Playground Safety

Babyment

If you live in Singapore, you will find that there are playgrounds in most housing estates and in most neighbourhoods. The playground is a good place for children to have fun, meet new friends and to even get some exercise in. The playground may seem rather helpless, yet accidents can take place anywhere and anytime, especially when it comes to young children. As caregivers, we should always pay attention to the environment that our child is in in order to ensure their safety and well-being.

Here are some guidelines on how to ensure playground safety.

• Check that the playground equipment is not rusty, damaged or have loose screws. Damaged equipment may be dangerous for your child.
• Never walk away when your child is at the playground.
• Always keep an eye on your child. Sometimes, your child may want to engage in activities that have potential danger - for example, jumping down to the ground from the top of the slide. In such situations, if you do not stop your child in time, he may injure himself.
• Make sure there are no broken glass pieces or sharp objects lying around the playground.
• Ensure that the playground equipment is appropriate for your child's age. For example, young toddlers may not have the strength and agility to use the monkey bar and may risk hurting themselves if they do so.
• Pay particular attention to your child when he/she plays on the monkey bars. Children are more likely to hurt themselves while playing on the monkey bars as they are unable to grip the bars firmly.