Childproofing Your Yard

Keeping Kids Safe In Your Yard

by Don Vandervort | September 1, 2016 | Yard | 0 Comments

In This Article: Child-Safe Play Structures Child-Friendly Ground Surfaces Child-Safe Outdoor Play Children have an amazing ability to ferret out anything that's potentially harmful. In your garden, if there's glass to be stepped on by a bare foot, a beehive to...

Plants That Are Dangerous to Kids

by Don Vandervort | September 1, 2016 | Yard | 0 Comments

In This Article: Toxic plants Injurious plants Tidbits from the plant kingdom—flowers, seeds, fruits, leaves, twigs, and bark—can look tempting enough to taste. But some can make a young body quite sick (though usually only if ingested in quantity), and a few...

Childproofing Decks & Porches

by Don Vandervort | September 1, 2016 | Rooms, Yard | 0 Comments

For a more elegant—though more expensive—solution, you can attach clear panels of acrylic or styrene plastic. These materials are sold by home improvement stores, which will...

Child Safety in Garage & Shop

by Don Vandervort | September 1, 2016 | Yard | 0 Comments

In This Article: Locking Shop & Garage Doors Organizing for Safety Fascinating tools and machinery make garages, garden sheds, storage areas, and workshops dangerously appealing to children. But unless you’re working on a special project with your child,...

Kids love the outdoors. Like plants and trees, they thrive on sun and fresh air. Outdoors, they can delight in the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations of nature. Being out in the real world is an important part of their development. (And, if you’ve ever been housebound with a toddler for more than a day or so, you know how important getting out is to parents, too!)

So that your child can play safely outdoors, you’ll want to make your yard and outdoor play areas as free as possible of hazards. And you’ll need to help your child learn to recognize and avoid dangerous objects, activities, and situations.

Even when your baby’s outdoor experiences are limited to sheltered rides in the stroller or to wriggles on a lawn blanket, you might as well get a head start on childproofing. Before you know it, baby will become an inquisitive toddler, testing and tasting everything within reach.

Some of the ways this chapter can help you childproof your garden and play area is by showing how to make your deck or porch into a safe outdoor play room; how to safeguard the garage and work areas; how to plan and create a fun, safe play yard and choose safe outdoor play equipment; how to protect your child from the swimming pool and other water features; and how to construct a reliable fence. You’ll also find a special feature on unsafe plants.