I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have a serious case of spring fever, which can translate into “playground fever.” I have been chauffeuring children around getting them to school, the golf course, the playground and soccer field. It’s getting closer to summer break, and I’m ready to enjoy the great outdoors and leave winter behind. No doubt parents and children across the country are gearing up to do the same.
As I go through my daily list of activities, as a mother of three boys, I’m spending more and more time at the playground and soccer field watching my own children and others come up with new games like “roll your brother down the hill,” and, unfortunately, once in a while “push your brother off the slide.” Seeing this, one of the first things that come to my mind is their safety, with the doctor bill coming in at a very close second.
This makes me glad that we have programs to help raise safety awareness for parents, teachers, caregivers and most of all, children. The fact is, there are only so many adults to go around on the playground as far as supervision goes, so children need to be educated as well so they can have a safe play experience.
Slyde the Playground Hound created a lot of excitement making an appearance at a local school recently to help promote playground safety. Our cover feature photos are from that visit, and what an impact he made. Now Slyde knows how the Beatles must have felt. He didn’t just get applause…there were screams of excitement following him. He seemed to be a major hit with everyone lucky enough to visit with him.
The great thing about Slyde’s program is that he puts safety on the children’s level. They need someone to convey the need for safety and how easy it is to be safe on their terms. I was very impressed with how easy it was for Slyde to accomplish this.
The children were mesmerized by him, and it didn’t take long for him to have them doing the conga across the playground. This just drove home to me that they want to follow him in whatever he does and seem to be onboard immediately with what he has to say and what he represents. What a great tool.
Getting Slyde in the classroom plays a huge part in promoting playground safety. With that in mind, he made a grand appearance in Weekly Reader this past April and reached over 750,000 children at once! Talk about effectiveness. You can read more about this in this issue.
In addition to all of the excitement provided by Slyde and the joint effort going into the Play Smart, Play Safe campaign, I’m equally excited to have recently been moved into the position of editor of Today’s Playground magazine. I can see what a positive role the combined efforts of the publication, manufacturers and non-profit organizations play in the future of the playground industry and with promoting playground safety and education for all who enjoy playgrounds.
With that said, I’m looking forward to hearing from you to give me a feel for what you would like to see in the magazine. Give me a call at 208 542-2271, or drop me a line at [email protected]. I am forward to getting to know you and helping move the playground industry forward while promoting safety and education for our children.
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