Serious injuries can occur on the playground or while using playground equipment, injuries from falls are the leading cause of emergency room visits for children. Children need different types of playground equipment depending on their age and stage of development.

Children between 5 and 9 year olds are most commonly injured on public playgrounds, likely because they are physically able to play at greater heights, but also lack a sense of danger.

Key Messages

Playgrounds

• Encourage clients to complete the Playground Checklist on MyHealth.Alberta.ca
• Advise your clients to let their child play on equipment that they can climb up on their own.
• Safe playground equipment is age appropriate, in good condition, and free of hazards that may cause strangulation, entrapment, falls, or other injuries.
• Safe playground surfaces include soft ground surface such as wood chips, rubber surfacing, sand and pea gravel, shredded rubber, as well as unitary manufactured materials like pour-in-place.
• Encourage children to use playground equipment that fits their age and stage of development.
• Children at the playground need to be dressed for safe play (e.g., appropriate footwear while playing, long hair should be tied back, no helmets, or clothes with drawstrings, scarves, or loose clothing. Share the Clothing Safety Info Sheet from MyHealth.Alberta.ca.
• Advise clients to actively supervise their child while playing.

Supervision is recommended to reduce the risk of injury. Actively watching your child gives them a chance to explore and develop but not get seriously hurt.

• Watch your young child play.
• Stay close enough so that you can act if needed.
• Set safe play rules (see the Playground Checklist for guidance).
• Teach your child not to put objects in their mouth.

As a health provider you may be aware that helmets protect against head injuries from falls experienced while cycling, ice skating, skiing, snowboarding, tobogganing, and inline skating. But helmets should not be worn at the playground. Wearing a helmet on the playground can result in strangulation. Spaces in equipment are sized so that a child’s head cannot get trapped; however, the sizing is based on head size without a helmet. If a child’s body slips through a space in the equipment but his head gets stuck he can strangle.