Fun Activities for Playground Safety

Playgrounds are synonymous with fun activities, but they can also pose health and safety hazards if users are not familiar with rules and safety features. Games can help young children learn playground safety protocols. Incorporate safety activities into normal play to build routines for safe outdoor fun.

Building Playground Rules

• By including children in the creation of playground rules, you help create a sense of teamwork that promotes safety. Make a game of creating playground rules. Younger kids can practice their creative skills through a What If game. A leader or teacher should propose several safety situations for students to discuss. The leader poses a hypothetical situation like, "What would happen if everyone started going up the slide instead of down the slide?" Kids then offer their predictions about the consequences of the situation. The leader then asks students what they think a good rule would be to prevent the consequences. Older kids can benefit from a group competition to develop the best ideas for playground games. Teams of three to four students each make a list of their top 10 playground rules. The teams then present their rules to the class. Students vote for the top 10 rules, but they cannot vote for their own rules. The team with the highest number of top 10 rules wins a prize like extended time for outside play.

Spotting Hazards

• Enforce ongoing playground safety by helping kids identify and report potential safety hazards. At the beginning of the year, arrange a simulation activity. Leaders should set up a playground with various potential safety hazards. Examples include fallen tree branches, water on the slide or a broken piece of equipment. Send supervised groups of children on a scavenger hunt for hazards. Clues could include "find a hazard that might make someone trip." Provide support for students, so everyone sees all the hazards. Play rounds of safety-oriented I-Spy. Before activities start, have children stand along the wall and scan the playground area. If the leader sees a potential hazard, she announces it in I-Spy form. The leader may say, "I spy a slippery spot that might make someone trip." The first student to identify the hazard can leave the wall and play in a safe area. Remove any hazard that might cause serious injury before students are allowed to play. Continue the game until all hazards are identified and then release all students from the wall.

Safety Signs

• Use art projects to promote playground safety. Provide children with paint, markers, crayons, paper and scissors. Ask children to draw or write signs promoting playground rules, such as no running or taking turns. Children can present their signs and review the rules as a class before posting the signs inside. To protect the signs for posting outside, laminate them or cover them in contact paper.