Inside Track May 06

Safety Guidelines for Children's Activities

Here at Group Publishing we produce a lot of resources for children's ministry, and we know from experience how important it is to follow safety guidelines for all children's activities. We thought it would be helpful if we shared some of those safety guidelines with you, our Church Volunteer Central members.

Choking Hazards

A 50-cent coin is about the same diameter as a young child's throat. It would be a good idea to keep a 50-cent coin with your teacher supplies so you can compare various objects to it that you might be using for activities. If it's hard to tell whether the object you're measuring is bigger, it's probably too small.
Hard candy, nuts, popcorn, and hard vegetable pieces (such as carrots) are potential hazards. These items should never be given to children who are younger than three years old.
It's okay to give olives, grapes, raisins, hot dogs, cherries, and chips to children who are age two and over, but only if they're cut in halves or quarters first. The danger with these foods has more to do with how children eat them. Many toddlers and preschoolers walk or bounce around when they eat them, and we remember how much fun it was to stuff as many as we could get in our mouths!
Children love to chew on latex balloons, so keep those off your list of supplies. Small pieces of rubber can become lodged in children's throats and block their breathing passages. Mylar balloons are good substitutes, and children love them.

Food Allergies

Because so many children are allergic to nuts, wheat, and dairy products, limit your use of them to no more than four times each every three months. For example, snack crafts might include two crafts using milk products, three using nuts, four using wheat-based flour (this includes most crackers and breads), and four using other ingredients.
Because some children have life-threatening allergies to peanut butter, it's best to avoid it. When peanut butter is on the supply list for the day, suggest an alternative such as cream cheese, frostings, fruit or chocolate-type cream toppings, honey, or nondairy whipped toppings. If nothing but peanut butter will work, include a secondary snack or activity. (Note: marshmallow cream is extremely messy in the classroom and you would probably be better off avoiding it.)

Other Hazards

Make sure your teachers and their helpers know about the hazards of using small plastic bags and trash bags. They seem like just the thing to protect children's clothing during crafts, but children do love to play with them in ways we didn't intend. The larger bags are fun to hide in, and the smaller bags are often chewed on. Constant supervision is a must!
Many 3- and 4-year-olds don't have the small motor skills needed to use scissors or other sharp objects safely and must be supervised closely during this part of the activity. As soon as that part of the activity is done, away go all the sharp things. Make sure they're all accounted for before you move on to your next activity.

Review these guidelines with your volunteers on a regular basis and make sure they have their own copies to read through with anyone who might be helping them out for a day.