How to Organize a Playground for Safety
How to Organize a Playground for Safety
When it comes to your kids, you certainly want safety to be of the utmost importance. The playground you let your kids play on needs to be fun, but also safe. When you are setting up the playground area at your home, you need to keep a few things in mind to keep the little ones safe and happy. Check out these tips for organizing your playground.
Get a Child’s Eye View
In order to make a playground safe, you need to take a look at it from a child’s perspective. Get down to a kid’s level in order to see what they will see. You might notice a few things that can be hazards that you wouldn’t otherwise see. Make note of everything you see while you are down low then tackle each item.
Check sliding boards for cracks or area that clothing could catch. Look for areas around swings and other equipment that may be a hazard for pinching fingers and exposed skin. Check larger play equipment for sturdiness and make sure they are not at risk for tipping over. Check bolts and hinges to make sure they are functioning properly and not a hazard.
Sort Play Items and Create a Place for Everything
When you have kids, it’s easy for their toys and play items to become a jumbled mess. To organize a safe playground, you will need to make the effort to sort toys and play things. You’ve heard the old saying, “A place for everything and everything in its place” — this goes for playgrounds too. To keep the playground safe, you will need to create and provide a place for everything.
Eliminate tripping hazards by providing lidded bins for balls, jump ropes and other playground equipment. Make use of plastic bins and boxes of assorted sizes to contain play things like sandbox equipment, outdoor toys and other items. Create a specific area for ride on toys so the kids know where to put them when they are finished playing. Hula hoops can be slide in behind large bins. The important thing is to create a place to put everything when playtime is over and train the kids to put things away when they are finished playing.
Safety is Ongoing
One of the most important things to remember about safety — and especially about the safety of your children — is that it’s ongoing. Make it a regular routine to check over your child’s playground toys and equipment to make sure they are safe. Spend a few minutes checking over everything before your child starts playing. Wear and tear happens and what was in good shape last week may not be so this week.
Making sure your child is safe on the playground is a routine part of parenting. Organizing your playground to make it safer for play is one way to keep things safe and in order so you can know your child is not only having fun, but they are also secure and safe.
If you are in need of better organization skills in general, then we have some things here that will be sure yo help you out! Check out our guide to Getting Organized! If you find that you are still having organization problems, then you might want to try this book on organizing inside and out!
