Safe Playgrounds for Children
Friends of the Parks is committed to improving children’s playgrounds in Chicago.
In an ongoing partnership with Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Children’s Memorial Hospital, we have worked to create a higher visibility for the safety issues facing our playgrounds. For the fourth year Friends of the Parks and Injury Free Coalition for Kids have surveyed the conditions of 511 children’s playgrounds in the Chicago Park District – and have advocated for change to create safer play environments.
If you are unsure of the safety of the children’s playground in your neighborhood, here are some things to look for.
Public Playground Safety Checklist
- Make sure surfaces around playground equipment have at least 12 inches of wood chips, mulch, sand, or pea gravel, or have mats made of safety-tested rubber or rubber-like materials.
- Check that protective surfacing extends at least 6 feet in all directions from play equipment. For swings, be sure surfacing extends, in back and front, twice the height of the suspending bar.
- Make sure play structures more than 30 inches high are spaced at least 9 feet apart.
- Check for dangerous hardware, like open “S” hooks or protruding bolt ends.
- Make sure spaces that could trap children, such as openings in guardrails or between ladder rungs, measure less than 3.5 inches or more than 9 inches.
- Check for sharp points or edges in equipment.
- Look out for tripping hazards, like exposed concrete footings, tree stumps, and rocks.
- Make sure elevated surfaces, like platforms and ramps, have guardrails to prevent falls.
- Check playgrounds regularly to see that equipment and surfacing are in good condition.
- Carefully supervise children on playgrounds to make sure they’re safe.
The most common hazard found in Chicago’s playgrounds is # 1 on the safety checklist, playgrounds which lack the minimum of 12 inches of soft-surface material can cause the most danger to children and is the most easiest to document and observe. Having cushion on which to fall can prevent emergency visits to the hospital.
Check your playground for these issues and contact Friends of the Parks, or your park supervisor to address your concerns. If you don’t know how to contact your park supervisor, call Friends of the Parks at 312-857-2757.
