Choosing a Daycare with Safe Daycare Equipment and a Qualified Staff
There are many important things to consider when choosing a daycare. A daycare is a place where your child will grow and learn many important skills. Aside from ensuring the daycare equipment is safe and age-appropriate, the daycare should have a solid reputation and a professional, qualified staff.
The daycare playground, one designed for ages 2-5, should have daycare equipment that is both suitable and fun for preschool kids. The best daycare equipment for children ages 2-5 should offer areas with smaller steps and crawl spaces. Little hands require smaller grips and their bodies require appropriately placed railings on platforms. Age-appropriate play areas should include areas to crawl and low platforms. Look for playgrounds stocked with daycare equipment such as a group seesaw, a sliding board, bridge, playhouse, monkey bars, and several pieces for climbing fun. Swings should also be included for varying age sets. A well equipped daycare playground will have toddler bucket swings as well as traditional swing sets for children who are a bit older.
A playground is one of the most fun, yet potentially hazardous areas of a daycare. Common precautions like fencing and ample supervision should always be checked. Young children need to be partitioned off to prevent wandering into unsupervised areas. Always check the safety of playground equipment and look for safe surfaces, ample space between outdoor daycare equipment and dangerous hardware like exposed bolt ends and open “S” hooks.
But playground equipment is only one half of the safety equation. Qualified adult supervision makes an enormous difference in the injury rate. Making sure that the daycare is staffed with qualified professionals is paramount. There’s a great deal of supervisory responsibility that goes into playground safety.
Safety Tips for Daycare Providers
- One person at a time on the slide
- Ensure children slide sitting down and facing forward
- Teach kids to climb stairs or steps slowly
- Make sure kids are holding on to handrails
- Don't allow children to stand up on swings or jump off swings in motion
- Don't allow kids to wear sweatshirts with drawstrings on playground equipment
By taking a few precautionary measures, such as checking the safety of daycare equipment and ensuring the daycare is properly staffed with qualified professionals, a daycare playground can be a terrific place for a child to grow, learn and have fun. |
