20th - 24th April Playground Safety Week

 

National Playground Safety Week is observed annually in the USA during the last week of April. This year it will be held from April 20th to 24th as it highlights the importance of responsible play. A playground is a place, usually outdoors, specially built to give kids a space to have fun together with other children in the neighbourhood. It is a time to focus on children’s outdoor play environments, and show gratitude for those who effectively maintain playgrounds.

My daughter is a landscape architect who has designed several playgrounds in parks and schools. She loves doing this, but is often dismayed when she revisits them sometime afterwards to find they have not been well maintained. Things such as pumps are no longer working, the colour scheme has changed, the surface under the climbing frame is damaged. This is so disheartening and I feel for her.

The school I teach at has a compact, yet quite adventurous playground that includes climbing, hanging, water play and sand, lots of sand! The sand gets in shoes, on carpets and occasionally even in the library books.

Next time a teacher suggests reading outside in the sand I'll give him these books about playgrounds:

• Want to Play Trucks? by Ann Stott and Bob Graham. Jack and Alex meet almost every morning in the sandbox at the playground. Jack likes trucks — big ones, the kind that can wreck things. Alex likes dolls — pink ones, with sparkles. But Jack doesn’t want to play dolls, and Alex doesn’t want to play trucks. Readers will smile at the quintessential playground squabble on display.

 • Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy by David Roman and Jackie Davis. Lulu and her dog Bingo meet up with Sam on the playground and want to play together. Sam likes the sandbox but Lulu thinks the monkey bars are better. They just can't agree...until Lulu asks, "Have you ever played Ladybug Girl?" 

• Grug in the Playground  by Ted Prior. Playgrounds are full of fun and challenges for Grug!

• Floss the Playground Boss  by Corinne Avers and Sam Usher. Floss is the playground boss! That is, until a new boy named Peter moves into the house on the opposite side of the playground from Floss.  When Peter decides he doesn’t want to play along with Floss’ rules, she learns that having friends can be much more fun than being the playground boss!

• Rulers of the Playground  by Joseph Kuefler. A funny, relatable story about how becoming "rulers" of the playground in the end is less fun than playing together and sharing. 

• Where Did You Go Today? by Jenny Duke. A visit to the local playground becomes an exciting adventure thanks to the transforming powers of a child’s imagination. Familiar landscapes turn into exotic and mysterious worlds to discover and explore.

• Our Playground Rules! by Callie George and Jay Fleck. This picture book plays with the double meaning of "rules" to explore how following a few simple rules of kindness can make playtime more fun for everyone! 

• My Dream Playground  by Kate Becker and Jed Henry. Right now there is just an empty lot down the street, but this little girl dreams that one day there will be a playground — a real playground, a fun playground — right in her own neighbourhood. When she sees a man measuring the empty lot, she’s sure that he’s there to help make her playground dream come true. And he is!

• Welcome to Our Playground  by Moira Butterfield and Harriet Lynas. In this fascinating book, young children can learn all about the different games, toys and playtimes around the world, as well as the playgrounds, fields and beaches children play in, and the many different words they use when they play.

•  Let's Go to the Playground by Ruth Walton. Come on a journey around a playground to find out all about forces and motion. Discover what pulls you down a slide, how a swing works, why a roundabout makes you feel dizzy and much more.

• My New Playground  by Jonny Zucker. A bright, colourful book to help children prepare for the school playground. Playground activities such as skipping rhymes and climbing frames are explained and flaps to lift help the child discover the fun to be had making friends and playing games.

• Staying Safe on the Playground  by Lucia Raatma. How can you prevent playground accidents? What clothes can help you stay safe when playing on equipment? Why are soft surfaces important on playgrounds? Look inside to find the answers to these questions and more. By learning a few rules, you can stay safe hand have fun on the playground.

• The Right to Play: How Jane Addams Fought for America's Playgrounds by Elizabeth Brown and Olga Lee

Jane wanted to give the boys and girls in her care a place outside where they could run and play, just as she used to. So she commissioned the first model playground in the US, sparking a nationwide movement to build safe, dedicated spaces for children of all abilities to play.

10th February Safer Internet Day

So what is Safer Internet Day?  Well, the day, which has been organised by Insafe since 2005 is held on 10 February.  The purpose of this awareness day is to promote safe and responsible use of the internet. It aims to teach young people about how to keep themselves safe online.  And, of course, the use of the internet in a safe and responsible way is paramount! These days, most young people have access to the internet with their mobile phone, tablets or laptops.  So the day aims to raise awareness of online safety for young people.

Online safety is even of concern for parents of very young children, and I am often asked whether  there is  anything they can read with their child to start a discussion. I can think of many book titles where the theme is limiting the use of technology, but not so many about safety. I usually  recommend these two story books, but there must be others.

• Chicken Clicking by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross is a humorous story about a chicken who just keeps clicking on the farm's computer, managing to shop for all and sundry.

• The Internet is Like a Puddle by Shona Innes and Irisz Agocs is less of a story, but it does discuss some of the pitfalls associated with electronic communication.  Shona Innes is an Australian psychologist who has written four books marketed under the series name The Big Hug Books.


And if parents just want to read to inform themselves I suggest Internet Safety by Nick Hunter, keeping in mind that anything written about the internet is out of date by the time it is published because nothing to do with technology stands still.