Playgrounds and outdoor play equipment are essential in every person’s childhood. Aside from providing entertainment, it can also serve as good physical exercise. However, the can also pose some hazards that are harmful to children.Each year, more than 200,000 kids are treated in hospital ERs for playground-related injuries. These are caused by faulty equipment, improper surfaces and careless behavior. The said incidents can be avoided with appropriate equipment and proper supervision.By checking any playground before letting your child play, you can make every playtime a fun and safe one. Watching over your child while playing on equipment that you have checked and are appropriate to his or her age can minimize the chances of accidents. Keep in mind the guidelines below and apply them each time you go to the playground with your child.• Clear obstacles – Make sure that there are no unnecessary objects that could get in your child’s way and cause injuries.• Inspect if the whole area is safe – Make sure that the surfaces that your kid will walk or run on have no deep cracks or holes for their feet to get stuck in or trip on.• Check the playground equipment – Before letting you child play, check if the equipment are clean and working properly. The steps and rungs of the ladders that your kid’s will climb are not loose and rotating and are equally spaced. Avoid letting them play with wooden play equipment since they might get splintered.Take note of the tips below whenever your child is playing with play equipments such as play sets, swing sets and climbing sets.• When going up the slide, make sure that he or she climbs one step at a time while holding onto the handrail. Do not let him or her climb the slide itself because it is very dangerous.• Teach your child to slide down feet first and sitting up – never head first on their back or stomach.• Only one child should be on the slide at a time, not in groups.• Remind your child to always check the bottom area of the slide before actually sliding down so he or she won’t hit anyone or anything when getting off.• Teach your kid how to safely go down just in case he or she can’t complete the climb.• He or she should use both hands when climbing and keep distance from the kid ahead of them.• When jumping from bars, he or she should make sure he or she won’t hit the equipment or other kids. Remind your child to keep their knees bent and land on both feet.• Remind your child not to race across bars or reach for bars that are too far ahead.• If your child is younger than 5 years old, he or she may not have the proper upper body strength to climb big play equipments. Be reminded that pre-schoolers should only climb 5-feet high equipments and older kids should only climb 7-feet ones.Always make sure that your child is playing with playground equipment suited to his or her age and in a safe area. By simply doing that, you will lessen the risk of accidents and make his or her playtime more fun.

Scott Schulz is the author of this article on Play Set. Find more information on Play Equipment here.

Article Source: http://www.infoarticles.us