Keeping Kids Safe While Having Fun
There’s no hiding our excitement. Summer is jam-packed with our favourite activities. From swimming and camping to backyard barbecues, road hockey and fireworks, summer is a great time to be a kid (or a kid at heart)!
Summer is a time where we make memories with our family, friends and loved ones. It’s a time for laughter, sun and whole lot of fun. That’s why safety is so important. When we look back on the summer months, we want our memories to be happy and injury-free.
There’s still a few weeks left in the summer and we know families will be taking full advantage of the time they have left. That’s why the Stop-it! team pulled together some of the best safety tips to help keep your family and kids safe as you enjoy the final days of summer. Let’s take a look!
Safety Tips: Swimming Pool Fun
- Always have adult supervision while kids enjoy the water
- Keep rescue equipment and a phone close by just in case
- Teach your kids how to use to the safety equipment and who to call if something goes wrong
- Think about enrolling your children in CPR classes
- Set ground rules when it comes to running, diving and other favourite pool-time games like Marco-Polo
- Keep gates to the pool area locked when you aren’t home
- Ensure those who may not be great swimmers are using the proper safety equipment like floaties or a life jacket
Safety Tips for Summer Fireworks
- Keep fireworks out of the hands of young children
- Discuss the dangers of fireworks with your children
- Teach kids how to properly hold sparklers because even though they seem harmless, they can cause injuries if not handled properly
- Keep everyone at a safe distance when enjoying the show
- Be sure to discard the fireworks in an appropriate manner – especially those that mis-fired
- Keep a hose or bucket of water close by just in case
Trampoline Safety Tips
- Flips should be avoided at all times
- There should only be a maximum of two people enjoying the trampoline at a time but ideally it would be only one child to avoid collisions
- Children younger than 5 shouldn’t use a trampoline unless under very close adult supervision
- Ensure the steel frame and springs are covered with padding
- Children should always be supervised
- Jumping should be in the centre of the trampoline and not by the sides
Sharing Your Safety Tips: Help Keep Kids Safe Everywhere
The summertime is one of our most favourite times of year. While these months are perfect for enjoying many outdoor activities, we have to keep safety front of mind.
Keeping our kids safe starts with building awareness about the potential dangers of our favourite activities. Do you have any tips that you think other parents could benefit from? Share them with our network on Twitter or Facebook ! We’d love to hear from you as your ideas might just help keep kids across Canada and North America safer this summer.
Added Summer Safety: The Stop-it! Safety Net
Summer is often filled with kids playing basketball, road hockey or hopscotch in the driveway. It’s a popular place for some of our favourite activities and sports. Did you know our fully retractable and stackable safety net can be easily installed on your driveway or at your local park to help increase safety? See how it works, what other parents are saying and buy yours today! It’s a great way to add a little extra safety this summer.