Playground Safety for Your Child With Special Needs

You can help your child have fun and be safely included at the playground. Talk with your therapists, teachers, doctors and other care providers about your child’s unique needs. Ask other parents for inclusive play ideas. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Supervision at all times
Adult presence is needed to watch for hazards and help with play activities when needed.

• Actively supervise your child.
• Remove strings on clothing that could be a choking hazard.
• Match your child with a playmate. Check with your Boys and Girls Club, ARC chapter, United Way, church, school, YMCA, Campfire or other community groups. Find out about buddy programs, Special Sitters, or find interested young adults.

Play on developmentally appropriate equipment
Playground equipment is designed for different abilities and developmental levels. Look for playgrounds with separate equipment for younger children (ages 2 -5) and school-age children (ages 5-12).

• Talk with your child’s caregivers about how to safely challenge your child to play to their potential.
• Be careful when your child tries new things.
• Talk with your child about safety and teach your child how to safely use playground equipment.
• Look for areas where your child can slide, scoot or crawl on his or her own.
• Bring sand toys, trucks and other playthings. Your child will have something to play with and other children can play with your child too.

Check surfaces
Over 70% of all playground injuries are related to falls. Avoid playgrounds with surfaces of concrete, asphalt, and grass, blacktop, packed dirt or rocks. Good surfaces should have wood chips, mulch, sand, pea gravel or rubber mats.

• Be sure loose-fill surfacing is 12 inches deep.
• Be prepared for emergencies and carry a first aid kit.
• Have emergency phone numbers handy.

Check playground equipment
Check to make sure the equipment is anchored safely in the ground and all equipment is in good working order.

• Be sure spaces in equipment are less than 3.5 inches or greater than 9 inches to prevent children from getting caught in holes.
• Look for broken or missing parts.

Is a playground ready and safe for my child?
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that playgrounds be accessible. The guidelines below will help you figure out if a playground is accessible to your child and what to do if it isn’t.  ADA guidelines require that:

• Children in wheelchairs can move around on the playground surface or path to the play area.
• There are transfer ramps with wheel stops and guardrails for children to get on to higher equipment.
• There is separate equipment for all developmental levels.
• The playground equipment and surface are maintained.
• There is space for adults to help children play on the equipment.
• All openings on elevated play platforms are limited in width.
• There are hands-on areas for children sitting in wheelchairs.

If a playground is not safe, go to another playground. To try to get the playground changed, collect information on what the problems are, create a group of interested volunteers, and contact the playground owner or operator.

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