for these issues. If no one is, find someone who has the knowledge to check for these small safety details.
4. Ensure that problems get resolved. These safety issues mentioned above, as well as aesthetic issues like peeling paint and rust, should be taken care of quickly. The more the playground is used, the more often they will arise, and someone should be on the lookout.
5. Check the surfaces around swings, slides, and other equipment. While grass-covered dirt is fairly safe, dirt that is hard and filled with rocks can be a safety hazard. Even if the organization in charge of the playground cannot afford to put down fancy cushioning, grass can be planted and soft soil can be put down.
6. Find out who owns or controls the playground. Whether the playground is privately owned, attached to a school, or under the control of the city parks department, someone is responsible for it. Network with this organization. If funds are not available for repairs or upgrades, offer to help by fundraising.
No matter how rich or poor a town or a neighborhood is, its children deserve safe outsides spaces in which they can play. It is not fair for some to have state of the art playgrounds while others have broken teeter totters and rust merry-go-rounds. If your neighborhood does not have well-maintained playgrounds, you can take steps to help this become a reality. It may take a lot of time and effort on the part of parents, and even some physical work, but it is worth this work for the collective happiness and safety of the neighborhood's children.
1. Work out a ways to ensure constant supervision. Even if you are unable to supervise your own child every time he or she is at the playground, it is important that an adult you know and trust is watching. Talk to the parents of the other kids who frequent the playground. Perhaps all of you together can work out a schedule for watching the kids, so that no one parent is overwhelmed.
2. Become aware of the playground's layout. Kids are very good at finding hidden spaces to get into mischief. Everyone who shares supervision responsibility should know where these areas are in the playground. Supervision should include walking around and making regular passes by these problem spots, to ensure that mischief does not turn into danger or injury.
3. Make sure the equipment is monitored. Small things such as rotting wood or rusty screws are sometimes overlooked, and they can become safety hazards. To put your mind at ease, find out who is responsible for checking for these issues. If no one is, find someone who has the knowledge to check for these small safety details.
4. Ensure that problems get resolved. These safety issues mentioned above, as well as aesthetic issues like peeling paint and rust, should be taken care of quickly. The more the playground is used, the more often they will arise, and someone should be on the lookout.
5. Check the surfaces around swings, slides, and other equipment. While grass-covered dirt is fairly safe, dirt that is hard and filled with rocks can be a safety hazard. Even if the organization in charge of the playground cannot afford to put down fancy cushioning, grass can be planted and soft soil can be put down.
6. Find out who owns or controls the playground. Whether the playground is privately owned, attached to a school, or under the control of the city parks department, someone is responsible for it. Network with this organization. If funds are not available for repairs or upgrades, offer to help by fundraising.
No matter how rich or poor a town or a neighborhood is, its children deserve safe outsides spaces in which they can play. It is not fair for some to have state of the art playgrounds while others have broken teeter totters and rust merry-go-rounds. If your neighborhood does not have well-maintained playgrounds, you can take steps to help this become a reality. It may take a lot of time and effort on the part of parents, and even some physical work, but it is worth this work for the collective happiness and safety of the neighborhood's children.
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