Playground Safety and Design Resources

For more information on playground safety, contact The Consumer Product Safety Commission  at (800) 638- 2772 or www.cpsc.gov . You can view the "Handbook for Playground Safety" (pdf) and the "Public Playground Safety Checklist" or get a free copy by writing to CPSC, Washington, DC 20207.

Why not request a Peaceful Playgrounds Product Brochure for your school or one of your colleagues? Looking for funds to implement our program in your school? Download our Grant Template. How has the Peaceful Playgrounds Program improved your school?

Right to Recess Campaign

Despite mounting evidence that kids need an outlet to blow off steam, learn to interact with others and get the exercise they need, nearly 40 percent of American elementary schools have either eliminated or are considering eliminating recess.

Playground Safety

Safer Playgrounds for Young Children. ERIC Digest. - Why Playground Injuries Occur. Playgrounds can be exciting areas where children explore their environment while developing motor and social skills. Yet each year, almost 200,000 children are treated at hospital emergency rooms for injuries occurring on playgrounds (Frost, 1990).

Playing it Safe: June 2000 - The fifth nationwide investigation of public playgrounds by the Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG) and Consumer Federation of America (CFA) found that a majority of American playgrounds pose hidden threats to our nation’s youngsters.

Public Playground Safety Checklist - Use this simple checklist to help make sure your local community or school playground is a safe place to play.

CPSC - Checklist Safe Playgrounds - When you drop your child off at school use this checklist to make sure these hidden hazards aren't waiting to cause injury or death.

Playground Safety Tips - General tips and guidelines for planning a safe play area for children. S-A-F-E tips and guidelines: Supervision, Age-Appropriate design, Fall surfacing and Equipment maintenance are explored.

School Playgrounds

KaBoom- Research citations on the importance of recess and play - Displayed in quick read factoids, KaBoom cites research on the importance of recess and play for today's children.

Kids Websites

Playground Safety Kids Site - Kids site for learning playground safety guidelines. Cartoon students talk to viewer.

Playground Safety: Bully Advise For Kids - What to do about Bullies.

Playground Design

KaBOOM! - KaBOOM! is a national non-profit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. They rally communities to achieve better public policy, funding and public awareness for increased play opportunities nationwide; provide resources, including trainings, challenge grants, and publications for communities that wish to plan a new playspace on their own; and bring together children, business and community interests for a select number of community playspace builds each year.

Boundless Playgrounds - Boundless Playgrounds is a unique national, nonprofit organization that has, in a short time, built a reputation for excellence in working with communities throughout the country to facilitate the development of Fully integrated universally accessible playgrounds.

Playground surfacing - The surface under and around playground equipment can be a major factor in determining the injury-causing potential of a fall. It is self evident that a fall onto a shock absorbing surface is less likely to cause a serious injury than a fall onto a hard surface.

Age-Appropriate Design Guidelines for Playgrounds - The National Program for Playground Safety recommends that parents be proactive in selecting age appropriate equipment and requesting separate play areas for different age groups -- ages 2 to 5 and 5 to 12. These areas should be marked by signage indicating the age-appropriate areas.

Accessibility Guidelines for Play Areas: An Overview - On October 18, 2000, the Board published accessibility guidelines for newly built or altered play areas under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The guidelines are one of the first of their kind in providing a comprehensive set of criteria for access to play areas.

Designing, Building, and Remodeling Playgrounds for Young Children - Anyone who has designed or built a playground knows it is a confusing, daunting task. Should we buy from playground catalogs or build our own equipment? What about liability? What materials should we use: wood, metal, fiberglass, recycled plastic, laminated plywood, or polyethylene? Are there federal standards we must follow? What about handicapped requirements and licensing regulations? And what fall zone materials should we use?

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) - CPSC is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government whose purpose is to inform the public of risks associated with consumer products. The CPSC's Handbook for Public Playground Safety is the key reference tool for the playground industry, including specifications for the use of play equipment and recommendations concerning age-related designs and play components.

The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) - ASTM is the scientific and technical organization chiefly responsible for developing standards for testing different materials. In 1993 the ASTM published Standard Consumer Safety Performance Specifications for Playground Equipment for Public Use, designated as F1487-93. The standard was reprinted in 1995 and revised in 1998 with the new designation F1487-98. It is this standard that establishes minimum acceptable performance specifications for everything from swings to surfacing.

Parent Information

A Parent's Guide to Playground Safety - Getting hurt is not just a normal consequence of growing up. When kids are seriously injured on a playground, it may be that, someone failed to do his job.

Parents: Playground Safety - Children learn about themselves, others, and the world through play. As adults, it's our responsibility to make sure play is a safe as possible.

Backyard Playground Safety - This handbook, developed by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), highlights the most important safety information you need to know about planning, constructing, and maintaining an outdoor home playground.

Need More Information About Safe Playgrounds?

American Society for Testing and Materials 100 Bar Harbor Drive Conshohocken, PA 19428 610-832-9500 Website: www.astm.org

ERIC Clearinghouse on Teaching and Teacher Education One Dupont Circle NW, Suite 610 Washington, DC 20036-1186 800-822-9229 Website: www.ericsp.org

National Recreation and Park Association National Playground Safety Institute 22377 Belmont Ridge Road Ashburn, VA 20148 703-858-0784 Website: www.nrpa.org

National Program for Playground Safety School of HPELS, University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls1 IA 50614-0618 800-554-PLAY Website: www.uni.edu/playground

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Washington, DC 20207 800-638-2772 Website: www.cpsc.gov