Know

Young children need and deserve the sun, fresh-air, and wide-open spaces that outdoor environments offer. Outdoor environments often provide different and more-complex materials and surfaces for practicing motor skills and numerous valuable sensory experiences—from the brush of wind, to the smell of freshly cut grass, to sound of crunchy fall leaves. However, outdoor environments can also provide special safety challenges. We will consider, as we did with indoor spaces in Lesson Three, how the facility and materials can impact children’s safety.

The National Program for Playground Safety recommends that child care programs consider four categories for ensuring playground safety. The SAFE categories are:

Supervision

积极的监督是让幼儿安全的关键。正如课程二所讨论的那样，主动监督涉及扫描，预测和评估。您应该通过户外空间，扫描儿童和环境的危险，预测潜在的危险，并对环境进行必要的变化。安全设备和播放空间很重要，但没有取代积极的监督。

For family child care providers who may use public or shared outdoor spaces, such as an apartment-complex playground, part of supervising the outdoor environment includes a safety check upon arrival. See the outdoor safety reminders below for more details, but remember to first survey the area to make sure that the play space is safe for children. In particular, you should make sure the area is free of animal feces, broken glass, paint chips, or trash.

As highlighted in theOutdoor Safety Remindersresource below, to support supervision, a fence or natural barrier is recommended to enclose the outdoor play space. This applies both to spaces the provider may use directly outside his or her home, as well as any public outdoor spaces (e.g., parks). A barrier naturally helps contain the children in your care, and barriers also help to keep children away from unsafe areas (e.g., pools, ponds, traffic). For family child care providers who often work alone, barriers are an incredibly helpful aspect of the environment that make supervision much easier. If you live in a home where fences are not permitted or visit parks that are not enclosed, extra precaution is necessary including more attentive supervision during outdoor play. You may need to establish special safety rules for your outdoor visits to help protect children (see Lesson Ten for more on establishing rules). For example, perhaps children remain in or near a wagon reading a set of books until you have had a chance to check the playground. Or perhaps children are limited to certain areas in the park and you review this rule with them before each trip.

However, it may also be that some outdoor spaces are simply too unsafe to use, regardless of the rules you establish or your vigilant supervision. If you live right next to a pond or a high-traffic area without an appropriate barrier that can separate the children from the hazard, then this space is simply too dangerous to ensure children’s safety. It is a good idea to talk with your family child care administrator or licensing agent about the outdoor spaces you want to use and assess together whether these are safe spaces.

Remember that playground equipment, trees, or bushes can sometimes block your line of sight. It is important that you find the most appropriate space in each outdoor environment to monitor all the children in your care. Make sure children under 3 are in your line of sight at all times. For very young children who are still learning about what items are unsafe for their mouths and how to safely navigate various equipment and surfaces, choking and falling are significant hazards in outside environments. It only takes a moment for a young child to place a piece of mulch in her or his mouth or to attempt walking down a slide—your active supervision is essential.

Age Appropriateness

Young children are continually developing new skills, practicing emerging skills, and mastering skills. They are likely in different stages of skill development—depending on the ages of the children in your care, some may have mastered walking, and others may be practicing running, discovering climbing, or practicing shooting basketballs. Equipment and surfaces must safely support different levels of developing motor skills. Children should be provided with a wide variety of equipment and materials to use outdoors to support their development. The Learning Environments and Physical Development courses will provide more details about these components.

As highlighted in Lesson Three, the youngest children in your care, infants and toddlers, may lack the cognitive ability to predict consequences of their actions and may lack the motor skills to successfully navigate all aspects of the outdoor environment without significant support. For these reasons, your careful selection of outdoor spaces, materials, and supervision is critical.

It may be difficult to find a playground space that is age-appropriate for all the children in your care, especially if you are caring for infants through school-age children. You will need to think carefully about how you will support each child’s safety outdoors. For example:

• 当您前往4岁及以上的儿童设计的游乐场时，您可以为年幼的孩子带来坚固的户外推动玩具或某些年龄适合的球吗？
• When you travel to a playground designed for children ages 2 to 5, can you bring some sports or riding equipment (e.g., scooters with helmets) with you for older children as well as a blanket and appropriate manipulatives for infants?

