Safe playgrounds for infants and toddlers.

There are approximately one million children under the age of 2 years in child-care settings in the United States. With the advent of welfare reform and a national trend to place children in childcare at younger ages, this number is growing. Children less than 2 years of age are also present with their families or care-givers in public parks, fast-food playgrounds, family fun centers, and just about anywhere else children play. Despite their presence on these playgrounds, there are no safety standards or guidelines to protect these children while they play. All current safety guidelines and standards in the United States are imposed when a child reaches the age of 2 years. This lack of safety guidelines and standards poses a safety hazard for infants and toddlers and has caused serious problems in the design of playgrounds for infants and toddlers because of the lack of safety standards and guidelines.

I have recently had the opportunity to design and observe three playgrounds specifically built for use by infants and toddlers in child-care settings. As a cautious designer concerned about the safety of children, I followed the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission's (CPSC) guidelines and the American Society for Testing and Materials' (ASTM) standards. I tried to use commercially manufactured. IPEMA-approved playground equipment; tested and approved loose-fill safety-surfacing material; and attempted to keep prices low and play value high.

I ran into problems, some obvious from the beginning and some revealed only as observed the children as they used the completed playgrounds.

The following situations were obvious in the beginning of the design process at daycare centers:

Selection of Safety Surfacing

The choices for safety surfacing were sand or rubber matting. All other common safety-surfacing products are smaller than one inch in diameter and, therefore, may pose a potential choking hazard. Sand is related with sanitation hazards, especially since infants and toddlers put everything in their mouths. Dry sand is difficult for toddlers to walk on, as their walking is tentative at best. Rubber matting can be very expensive.

Specification of Equipment

There was virtually no equipment on the market that had been designed for use by children who are crawling or just learning how to walk.

Selection of Types of Equipment

Two of the centers wanted to provide swinging. Space was limited, as is typical in child-care settings. Providing swinging on an IPEMA-approved swing set with appropriate use zones was impossible unless there was nothing else on the playground. Yet motion, especially the gentle motion of swinging, is very important to young children.

Head-Entrapment Spacing

Fencing along a ramp was required within the perimeter of one playground. The only guide available for head entrapment was from the existing guidelines, using the head and torso probes designed for children ages 2 to 5. Was that safe?

Problems observed during use of the playgrounds included:

Guard Rails and Barriers

An IPEMA-approved piece of play equipment that had a guardrail/panel on a deck that was elevated six inches off the ground was used. The panel had tow holes in the top, designed to be used for puppets. One-year-olds, having no sense of cause and effect, were climbing into and through these holes and falling on their heads on the other side, over and over again.

Use Zones

With limited space, and following the rule of 12 feet between pieces of play equipment more than 30 inches high, I was not able to provide as much play equipment as the child-care centers needed. Is 12 feet really necessary for crawlers and toddlers?

These were just a few examples of the issues involved in designing playgrounds for infants and toddlers. They, along with other issues, will be studied by the newly formed ASTM Committee F15.44 on Playground Equipment for Children Under Two. The standard will cover indoor as well as outdoor playground equipment. The committee was formed in March of 1996 and work is proceeding on schedule.