Summer Safe Play Rules And Explaining It So They Understand

[daycare]

So i know someone posted a video about how kids need to be kids... I never got to see the video, as my computer would not play the video.

However, I have been having all kinds of issues with outside play when we go to the park.

I am pretty strict about the rules at the park/outside play and I do feel bad, but I dont want to risk any child getting hurt on my dime.

I had a parent complain to me this morning that they don't understand why the kids are not allowed to walk up the slides at the park. Why cant they run on the black top and etc...

How do I go about explaining in detail that the way kids play at home is not the same way that they can play here?

Have any of you had this issue? Do you send out a news letter? I don't want to come across sounding like hilter, so I am asking what your summer rules are for outside and how do you explain to the parents that while under your care, different rules will always apply?

[Sunshine44]

Umm, why can't they run UP the slide? Seriously! That is my biggest pet peeve. I do not allow my kids (even my own children) to go up slides. You go DOWN the slide, never up. Ugh. I'd tell them that for one going UP is dangerous and rude.

[MissAnn]

Umm, why can't they run UP the slide? Seriously! That is my biggest pet peeve. I do not allow my kids (even my own children) to go up slides. You go DOWN the slide, never up. Ugh. I'd tell them that for one going UP is dangerous and rude.

Yes! It's just common curtesy.....just like getting in line.....you go to the BACK of the line....not the front!

That's a pet peeve of mine too!

[daycare]

Thats the thing, we as providers get it.........looking at it from a parents prospective they dont get it..... They think I am being too strict and I am not allowing the kids to play..

I would like to type something up about why it's necessary for the parents to have face time with thier children, because here they are under strict rules which does not allow them to be "JUST a KID" and have fun. I try to make it as fun as possible, but there are just some things that I wont bend on no matter what. I mean if the parents want to allow their children to jump off the swings while in mid air, then they need to do that on their time.....

[Kaddidle Care]

I had a parent complain to me this morning that they don't understand why the kids are not allowed to walk up the slides at the park. Why cant they run on the black top and etc...

Just shaking my head. One answer for both questions:

It's an accident waiting to happen. You do trust me to care for your children and keep them safe right?

Your care, your rules.

[nannyde]

How do I go about explaining in detail that the way kids play at home is not the same way that they can play here?

You don't have to give them any detail of why. The answer is really simple.


The kids can get hurt when they are with you. They can't get hurt when they are with me.

It's one of the HUGE downsides of having your kid in public. If they want them to have the freedom they have when they are under parental care then they need to make sure that the child is under parental care.

[daycare]

Exactly what I'm trying to get across in my news letter. Lol
I should have studied English better. It's a very hard language to read write and understand.

[Live and Learn]

In an effort to be consistent I teach my lil dc kiddies the same rules that our local elementary school uses.

[daycare]

In an effort to be consistent I teach my lil dc kiddies the same rules that our local elementary school uses.

can you share those rules with me? I want to make sure that I am not being over the top about the rules I have made.

[SilverSabre25]

"What's okay for one is not okay for many"

This is something I realized during the past year when I found myself making and enforcing rules I never thought I'd make.

It's okay for one child (playing in their backyard for example) to climb up the slide...but when many children do it, it's not okay, not safe, doesn't work, etc.

The same principle applies to many things...which are "daycare rules" in my house, where my DD is required to follow them during daycare time but free to do her own thing when it's not daycare time.

To explain it to parents, I would just tell them that rules at daycare are different than rules at home, for the safety of everyone. That the parents can make or not make whatever rules they want when the kids are in their care, but while in daycare, rules must be different.

(I'll admit I don't get why you won't let them run...most schools even let kids run on blacktop AFAIK...sure there are scraped knees waiting to happen but that can happen on grass too)

[daycare]

"What's okay for one is not okay for many"

This is something I realized during the past year when I found myself making and enforcing rules I never thought I'd make.

It's okay for one child (playing in their backyard for example) to climb up the slide...but when many children do it, it's not okay, not safe, doesn't work, etc.

The same principle applies to many things...which are "daycare rules" in my house, where my DD is required to follow them during daycare time but free to do her own thing when it's not daycare time.

To explain it to parents, I would just tell them that rules at daycare are different than rules at home, for the safety of everyone. That the parents can make or not make whatever rules they want when the kids are in their care, but while in daycare, rules must be different.

(I'll admit I don't get why you won't let them run...most schools even let kids run on blacktop AFAIK...sure there are scraped knees waiting to happen but that can happen on grass too)

Why no running on the blacktop... last year I had a dck runnin on the black top, tripped over her own two feet, fell and knocked her two front teeth out. NO more, if they want to run, run in the grass where it will soften the blow. Yes they still might get a litle hurt, but it will not be as bad as if they feel on the blacktop.