Fall Surfacing

孩子们玩时将不可避免地下降。我s your job to reduce the frequency and severity of falls. Maintaining proper surface cushions surrounding equipment and proper spacing of equipment will help minimize injuries. So will using the correct height of equipment (for example, see Table 1 in the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission’s handbook on Public Playground Safety,https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/325.pdf,建议适当的攀升,playground equipment for children of different ages). Equipment should let children practice skills, but should not be too challenging. If you observe any concerns with fall surfacing, report them to the appropriate local authority, such as the apartment complex manager or the city parks and recreation department. Do not use climbing or swinging equipment until appropriate fall surfaces and zones are provided.

设备维修

All materials and equipment must be in good working condition. There should be no evidence of damage, protrusions, or possible entrapments. Another hazard for young children can be excessively hot or cold play surfaces. Hazards from insects or animals (e.g., wasp nests or snake holes) should be considered. If you observe any concerns with equipment or play areas at public or shared outdoor spaces, report them to the appropriate authority.

我s also important to remember that if children play outside your home, the exterior of your home is a potential hazard. Care should be taken to make sure that the exterior of your house does not have siding that protrudes or chipping paint. Remember that this also means that any hazardous substances (e.g., fertilizers, weed killers, insect killer) should be stored away properly and should be properly washed off plants or structures to make sure children do not come into contact with toxic substances.

If you have outdoor climbing equipment at your home, review this safety checklist from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission regarding home playgrounds:https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/pdfs/blk_media_HomePlaygroundSafetyChecklist.pdf

Remember also to think about protection from the sun. If you will play outside for more extended periods of time, particularly in hot climates, make sure that adequate access to shade is available.

See

There are many rules and regulations for equipment, spacing, and materials. Playground checklists often are for children 2 and older, but it is important to remember that even infants and young toddlers should have daily access for play outdoors. The document Playground Information to Use with the Environment Rating Scales contains safety guidelines for all children. It is available as a link in the References & Resources section of this lesson.

Outdoor Environments and Materials

Outdoor Materials

讨论了在Lesson Three on indoor environments and materials, it will be equally important that you:

• Check the condition of all materials offered to children outdoors. For example, there should be no broken parts or cracks on sports equipment. This includes fraying or unsecured soccer or basketball nets, which could pose a strangulation hazard.
• Check for recalled materials on the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website. Visithttps://www.recalls.govto see lists of recalled products.
• 检查潜在的窒息危险。对于玩具或运动器材来说，这也是如此，而且还可以适用于扼流管（例如覆盖物或岩石）的室外环境中的其他元素。完全消除这些危险可能是不可行的，但是意识到他们将有助于您了解如何安全地支持婴儿和幼儿在室外空间的参与。
• Check for potentially hazardous plants. Check with your local gardening store for a list of toxic plants. You can also check with your local poison control center (1-800-222-1222)

记得考虑骑马玩具，如自行车，踏板车，滑板和冰鞋。该设备为儿童提供了重要的电机体验，但应注意使用这些物品所需的适当年龄和发展水平。头盔应该始终磨损。

Water Play

虽然水剧是儿童的美妙感官和认知体验，但也必须谨慎处理。在您的家中可能会出现水游戏;例如，在一个感官箱中，但许多提供商可能希望在外面提供水域，以帮助酷儿童在炎热的日子里。

重要的是要记住，涉水池不是安全或卫生的选择;因此，洒水器，水桌或感觉箱是优选的选择。此外，如果在您的护理中有2岁儿童，水桌应小于6英寸宽，或者水应小于1英寸深。不应该没有容器，孩子们可以淹死。

Do

Take an Eye-Level Look

在膝盖上，你看过室外空间吗？这样做告诉我们幼儿如何看待世界和它的一切。成年人不能总是从鸟瞰图中看到一切。

在许多设置中，您的游乐场或室外空间可能会被您的家人或邻居在夜间使用。或者也许您的计划共享社区公园。即使您的户外空间受栅栏保护，危险材料也可能找到进入这一领域的危险物。在您在外面带孩子之前，您必须警惕每天检查室外空间。寻找：

1. Debris like glass, cigarette butts, litter, and building supplies
2. Animal excrement and other foreign material
3. Mulch that is spread too thin
4. 站立的水，冰或雪
5. 对于儿童来说太热或寒冷的表面安全地触摸
6. Natural objects that might cause harm: sharp rocks, stumps, roots, branches
7. 不安全的昆虫：蚁丘，蜂箱或黄蜂巢
8. Ditches, holes, wells, traps
9. Exposed power lines or utility equipment

Remember to check the temperature of play surfaces. Metal or plastic slides, benches, and poured concrete surfaces can get very hot and very cold. Inspect surfaces for cracks caused by temperature changes or water damage.