Best Tips for Summer Safety

Summer is just around the corner, and for early education programs, this means spending more time outside whether on the playground, going on field trips, or pulling out the wading pools among others. Along with the beautiful weather come increased safety hazards. First programs must ensure that staffs plan for the weather. This memo from the Department of Children and Families, (http://dcf.wisconsin.gov/memos/BRL/2011/2011_05_attachment2.pdf ), provides complete guidelines on comfortable temperatures for all ages, humidity, warnings and advisories, and other noteworthy considerations. This form can be posted in each classroom and hand out to parents and all other program stakeholders. Additionally, programs must reassess their outdoor environments, ensure all state licensing requirements are met, and more importantly provide a nice shade to protect children from the sun. Remember to put sunscreen on the children over 6 month old, hats, and have plenty of water available for children to drink. And, as always supervise, supervise and supervise some more! For further information on playground safety, check out in the National Program for Playground Safety( 2013) at http://www.playgroundsafety.org/.

Another summer activity that children love is swimming. Some of our best tips on water safety come from Safety Kids Worldwide at http://www.safekids.org/watersafety. Safe Kids USA (n.d) has flyers that can be posted or distributed to parents. The website has wonderful tips that take into account infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and children with special needs. They also look at water safety in different environments (e.g., home, pool, boating, and open water). The message is clear:  never leave a child unattended; drowning happens in as little as one inch of water for babies, and it only takes few minutes for a child to drown. As always, follow your licensing requirements especially in adult-to-child ratio.

Finally yet importantly, Fieldtrips are amazing ways to provide hands-on and meaningful learning experiences for children and summer really is the best time to go on field trips. Teachers can effectively conduct fun and educational fieldtrips using the following guidelines from (Walsh, 2004). This article can be found at http://www.ucsfchildcarehealth.org/pdfs/healthandsafety/fieldtripsen070604_adr.pdf. The article provides a comprehensive look at field trip safety from planning, maintaining basic hygiene, tracking children’s whereabouts, and staffing requirements among others. Teachers must focus on supervising children and complying with licensing requirements (e.g., ratio, never to leave a child unattended in a vehicle and ensuring temperature is comfortable for both children and adults). I love the idea of designating a teacher to double-check your vehicle to ensure all the children are accounted for.

If you did not find your favorite tips here, share your favorite tip with me.

References

Iowa Department of Public Health. (n.d). Summer Weather Watch . Retrieved April 2013, 2013, from http://dcf.wisconsin.gov/memos/BRL/2011/2011_05_attachment2.pdf

National Program for Playground Safety. (2013). Playground Head to Toe Safety. Retrieved May 04, 2013, from http://www.playgroundsafety.org/safety-tips/head-toe-safety

Safe Kids USA. (n.d). Water safety. Retrieved April 06, 2013, from http://www.safekids.org/sites/default/files/documents/Water-Safety.pdf

Walsh, E. (2004, July). Field Trip Safety Tips. Berkeley : California Childcare Health Program.