I stay close to my kids (tricky sometimes with three) but try to let them “safely take risks” too.

We love playing with the kids on the equipment and I have notified a few councils of faulty equipment their response time it great. Once they sent a parks maintenance vehicle straight out. I never leave the kids unattended. We are always hovering around. We love seeing the kids take a few risks. Always remember that they do not want to fall either so they generally hold on tight.

I think you always need to keep an eye both on your children and the playground equipment. In the blink of an eye your child could possibly get hurt if you are not cautious.

Monkey bar is my worst nightmare.

Just a quick check, but I tend to follow him around anyway..over protective much? Haha

A quick check and then let them play as it is so important that kids get out and play.

very interesting and informative article!

Thank you for this article, it is very apt for this time of the year, unfortunately there are many hazards that people deliberately place in playgrounds that you need eyes every where but it is the simple things that cause the most pain and damage, I still recall losing all the skin off the back of my thighs and a very burnt bum off of a slippery dip when I was a child, very painful and lots of treatment, fortunately there are not many slippery dips like it around now but they are still out there, and even the little ones we have in the backyard can cause damage, and the nice fibreglass ones in the council playgrounds can also cause burns not as severe but still nasty,

I do check and have taugh my kids to have a quick look before going to play

I usually like to check the equipment and check the ground for any other problems.

I’d strongly suggest finding playgrounds with shade sails on hot days. Thankfully more councils are installing them. Avoids burns and scorched backsides (not very fondly remembered from when I was little!) If your local doesn’t have shade sails, it might be worth suggesting it to the council in charge. Even on a 25C day, a metal slide or other piece of equipment can reach very high temperatures if in full sun.

yes definetly! wearing joggers is a good idea as they hate sandy thongs.

I don’t let him run away from me yet. We walk over to play equipment together and I watch him play.

Most definitely check out play equipment. Supervision is the key here. My son broke his wrist on the second week at prep and I believe it was due to lack of supervision by the school. They go from kindergarten with a lot of supervision to prep with not so much. We also need to educate our children on safe play and have this education reinforced during school and PE classes.

Unless the top photo is deceptive the swing looks too close to the tree for my liking.
Check the surface under the play equipment. Bark can give nasty splinters if children fall on it…or decide it is fun to play with. I know a child who was unlucky enough to fall over on some and got a nasty splinter under one fingernail – not just at the tip either – it was under her nail and quite deep. She refused to go near that playground again. The best type is like very solid flexible rubber. You can feel it soften as you walk on it. It reduces the severity of impact in the event of a mishap. With both sand and bark “undesirables” could have hidden all sorts of dangerous things in them, not just needles which are everybodys worst nightmare. Make sure no equipment has bolts through the bottom of it. One little girl we knew went to a particular play area on quite a few occasions. All the kids used to run under one section that looked like a shelter under a large balcony. She did it quite a few times without any problems. The kids didin’t go there during the cold wet weather. When they went again she had grown a fair bit in height and hit her head quite hard. She was me, we had walked there and at that stage there was pagers, but not mobile phones. I thought I was going to have to try to put a nearly 4 year old in a 2 year old’s stroller at one stage. Fortunately I had packed a picnic and had cooler bricks and towels so I used them to reduce the bruising and swelling for awhile and she was able to walk home. I was disappointed that a lot of people walked past but nobody bothered to ask if I needed assistance. The little 2 year old was also very upset and was crying loudly too. Fortunately there was a bench seat we were able to use because all the injured girl wanted to do initially was lie down which was understandable. We were right next to the path and in full view too. I would gladly have paid somebody to call my Mum to come and pick us up when they got home to their place. There was a house straight across the road and the guy was out there cutting his lawn. Unfortunately he disappeared inside and didn’t answer his door. I know it is harsh to judge people, but given the circumstances even a kind word to the younger one would have helped.

kool