10 Commandments of Playground Etiquette

As the days are getting warmer, I find myself wanting to get out and explore more and more. We are spending lots of time outdoors, at the park, picnicking and just enjoying ourselves.

After a visit to a local park last week, I feel the need for a gentle reminder of a few guidelines that will make everyone's experience all the better.

So, my "10 Commandments of Playground Etiquette." Because we all just want to get along.


 I: Thou shalt not eat on the playground.
There seems to be two main detractors from this etiquette rule. The 10-year olds who eat their sandwiches while staking a claim on the swings or the merry-go-round or at the bottom of the slide, thus monopolizing that particular piece of playground equipment, or the 2-year-old snackers who munch on Goldfish and Ritz crackers, leaving bits and bites and crumbs in their wake.

We take picnics and snacks to the park all the time. I get it, kids need to eat. But they need to get off the playground equipment when they do so. Letting your kids eat on the equipment makes the park messy and sticky, leaves bits of food here and there to be discovered and snacked on by exploring little ones and/or makes equipment not available for other kids to play on who are not currently eating.

Urban and landscape designers were employed at high rates to design your neighborhood park. Picnic tables, benches and grassy knolls were added in for a reason. Use them.

II: Thou shalt share thy toys aplenty

If you do not want to share your child's new sandbox toys, do not bring the entire 10-piece set to the playground. When other kids see toys aplenty, they want to play. If your kid's not the sharing type, or you want to keep track of all the toys you bring, limit it to two to three per child. They can only play with that many at one time anyway.

If you bring a ton of toys, expect other kids to want to play. Make sure they're labeled or identifiable in some way and know how many you bring so you can be sure that you bring the same one's home.



That being said, a child's bucket is sacred ground. If there is only one available, we do not expect him/her to share it.

Curious about the rest of the commandments?  Click here to read the rest at momaha.com . . .