Children all over the country are heading outside to play and with springs arrival they are looking forward to playtime outdoors. Making sure they are safe outside; by providing safety tips and education to them ought to be a priority for parents. With summer vacation right around the corner now is the time to review both playground safety and water safety tips with your kids.
Unfortunately, sometimes adult supervision isn’t present and reviewing some of the suggested guidelines below should help them to play safer. Research shows that emergency room visits increase during the summer due to playground accidents or other outdoor related activities. A lot of these injuries are unnecessary and by following safety guidelines they can be prevented. Putting a stop to accidents ought to be a main goal and concern for everybody.
Playground safety is important and when visiting local parks and playgrounds you need to visually inspect the equipment. If the chains or links show distress then keep off of them. Look for links that are coming apart. If the belt swings are splitting do not allow anyone to use it. If the park has metal slides from years ago make sure it isn’t hot otherwise the kids might get burned. Truthfully, try to keep them off of metal slides. Most of these slides have been replaced by plastic ones because they heat up quickly and they are dangerous. If you notice exposed pieces of cement that were used to secure components into the ground and they are now above ground; keep the kids off of them.
The ground cover underneath the playground should have a cushioning cover such as rubber mulch or wood chips. This helps to absorb the fall of a child should it happen.
When it’s just to hot to go outside and play what should you do? That’s a tough question and the other part of that question is preventing sunburns and dehydration. Whether you are at a ballgame or playing in the backyard it’s important to avoid overheating so you won’t have to deal with heat stroke. Keeping hydrated is important and kids tend to dehydrate quicker than adults so encourage them to drink a lot of water.
Sunburns occur and they are agonizing for a child so it’s best to take necessary steps to avoid it from happening. Making sure children know to apply sunscreen before going outside and to reapply it as often as needed. The new spray sunscreen products on the market make it easier for kids to apply. They also seem to get sun burned quicker so applying it is very important. Wearing a hat and staying in the shade offers some relief.
Radio Flyer Family wagon – click to view the product
When shopping for outdoor toys search for products that have canopies. For example; the Radio Flyer Red Wagons or Kettler Tricycles are sold with options for attaching a canopy. This provides shade for your toddlers and these accessories easily attach to wagons and trikes. A few of the Radio Flyer wagons come with a cooler option which is perfect for taking along bottles of water. Many kids play tents offer windows for ventilation or look for the sun shade tents and kids play houses; as these products work great for the beach. Step2 sells a Play and Shade Pool for toddlers and it comes with an umbrella. For the pool; there are plenty of baby floats that have sun shade covers. Many are made by Swim Ways and Sun Smart companies. There are plenty of sandboxes and picnic tables with tarps that are made for toddlers and sized just for them. They all love to play with sand and having a cover above makes great sense.
When kids start to feel overheated it’s best to get them quickly indoors. If you are out in the sun and it’s hot make sure you have plenty of water to drink and sunscreen is applied over and over again. Remember to wear sunglasses.
These playground safety tips are sure to help your kids to stay healthy while having lots of fun all summer long.