At my kids school both elementary, Jr and highschool, they also not allowed to run on the blacktop.

[SimpleMom]

At Daycare these are the rules. At home you have such and such a rule and that's ok. Here, we do it this way and that's ok too. I even let my own kids walk up the slide when we are not in daycare. They know daycare rules and home rules and it's never been a problem.

[Cat Herder]

This is taken from an old Elementary School PDF ....but it comes in handy. It is the best I have found as an example so far. This will be a long post.

RULES FOR PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT

Horizontal Ladder/Monkey Bars
a. Students take turns swinging underneath in one
direction. Students may not go on top of the
bars or sit on top of the bars.
b. If there is more than one child crossing on bars,
a line must be formed.
c. No pulling or pushing on the legs, arms, etc. of
any child on the bars.

Obstacle Course
The obstacle course is made
up of 6 events (hurdles,
climbing wall, chin up bars,
balance beam, horizontal
ladder and running track). It
is designed for up to two
students at a time to compete against each other
or to use solo.
a. No more than two students should be on an
event at a time
b. Students must go in the same direction on the
course
c. There should be no contact between students
on the course.
d. No sitting on top of the horizontal bars,
climbing wall or chin up bars.

Chin-Up Bars
a. Both hands must stay on bars at all times.
b. No shaking the poles.
c. No pulling or pushing on legs, arms, etc. of
students on bars.
d. No more than 2 people on a bar at a time.
e. Students waiting should count to 60 slowly to
gain access to bar.
f. No use of the bars will be allowed if there is
water underneath them.
g. No sitting or crawling on the top of the bars.
h. No swinging from side to side or bumping into
others on the bars.

Sand Area
a. Sand must not be thrown at any time.
b. Respect others’ sand creations, and do not
destroy them.
c. Sand must be kept inside the sand
area.
d. Walk. Don’t run, in the sand area.

HANDBALL AREA PLAYGROUND RULES

Ball Wall / Handball
a. No closed courts or games.
b. First person on the court calls the game and
rules.
c. No hitting/throwing ball over the wall.
d. If there is a problem with any part of the game,
a vote is taken to decide the ruling.
e. Ball must be hit/thrown within the court.
Anyone hitting/throwing the ball outside court
lines is out.
e. Game Rules which cause confrontations among
players and disrupt the recreational aspect of
the game are NOT allowed. These include:
Cross Country or Outside Courts -
throwing the ball from outside the designated
court lines.
Peggies or Pink Elephants - hitting people
close to the wall with the ball
Champions - when everyone in line is allowed
to go in the court.

BIG TOY AREA

Big Toy
a. No chase, tag or running is
permitted in the Big Toy
Area.
b. Students should not throw
sand or wood chips
c. Students should slide DOWN the slide. No one
should go up the slide.
d. No pushing or shoving is permitted
e. Students cannot block or hold up students from
using the equipment or sliding down poles or
the slide.

Rock Wall
a. No jumping off of the wall.
b. No pushing or kicking
c. Students should not sit on top of the rock wall

Twirling Bars
If there is a line of children waiting, the first person
in line may count to 10 twirls for the person
twirling. After 10 twirls, the next person may take
a turn.
a. Death Drops is not allowed.
b. Standing on the bar or “no-hands” is not
permitted.

Slide
a. One person can go down the
slide at a time.
b. Slide down, sitting, with feet in
front.
c. Climbing up the slide is not
allowed.
d. Do not block or prevent others
from sliding down the slide.

Swings
When there are children waiting, they
must stand in front of the person on the swing and
far enough away to avoid being kicked by the
swinger. The first person in
the line counts to 30 (one
count per swing) for the
person swinging. After 30
counts, the person swinging
must get off and it will be the
next student’s turn.
a. Must swing in the same direction.
b. No jumping out of swing.
c. One person on a swing at a time.
d. No going from side to side or twisting in a
swing.
e. No pushing someone in the swing
f. No holding hands while swinging.
g. Grabbing feet, etc. is forbidden.
h. No climbing on poles of swings or standing
between swingers.

BLACKTOP AREAS AND COURT GAMES

Basketball
Basketball is a game between two teams. Each
team has a basket. The object is to get the
basketball into the basket. Doing so earns the team
2 points each time The ball can only be moved by
the player dribbling (bouncing the ball) as they
move or by passing (tossing the ball ) to another
player. Players cannot make contact by hitting,
pushing or intentionally bumping into other players.
a. Basketball can be either a full court game or a
half court game depending upon how many
people want to play and how many courts are
available.
b. No pushing, intentional bumping, or
rough play is permitted.
c. Any fouls or disputed play should
be resolved by a jump ball or vote
of players.
d. Only a basketball will be used for
the game of basketball.

