Monday, April 8, 2019

Want to Play Safe? Here are Four Safety Tips for Kids’ Playground


Playgrounds are the places where children make the best memories of their childhood. They not only laugh and play but learn many new experiences on the playgrounds. Not only this, playgrounds play a significant role in shaping the social behaviors of kids and making new friends.
Although commercial playground equipment today is safer than the previous years, there is always a chance of getting injured while playing at the modern playgrounds. There are many playground-related injuries that are a major threat to our children’s lives. Today, we have come up with four ways you can make the playgrounds safer for your kids.

1. Supervise kids play
Adult supervision is one of the key components of playground safety strategy. We can better control how our kids play under our supervision. When adults are around the kids when they are playing using playground equipment, they make sure that the kids do not engage in any risky game activity. Adults help kids understand the distance from the equipment, and ensure that elder kids do not violate the playing limits. Even if you don’t do anything, having parents or caregivers around help kids regulate their playing behavior. 

2. Safety Instructions
If you are advocating for the safety of the children on the playground, then the first thing would be to make sure that the outdoor playground equipment in the playground meets the safety standards of watchdog organizations. Look for the recommendations of The Consumer Product Safety Commission. From the past few decades, advancements in technology have produced new playground equipment. As a result, there have been changes to the surface requirements and safety guidelines. Some of the basic guidelines that should not be missed include:
a) Proper labeling and signage on the equipment
b) Sightline to track the children anywhere in the playground 
c) Safe surface materials including engineered wood fiber, sand, and pea gravel

3. Maintenance 
Once you have safe and modern equipment in place, it is also important to keep checking it periodically to ensure it is working optimally. Proper maintenance makes sure that the playground equipment is in safe working order. Any obstruction like rocks or stumps of trees must be cleared from the playground area. Soft seats must be installed in place of metal or wooden swing seats. There should not be any sharp edges, instead, make them smooth. All the platforms must be timely repaired. There is another safety rule that the cushioned surface should extend at least 6 feet beyond the equipment. Finally, replace all the worn out materials to avoid any dangerous situation.

4. Use Age-Related Equipment
Playground equipment today is made according to the age groups and ability levels. It is important to ensure that any equipment that your kids play with must be age-appropriate. Similarly, there is a ladder height of 60 inches for kids in their preschool years. Moreover, age guidelines must be clearly displayed on the playground equipment.

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

How Playing on the Slide Benefits Your Child



Slides are one of the most revered structures among the kids when they visit a playground. Kids love that feeling of rush as they soar down a slide’s surface. Slide structures are not only fun for children but there is another side of them that you may not be aware of. In many different ways, it helps in child development. You will discover many benefits of slides for your kid as you encourage them to play on the playground:

Flourishes Social Skills

When your kids visit a playground equipment every day, they make new friends. You would see them meet new people every day and love how they form new friendships. When they are playing around the slide, they develop social skills. They learn to share and giving up on something for someone’s happiness. They learn what makes others happy and how to be patient with kids who move slowly up the slide. They start appreciating kids with physical disability and their love for humanity increases. All these skills acquired around the slides during the play are not only invaluable but go a long way in your kids’ lives.

Makes you tough and flexible

Kids of all age visit the slides. When small kids start to slide, they can only muster enough strength to climb a short slide. But as the kids practice climbing the ladder and slides, their stamina grows and they develop more strength in their limbs. Their flexibility also grows with these routine exercises. Eventually, they can tackle bigger slides with ease and this learned flexibility and strength help them avoid injuries. And, not to mention, the confidence that they gain with a strong body as they move in daily life.

Fosters Balance

Whenever any kid runs to take a slide, they must have to climb a ladder first. This is followed by sitting at the stop and in the final step they have to release themselves to slide down the slide structure without hurting themselves. The combined action of all these actions is that kids boost their overall balance of the body. This exercise stimulates the part of the inner ear that is responsible for keeping our equilibrium. Kids can perform all physical activities better when they can stand, walk, and move with confidence. That is all down to the better balance of the body.