Most kids are out for the summer and parents find themselves looking for activities for them to do with their kids. Parents want to keep their kids busy and active during the summer months. As you are finding activities for the kids to do, remember that doing free things can be just as fun and rewarding. I remember when I was growing up my family enjoyed going to the park or playing outside on the swing set that was in my grandmother’s backyard. Playing outside is a great for children to burn off some of their excessive energy and have the opportunity to get some exercise. When your kids are playing at the playground or outside on the family’s it is important to make sure that your kids are following the playground rules to avoid injuries. Injuries on playground equipment account for over 200,000 visits yearly to the emergency room in the United States, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Disclosure: This post is for informational purposes only. The opinions in this post are my own and based upon my own experiences.
I know that most playgrounds in the United States began making their playground equipment safer for kids to play on, especially during hot weather. I am probably giving you an idea of how old I am but I remember when the slides on playgrounds or home equipment were made out of metal. During the hot summer months the metal slides were always hot enough to burn you. Today most playground equipment is made out of a durable plastic so that it doesn’t get as hot, of course, that depends on the color of the playground equipment. I have noticed that the darker colors tend to trap more heat so it is important for parents to check the temperature of the playground equipment before allowing their child to play on it.
I also remember that most playgrounds had those small tiny rocks and my favorite thing to do was dig in the rocks. Of course this probably wasn’t the brightest idea because we often found broken glass in the rocks. If you ever tired jumping out of a moving swing, often times those rocks would send you sliding and if you were lucky you wouldn’t land on your bottom. Today most playgrounds are using woodchips, shredded tires, or those rubber covered tops to protect children from hurting themselves if they do happen to fall on the playground.