Four Corners
Four corners is played on a four square court. Four
players start on each far corner with a fifth player in
the center junction of the four squares. The object
is for the outside corners players to move from one
corner to another by exchanging with another
corner player. If the Center player gets to the
outside corner before an outside player does, the
outside player is out and the center player takes
that corner. A new player comes in to be the new
center player.
a. “Slidies” and “killies” are not permitted.
b. Disputed plays are to be voted on by all players
in the court and in the line.
c. Any time two players end up at the same
corner, the player who was originally at that
corner remains and the other player is out.

Four Square
Four square is a court game played with
a rubber ball. Each of the four squares
are labeled A, B, C or D. Square A starts
the game by bouncing the ball in their
own court and then bouncing it into one
of the other courts. The player in the other court
must then bounce the ball into another player’s
square. If the ball bounces outside the square or
back into the player’s own square, that player is
out. When a player is out, they go to the end of
the line and the first person in the line moves into
the D square.
a. This game must be played with a rubber ball.
b. Disputed plays are to be voted on by all players
in the court and in the line.
d. No “cherry bombs” or “inside corners” is
permitted.

Jump Rope
a. Long jump ropes are to be used with groups of
3 or more. Short jump ropes
are for individual use.
b. Jump ropes should never be
tied or twisted around any
part of a student’s body.
c. No “hot peppers” unless the
jumper requests it.

Nationball / Dodgeball
Nationball and dodgeball are very similar games that
involve one team inside the court area and the
other team outside the court. The outside team
has one rubber ball (dodgeball) or two rubber balls
(nationball). The object is for the outside team to
throw the ball at the players inside the court. If a
player inside the court is hit by the ball they are out
and go to the “out” line at the far end of the court.
If a player inside the court catches the ball without
dropping it, then the first person in the “out” line
can enter back into the game.
a. Only a rubber ball can be used in this game.
b. No “head hunting” (throwing at a person’s
head) or “knock outs” (throwing at a person’s
feet to knock them out from under them) is
permitted.
c. No closed games unless a Playground
Supervisor determines the game is too
crowded.

Tether Ball
a. No swinging, sitting, riding, or hanging on rope
or ball
b. No throwing rope; must hit ball
c. No kicking ball with foot
d. No wrapping rope at the top of
the pole so it can’t be hit.
e. No closed games
f. All students standing in line to
play must stay out of the playing circle.

FIELD AREA RULES
The field areas are primarily used for games and
activities that involve kicking or throwing a ball or
running. Unsafe activities such as tackling, body
slamming, dog piling, slide tackles, or sweeps are
not permitted anywhere on the field areas.
Tag and chase are not permitted because they
often end up in pushing, tripping, tackling or
fighting. These are behaviors that hurt or injure
others. Therefore, tag and chase are not allowed on
the playground.

Flag Football
Only one game of football is permitted. Football is
only permitted at lunch time and only flag football.
There are two teams with each member of each
team wearing a different colored set of flags. Once
the football has been hiked, the team can run or
pass the ball. If the person with
the ball has their flags pulled or
the ball hits the ground the play is
stopped. The object is to move
the ball into the goal end for your
own team.
a. No closed games
b. All players must wear flags
c. Only a school football can be used.
d. The game must stay within the football area
and cannot “wander” around the field.
e. No tackling, tripping, dog piling or other unsafe
contact will be permitted..
f. All flags and the football must be returned to
the Field Ball Cart at the end of the lunch
period.

Kick Ball
a. No closed games
b. All players on the team that is up must line up
in their kicking order behind the home plate.
c. Only one kicker at a time.
d. The ball must be rolled to the kicker, not bounced.
e. The runner is out if tagged by the ball or if the
ball is thrown to the base to which the runner is
headed before the runner is there.
f. The ball cannot be thrown at the
runner.
g. The runner cannot leave the base
(take lead offs) until the ball is
pitched.
h. No sliding into the bases.
Soccer
a. No closed games
b. No tackling or slide tackling is
allowed.
d. No body slams or pushing is allowed.
e. Touching the ball with the hands or forearm
(except by the goalie) results in the other team
taking the ball out to the sideline

[gkids09]

"Why can't they climb UP the slide?"
Umm...BECAUSE they could very easily get kicked in the face by kids who are sliding the CORRECT way... hahaha

Have had this happen, actually, when I first started...I was CONSTANTLY taking kids off the slide. I now have no slide.

[Paisley]

My oldest child had to get four stitches in her chin from going up the slide backwards at preschool. She fell "just right" to split her chin. It was an accident that easily could have been prevented. It also happens to be one of my biggest pet peeves at the playground.