Children's Hospitals Promoting Safe Play

Children's hospitals around the country are promoting safe play, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. A report published in January titled "Injury Prevention on Playgrounds, at Home and in the Neighborhood" notes endeavors by hospitals in several states.

The foundation's Injury Free Coalition for Kids is the spearhead for raising awareness about safe play at children's hospitals and within the broader community.

"More than half of the Injury Free coalitions built playgrounds, typically with plastic or rubber materials, a soft ground covering and other features to prevent injuries," the report states. "The purpose -- and impact -- of the playground projects went beyond just providing safe places for children to play. ... By bringing neighborhood residents into the planning and construction process, the Injury Free teams were also building community."

The Comer's Children Hospital at the University of Chicago built two playgrounds with help from area residents. "Both projects contributed to an increased effort by community residents and the local police to keep children in the neighborhood safe from violence," states the report. "St. Louis Children's Hospital reported that while a few of its playgrounds experienced vandalism, most neighborhoods were committed to maintaining their new play spaces."

The Injury Free Coalition has also encouraged in-home safety and violence prevention for young people through research and community initiatives.

Cases in point include a coalition-sponsored annual program in Worcester, Mass. in conjunction with the UMASS Memorial Children's Medical Center and local law enforcement that collects guns in exchange for Wal-Mart gift certificates, according to the report. "In Miami, members of the Injury Free team helped develop a local violent injury surveillance system ... and used the data to assess patterns and trends in violent deaths and to report findings to the public and policy-makers."

The Indianapolis Injury Free program at Riley Children's Hospital collaborated with the local fire department to hand out more than 17,000 smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

Indoor Mall Playground Safety - Are Your Kids Safe?

Indoor Playgrounds - Are They Safe? Well, it's that time of year again with school starting, summer is over, the weather is changing, and many of your children's activities are beginning to move indoors again. It's time for concerned parents to decide where your kids are going to be able to play safely. As it does every year, the number of children playing at the local indoor playground increases dramatically. With this increase in activity, comes an increase in our awareness of the safety of these indoor playgrounds; are they really the safest place for our children to be playing? There is no traffic to worry about, score one for the indoor playground. But are there other areas of concern that we may be overlooking? Here are a few areas of indoor playground safety you want to look at before you allow your child to participate. Indoor Playgrounds - Breeding Grounds for Bacteria? One huge issue of indoor mall playground safety is the enclosed environment itself. Within any e

Special Needs Playgrounds Gaining Ground

As playgrounds grow and evolve with increasing attention paid to safety and equipment durability, it's important to note that kids with physical limitations need adequate places to play just as much, if not more, than kids without disabilities. Children who must contend with limited mobility and dexterity need much more carefully designed equipment and facilities. In recent years, awareness of making parts of everyday life more "handicapped accessible" is now commonplace in many areas of everyday life. And in the wake of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, through which Congress made accessible public facilities the law of the land, focus on accessible playgrounds has naturally followed suit. Creating recreational facilities accessible to all, however still remains an uphill battle in many instances. Parents of children with disabilities often have to go out of their way to make local accessible playgrounds a reality. The St. Tammany Kids Konnection Boundless Pl

Tips for Safe Play Indoors

Outdoor playgrounds are of course a key area of focus when it comes to safety as well as educational and entertainment value, however indoor play areas also deserve a similar level of attention. Sometimes what appears to be the most obvious of common sense solutions -- keeping the floor clear so people won't trip -- often gets overlooked in the fray of everyday school or family life. A recent article by Daniel Akinson points out the fact that a leading cause of injuries that happen inside the house or classroom result from toys not being picked up. "One specific danger and one that is usually ignored are all the kids’ toys that have not been picked up," the article states. "This can definitely be a hazard if the living area is doubling as a play area." The magazine provides the following advice on how to prevent accidents that can lead to minor or at times serious injuries: • "Designate a particular area of the room in which the kids should play&quo

Wyatt Underwood on "The Safe Child Campaign"

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