Rustics Newsletter: Survey results and safety on the playground play

Rustics Jungle Gyms, designing, building & installing quality Jungle Gyms
specifically for the South African environment since 2006

Welcome to our April newsletter.
 
In this edition we present the results of our school survey to assess the impact of Covid-19 Lockdown Level 1 restrictions on the use of their outdoor play equipment. It seems that the benefits of outdoor play are too significant to miss out on.
 
Whether at home or on the school grounds, if you are going to use playground equipment you need to make sure that it is a safe place for your children to play. We build safe equipment to SANS standards, but its up to you to make sure that it is used safely! Below, we provide some guidelines on how to make safe play a reality.
 
Happy reading!

School Outdoor Playground Equipment Usage Survey Results

Thank you to all of the schools who replied to our on-line survey. Though the numbers of responses were few, we did get a good insight into the usage of outdoor playground equipment under Covid-19 lockdown level 1 restrictions.
 
What is most interesting is that most schools are trying to maintain their routines as far as possible to provide the children with structure and to ensure that they still get the benefits of outdoor play.
 
Only 14% of responding schools are not using their outdoor playground equipment at all.

One Gauteng-based Pre-Primary, Foundation and Intermediate Government School recognises the importance of outdoor play in their response to why they are still using their outdoor playground equipment.

“Our learners are using the playgrounds as they are used to this as part of their routine. It builds muscle tone for low muscle toned children, promotes interaction and social skills. We continually remind our learners about social distancing and the wearing of masks. After play learners are taken to the bathroom to wash their hands and the playground with all it’s equipment is sanitised.”

Government schools have been less likely to change levels of outdoor play equipment usage than independent schools - 66.7% of Government schools have not changed their outdoor play equipment usage levels at all during lockdown level 1. This falls to 12.5% in independent schools who seem to be slightly more affected. 

 Independent schools have reduced use of their outdoor equipment but only by a small amount 
87.5% of independent schools have reduced their time playing on outdoor equipment but only by a small amount – half of the independent schools who responded only reduced it by 25%. The reasons given for these reductions include the shortened length of the school day, which has forced the reduction of playtime in general, and social distancing which has reduced the number of children who can play on equipment at any one time.

 Playgrounds are more important than ever because of the gaps created by the pandemic in the last academic year. 

 
According to one Eastern Cape Foundation Phase Head of Department with 140 children,
 
“We are rotating the children through the playgrounds to keep control of numbers.  This actually means more dedicated time is spent on the jungle gyms when it is that grade's turn (every 3rd day). The children are more active on the jungle gyms than before.  We use them for social, emotional and physical development.  This is even more necessary this year as a result of the gaps created last year.”

Safety on the playground

Playing is critical to your child's development and playgrounds offer a variety of equipment such as swings, slides and monkey bars that your child can use to grow and develop their physical and problem-solving skills.
 
Outdoor play equipment can however have the potential to be dangerous if it is not properly maintained and managed.
 
In addition to ensuring that all regular equipment checks are carried out (see our previous newsletter 'Checklist for Jungle Gym Safety'), there are other factors which we need to take into account to keep our little ones safe in the playground:
 
 Proper Dress  
Make sure that there are no loose items of clothing such as necklaces, bags, watches, and scarves and tuck in clothing drawstrings and cords that can get caught on playing equipment and result in entanglement causing a strangulation accident or a fall. 
 
 Jungle gym surrounds 
Check the area around the jungle gym for anything dangerous or harmful, such as broken glass, and other objects such as backpacks, lunch boxes etc. that children can trip on or injure themselves on while running around.
 
It can reduce the severity of falls if you surround your jungle gym with a shock-absorbing Surface such as sand, synthetic turf, wood chips or mulch. 
 
 Use only age-appropriate playground equipment 
Children should only play on equipment that’s suitable for their size (weight and height), motor skills and muscle strength. Make sure children know which equipment they can and can’t use. Children younger than age 5 may not have the upper-body strength necessary for climbing and should only be allowed to climb 1.5m high and school-age kids should only climb 2.1m.

 Teach safe equipment usage and behaviour 
It is important to demonstrate how to safely use equipment – especially moving equipment like swings. 
Teach them:
to slide feet first
not to climb outside guardrails
to use two hands when climbing
to be aware of where other people are to avoid collisions

to always sit on swings and never put more than one person on the swing at a time
to stop a swing completely before climbing off
to look out for other people before jumping down, starting to swing or sliding
to always slide down feet first and sitting up, never head first on their back or stomach
to not climb up the slide itself
to only have one person at a time, on the slide platform and the slide
to check for a person on the slide before they slide down and to move away quickly afterwards
 Encourage good manners and explain taking turns and sharing. 
Teach them not to shove, push or overcrowd equipment 
because that too can lead to accidents. 

 Actively Supervise  
 
Over 40% of all playground accidents occur when a child is not under supervision.
 
Whether in your garden or in the school-ground, children need to be actively supervised when climbing, swinging, or jumping to keep them away from accidents.
 
Pre-schoolers are prone to testing their abilities beyond their boundaries and must be always be supervised on playground equipment.

 Be Mindful of the Weather 
Put sunscreen on children every day to prevent painful and harmful sunburn and test the temperature of the swings and slides to ensure that they are not too hot to the touch. Teach them not to use wet equipment as steps of slides and platforms could become slippery. 
 
Understanding how to play safely and how to be kind while playing will help your children to develop great skills that they will use throughout life. 