Playing Indoors & Outdoors Safely
Health and children……glue them together please!!
I’m sure every mother wishes that. Until our children are good enough to lead a life on their own, parents do a lot to keep their children healthy. However when they are young and are ready to explore the world through their adventurous and unbelievable imagination, health is one thing that is at risk.
Indoor Safety
While we may crave to keep our children in front of our eyes all the time so that we may know what they are up to and that they don’t hurt themselves, children need their own space to explore the world. Talking about indoors this is one place we can have certain amount of control over the activities they want to engage themselves in.
It is totally upon us parents to make sure that our children are not exposed to danger or unhygienic conditions. Keeping an environment at home that is safe for children to explore is essential. Not to forget, children are of curious nature and eager to grab and experience everything they see. This calls for a safety check at home.
– Making sure that sharp and breakable items are out of their reach.
– All medications and poisonous products are kept in locked cabinets.
– Edges and corners are covered.
– Broken or small toys and pieces should be given only under supervision.
– Stairs, doors and windows are provided with barriers to prevent falling.
– Making sure the utensils they use are cleaned.
Outdoor Safety
Children need to be in contact with the natural world so that they are able to socialize and learn about the world and its ways. However the conditions today may not be appropriate to let children do it all alone. There are more security issues now which is scary for parents even to let their child roam about in the neighborhood without the supervision of an adult.
The environment you are letting your children play around in is very important because every aspect influences their personality. You do not want them to encounter immoral and negative influences. But it is also important to let children out because this is a very important part of the growing up process.
When they are out, try to limit them to an area where you are able to see them properly. Since outdoors allow children to move about freely they tend to do all sorts of things they can. They will run, jump around, fall at different places. While we may not be able to control them we can equip them with protective gear so they do not hurt themselves much.
One thing that I am learning in this process is that you have to allot time to your children when they are playing outdoors. 1 to 2 hours are more than enough for their exploration.
Let me share a very important hadith that I came across related to letting children out to play at night.
[quote]Prophet SAW said, “When the wings of night spread or when evening comes, keep your children in, for the devils come out at that time. Then when part of the night has passed, let them go.” (Bukhari, 22)[/quote]For a parent who is as conscious about letting children play outside like me setting boundaries can give you piece of mind and the children ample time to grow up with experience.
[divider]Sadaf Siddique
Sadaf Siddique holds a degree in Computers and a Masters in Business Administration. She is the mother of a 2-year-old boy, a part-time writer and a full-time homemaker.