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Play

Each year, more than 100 children are killed and nearly 12,000 are seriously injured on U.S. farms. The highest rate of injuries involves children younger than 10 years old who were playing in the worksite. To prevent these injuries, create, use, and maintain a safe play area on your farm. More information is available below.

Leading Causes of Injury to Non-Working Children on Farms

Deaths

  • Runover as bystander
  • Runover as passenger
  • Drowning

Hospitalized Injury

  • Fall from heights
  • Machinery entanglement
  • Animal (falls, struck by, crushed by)

Medically Treated Injury

  • Animal (falls, struck by, crushed by)
  • Falls from heights

Preventing Injuries to Non-Working Children

Prohibit access to the farm worksite

Keep kids away from tractors

Install passive physical barriers

  • Fence water hazards
  • Install fall protection in haylofts
  • Fence animal enclosures
  • Install barriers around machinery and vehicle compounds
  • Build a safe play area

Institute safe storage practices

  • Don’t lean large objects (tires, water troughs, etc) against walls
  • Put away tools and sharps

Identify child care alternatives

Develop and enforce consistent rules for recreational activities

Safe Play

Playing is an important means for children to develop physically, emotionally, socially, and intellectually. Different types of play activities influence these attributes of development. An ideal play area blends activities matched to the developmental stages and abilities of children. Click the thumbnails below to learn more.


How to Use Resources (English)

Click here to open the How to Use Resources PDF in Spanish.

Don’t Mix Worksite and Child Care (English)

Click here to open the Don't Mix Worksite and Child Care prevention brief PDF in English.

Child Development and Play (English)

Click here to open the Child Development and Play PDF in English.

Creating Safe Play Areas (English)

Click here to open the Creating Safe Play Areas on Farms PDF in English.

Creating Safe Play Areas – Mini Edition (Spanish)

Click here to open the Creating Safe Play Areas on Farms Mini Edition PDF in Spanish.

Safe Play Areas (English)

Click here to open the Safe Play Areas PDF in English.

Play Ideas (English)

Click here to open the Play Ideas PDF in English.

Fencing (English)

Click here to open the Fencing PDF in English.

Groundcover (English)

Click here to open the Groundcover Comparison and Recommendations PDF in English.

Bean Bag Toss (English)

Click here to open the Bean Bag Toss PDF in English.

Giant Connect Four (English)

Click here to open the Giant Connect Four PDF in English.

Giant Jenga (English)

Click here to open the Giant Jenga PDF in English.

One Hole Bag Toss (English)

Click here to open the One Hole Bag Toss PDF in English.

Safe Play Basics

Click here to open the Safe Play Basics page in the current tab.