Internet 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?

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.

If You Build It Well, They Will Play - Safely - H&G Articles: If You Build It Well, They Will Play - Safely. A new home with a real backyard! I can't wait for my kids to take advantage of the space. Play! Be Free! OK…. So why are they still inside? They're complaining that there's nothing to do. Fine, we'll put up a swing set. Reality check: they're still here, whining, and nobody is swinging. What's wrong with this picture?

School Playgrounds

Child Playgrounds - Research has found that playgrounds are essential to not only physical strength, but mental strength as well. Playgrounds help develop social, emotional and cognitive skills. Children however, need more than the traditional playground. They need playgrounds that challenge their skills and provide opportunities to learn new ones.

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 - Do many playground injuries happen at home? Every year in Canada more than 28,000 children are injured on playground equipment badly enough to visit a hospital emergency room. About one in every five of these injuries happens at home.