Scraped knees and and bruised elbows are almost synonymous with childhood.
And when it comes to the playground, each year in the United States emergency departments treat more than 200,000 children ages 14 and younger for playground-related injuries.
If you’re thinking about building your child a fun backyard haven, Protection 1 has a few tips to help minimize the cuts, bruises and tears:
- Install safe surfacing such as sand, pea gravel, wood chips, mulch or shredded rubber beneath and surrounding all equipment to minimize the risks of injury.
- Ensure the surface material is at least 12 inches deep and extends at least 6 feet in all directions around stationary equipment.
- For swings, make sure that the surfacing extends, in the back and front, twice the height of the suspending bar, so if the top of the swing set is 10 feet high, the surfacing should extend 20 feet.
- Ensure that children use appropriate playground equipment for their age.
- Always supervise children using playground equipment. Stay where you can see and hear them.
- Remove hood and neck drawstrings from all children’s outerwear. Never allow children to wear helmets, necklaces, purses, scarves or clothing with drawstrings while on playgrounds.
- Prevent unsafe behaviors like pushing, shoving, crowding and inappropriate use of equipment.
Follow these tips and you can leave some of the band-aids in the cabinet.