How to Make Your Backyard Safe for Kids to Play

It's beneficial for children to explore nature and have outdoor space where they can run and play, but the typical backyard has a number of dangers. Parents should monitor outdoor play, even in fenced yards. Removing potential dangers makes backyard play safer for kids and less stressful for parent monitors. Kids, even middle-school-aged children, lack the knowledge and experience to judge danger, so eliminating any hazardous situations helps reduce avoidable outdoor accidents.

Things You'll Need

  • Fencing
  • Mulch or fine wood chips
  • River or beach sand

Instructions

    • 1

      Fence around potential water dangers, including ponds and swimming pools. The Centers for Disease Control report that 10 people die each day from unintentional drowning, and two of the 10 are children under the age of 14. For every childhood drowning death, five kids are taken to emergency room as a result of near-drowning injuries. Backyard water features such as ponds or fountains, even if you think they are shallow, pose drowning threats. Fences for swimming pools should have posts embedded in the ground. Fences should be able to withstand the weight of children leaning or falling against them, and they should be tall enough to discourage climbing.

    • 2

      Place grills and grilling equipment in a locked storage shed or garage when not in use. Install temporary fences around permanent grills. Collect grilling utensils and store these in a safe place where kids can't reach them.

    • 3

      Install temporary or permanent fencing around large trees. Don't assume that your kids will not climb backyard trees even when told. Kids Safe Worldwide reports that falls injured more than 2.8 million children in 2011. Barricading access to large trees helps prevent young children from climbing and possibly suffering injuries as a result.

    • 4

      Block access to the driveway from the backyard. Kids don't always stay in the backyard, even when told never to go outside set boundaries. Fence access to the driveway to prevent accidents should drivers fail to see small children playing near vehicles. Car backovers kill at least two children every week with another 48 requiring treatment at emergency rooms from related injuries, according to KidsandCars.org, a nonprofit safety group.

    • 5

      Remove or block access to any poisons in the yard, including poisonous plants, pool chemicals, fertilizers, propane tanks and pesticides. Leaking propane and chemicals can cause skin burns and other bodily harm. There are risks for serious injury and even death from eating poisonous plants and tasting chemicals in the yard.

    • 6

      Remove items that pose strangling hazards, including ropes, hoses or cords. Kids can become tangled accidentally.

    • 7

      Remove any contaminated sand and use dirt and mulch to fill any holes or deep ridges in the yard that pose risks for falls. Cover the ground around swing sets and play equipment with a minimum of 12 inches of mulch or fine wood chips to break falls. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends buying only natural river or beach sand due to contamination dangers from other types of sandbox fill. Cover the sand when not in use to prevent animals and insects from also using the box.

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