Playground Safety for Preschools

As an early childhood educator, you know outdoor play is integral to children’s development, physical health and overall well-being. You are also very well aware of the potential dangers associated with outdoor play, especially when those little curious explorers just seem to like to test their physical limits – it’s part of growing up. Even though it’s inevitable that children will trip or fall or scrape their knee, you do want to be vigilant in preventing any serious life-threatening injuries.

According to the Playground Safety Association of Malaysia, up to 3,000 children aged between 5 to 9 years injure themselves at the playground every 3 months, with playground surfacing materials being reported as the most commonly identified cause. That’s approximately 33 children sent to the hospital every day. While not a staggering statistic, no parent wants to be informed that his/her child got hurt at school. Thus, it’s important to make yourself aware of the possible risks when preparing a safe environment for the children in your care to play outside.

Playground Safety Tips

Here are some pointers to avoid preventable playground injuries:

Supervision of children

• Children should always be actively supervised while playing outdoors.

• Ensure children are dressed appropriately, i.e., no clothing with drawstrings or necklaces that could pose as a strangulation hazard, no loose clothing such as pant legs that they can trip on, no flip flops or shoes with laces, etc.

• Ensure children know the rules to playing safe at the playground, e.g., never go down the slide headfirst, no pushing, waiting turns, no throwing sand or rocks, etc.

• Look out for children who are shoving, fighting, crowding around playground equipment, etc.

Safety of playground features 

• Ensure equipment are age appropriate.

• Equipment should not be higher than 8 feet, and if they are, there should be guardrails installed (approximately 38 inches high).

• There should be impact-absorbing surfacing materials, such as rubber mats, synthetic turf, sand (10 inches deep) or wood chips (12 inches deep), beneath and surrounding the equipment (6 feet in the equipment’s perimeter).

• Make sure there are no protruding bolts or nuts, wet slippery surfaces, as well as other exposed surface elevations like tree stumps, etc.

• Spaces should be between 3.5 inches to 9 inches wide to prevent children’s heads from getting stuck.

Playground maintenance

• Ensure that the outdoor environment and playground equipment are well-maintained and thoroughly sanitised at all times.

• Inspect to make sure there are no worn or missing parts, jagged edges or sharp points, or deteriorated materials, etc.

• Do not allow children to use the equipment until they are in safe condition.