When selecting play equipment for your children to use in the garden at home one of your main concerns should be safety and how to prevent accidents from happening that could result in injury to your child. For some toys such as a cubby house safety concerns arent really an issue as they tend to be very safe anyway, being placed on the ground with no climbing opportunity for climbing, falling from height or moving parts to collide with. But for the most part the following advice can be applied to all types of outdoor play equipment to you are considering to buy for you kids at home.
If you’re going to buy a wooden structure such as climbing frames or swing sets you will need to ensure that the item has a guarantee of 10 years as a minimum and that is covers insect infection and rot. Fungal infection is another issue you will need to be aware of as this can weaken the structure, pressure treated timber with non-toxic chemicals will help to keep infection at bay. Generally any wooden structure that you are buying for your kids should be solid, go for climbing frames with substantial timber sections and make sure that the wood is finished without any sharp edges and that nuts and bolts are recessed.
Inspecting the apparatus frequently will help you to spot and repair any issues before they develop further to become risks . Positioning the apparatus in the correct position will also help to keep your kids safe, swings will need about 2.5 meter of clearance both back and front. To prevent your kids from gaining access to undesirable areas, climbing frames and trampolines should be positioned carefully with at least 3 meters of clearance around them to prevent further climbing opportunities . Finally, make sure you lay down some ground rules for your children and make it very clear that if they break the rules they won’t be able to play on the equipment.