When kids play, the only thing on their mind is having fun. Safety just isn’t something a young child thinks about. Every parent/guardian should actively be involved with teaching their kids to play safely. By increasing your child’s safety awareness, you also make sure your any worries and fears you may have are reduced when your child heads outside to play.
It is important for you to make sure your kids are safe while keeping things fun. Let’s look at how you can create a safe outdoor playing environment for your kids.
Create Awareness of their Surroundings
Teaching your kids to be safe starts with making them aware of their playmates. You should always emphasize the dangers of roughhousing at the playground. Kids find themselves pushing to get to the slide first, running to get to the seesaws and other equipment.
Kids can end up injuring their friends or harming themselves. Do a walk through and make sure the playground is safe for use. Look for things like: loose or old equipment and any hazards on the ground.
Teach Kids How to Use Equipment & Memory
Kids need to know how to use all the equipment safely before they can even play.
The thing that makes children remember directions is having them repeat it to you.
You can ask them questions that activate their memory. For example: “when we get to the slide, what do we always do before going up?” or “why don’t we push anyone down the slide?”
Here your child has the chance to respond with answers of safety together with the methods you were teaching them. This is a great way to always keep your child’s memory bank in check once they get to outdoor play.
For example, Safely Ever After advises on some rules for kids and grownups:
“I must CHECK FIRST with my safe-smarts grownup for permission: before I go anywhere, change my plans, or get into a car even if it’s with someone I know. If I can’t check first, then the answer is NO!”
Make Sure they’re Supervised
Whether you’re a guardian or a parent, you need to be present so your kids know where to go in case of anything. You also need to make sure they know what to do if something unsafe or scary comes up.
Kids depend on grownups and having that supervision is crucial. Supervision is needed to make sure that children’s behavior around playground equipment will not harm them or the other children.
Install Outdoor Cameras
If you really need the extra confidence, or if you’re a new parent, you can look into installing outdoor cameras if your child is playing at home in the yard. Children love to be at play. Any chance they get, they can be found on the swings, tree houses, and monkey bars. You’ll discover them entertaining themselves through hide and seek.
But, they can end up hurting themselves in the excitement. You can install a camera and check in to see how your kids are doing outdoors. You can easily rewind the tape to see what you missed. Going through the tape can help you see the safe and unsafe habits your kid has. It is then easier to teach your child with the visual.
Creating a safe playing environment is fun for kids. You also get a relief from the big worries that can plague any parent’s mind. You can only occupy your child’s attention with toys for a limited amount of time. Pretty soon they want to get to the best outdoor climbing frames. You want to make sure they’re prepared and ready.
This is a guest post by Lilly Sheperd, a freelance writer who shares her thoughts on various blogs. When not blogging, she likes to travel and read a lot, especially about parenting.
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