Keeping Childcare Spaces Safe

Young children explore with their hands and mouths, and they do not yet understand danger. A safe room does not stay safe on its own. Toys break, visitors leave things behind, and weather changes the playground overnight. Your job is to look at the space the way a child does, and to fix what you find before children arrive.

Licensing rules for buildings, playgrounds and equipment vary by state, and your state's rule wins. This guide teaches the checks and habits that apply almost everywhere.

What You Will Be Able to Do

• Run a daily safety sweep indoors and outdoors
• Identify the main injury risks for each age group
• Spot choking, strangulation, poisoning and burn hazards in a normal classroom
• Check a playground before children use it
• Decide what to fix now, what to block off and what to report

Why Daily Checks Matter

Most injuries in care happen in a few predictable ways, and each one has a matching way to prevent it:

Development affects risk. A baby who starts crawling reaches outlets and cords for the first time. A toddler who starts climbing can reach shelves you thought were out of reach. Each time a child learns a new skill, ask what they can now get to.

The Indoor Sweep

Walk every space children will use before they arrive. Get low. Kneel at the height of a toddler, because you will see things you miss while standing.

1. Floors. Pick up small objects, coins, broken crayons, staples, loose beads and anything else that fits in a mouth.
2. Outlets and cords. Outlet covers in place, no cords within reach, no extension cords across walkways.
3. Furniture. Shelves, cubbies and dressers anchored to the wall, nothing loose or wobbly, no sharp corners at child height.
4. Windows. Guards or stops so windows above the ground floor open no more than 4 inches. Blind cords out of reach, or cordless blinds. These cords can strangle a child.
5. Heat. Radiators, pipes and heaters covered or blocked. Hot water at child sinks kept to your state limit, which is often 120 degrees F or lower.
6. Chemicals and medicine. Cleaners, sanitizer, medicine, staff purses and bags locked away or out of reach. This includes spray bottles left on a counter for just a minute.
7. Doors and gates. Latches work, stair gates are closed and mounted firmly, and exits stay clear.
8. Water. Buckets are empty, toilet lids are down, and no water is standing anywhere.
9. Emergency information. Emergency numbers, including Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222, and your address are posted by every phone.

Use a written checklist if your program has one. Sign and date it. A checklist that gets filled in without a walk-through protects no one, and an inspector can usually tell.

Toys and Materials

Children under 3 put things in their mouths, so check every toy, and check it again as it wears.

• Small parts. If a toy or a piece of a toy fits inside a toilet paper tube, treat it as a choking risk for a child under 3. The federal test cylinder is smaller, at 1.25 inches wide, so the tube is a quick check that errs on the safe side.
• Button batteries and magnets. Swallowed button batteries can burn through tissue within hours, and swallowed magnets can pull together inside the gut. Tape battery doors shut, remove anything with loose magnets, and treat a suspected swallow as an emergency.
• Balloons. Uninflated or broken latex balloons are a serious choking hazard for young children. Keep them out of the room.
• Plastic bags and wrap. Keep them out of reach. They can cover the nose and mouth.
• Strings. Remove cords longer than a few inches from toys, dress-up clothes and hoods. Keep necklaces and teething cords off children during sleep and play.
• Broken toys. Pull them out at once. A cracked toy can have sharp edges or small pieces.
• Recalls. Check donated and secondhand items against the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recall list at cpsc.gov.
• Art materials. Use non-toxic supplies meant for children, and read the label.

Sanitize toys that go in mouths after each use, following your program's schedule. Use only products that your program approves for that purpose, and store them where children cannot reach them.

Cleaning on a Schedule

A clean room is part of a safe room. Cleaning removes dirt, sanitizing lowers germs to a safer level, and disinfecting kills nearly all germs on a surface. Clean first, because sanitizers and disinfectants work poorly on dirty surfaces. Your state and program set the schedule, and a typical one looks like this:

Children should be out of the area while you use strong products. Follow the label on every product, and never mix chemicals.

Plants, Pets and Visitors

Some common houseplants and yard plants are poisonous. Find out which plants are in your space before you put a new one in a room. Your Poison Control center can tell you whether a plant is toxic.

Animals bring bites, allergies and germs. Reptiles and live poultry can carry Salmonella, and your state may limit which animals are allowed around young children. Follow your program's rules, and wash hands after any contact with animals.

Keep doors secured. Every visitor should sign in, and an unknown adult should not be walking through a classroom alone.

The Outdoor Check

Check the play area before children go out, every day. Conditions change overnight: people cut through, animals visit, and storms leave debris.

1. Fence and gates. No gaps, gates latched, and latches out of a child's reach.
2. Ground. Pick up glass, litter, sharp objects, mushrooms and anything left behind. Remove animal waste, and keep sandboxes covered when not in use.
3. Equipment. Look for broken parts, loose bolts, cracks, rust, splinters and exposed ends. Shake it. Close off anything broken with a barrier, and report it.
4. Surfacing. Check that there is enough loose fill, such as engineered wood fiber or rubber mulch, under and around equipment, and that it has not been kicked away from slides and swings. The surface must extend beyond the equipment. The CPSC playground handbook sets a use zone of at least 6 feet in all directions around most equipment. Swings need more room, and some toddler equipment in a fenced program area can need less, such as 3 feet around a toddler slide. Concrete, asphalt, packed dirt and grass do not protect a falling child.
5. Heat. Touch slides, metal parts and dark rubber in the sun. They can burn skin, especially on hot days.
6. Pests and water. Look for insect nests, standing water and puddles.
7. Shade and drinking water. Plan for shade, and bring water out for active play.

Warning: Take off helmets, bike gear and drawstrings before children use climbing equipment. They can catch on equipment and strangle a child.

Weather matters too. Children heat up faster than adults. Limit outdoor time during extreme heat, cold or poor air quality, and follow your program's policy. Apply sunscreen only with the family's written permission, and keep hats on infants. Babies under 6 months should stay out of direct sun.

Fix It, Block It or Report It

When you find a hazard, use this order:

1. Fix it if it is quick and safe to do, such as picking up glass with gloves or tightening a gate latch that only needs a turn.
2. Block it if you cannot fix it. Take the toy out of the room, or close off the equipment so no child can use it.
3. Report it to your director in writing, and tell the staff who use that space. Follow up if nothing happens.

Do not make repairs that need a qualified person. Electrical problems, gas smells and structural damage go straight to your director, and children move away from the area.

Safe Space Habits Through the Day

A morning check does not cover the rest of the day. Build these habits into your routine:

• Close gates and cabinet locks every time, even if you will be right back.
• Keep hot drinks in the staff area, away from children, in a closed cup.
• Wipe spills at once, and use a wet floor sign in halls.
• Keep your own bag in a locked cubby. A single pill or vape cartridge can harm a child.
• Scan the floor after art and snack, when small things tend to land.
• Teach children short safety rules, such as "walking feet," but never rely on a child to remember them.

Common Mistakes

Check Your Understanding

1. During a morning walk-through, you find a loose battery cover on a musical toy. The battery is still in place. What do you do?

Pull the toy out of the room right away and report it. If the battery is a button cell, this is a serious swallowing risk. Do not put it back until the cover is secured or the toy is replaced.

2. It is a sunny day, and a metal slide feels hot on your hand. Children are heading outside. What do you do?

Keep children off the slide. Block it off or move play to a shaded area until it cools, and tell the other adults outside.

3. You find that wood chips under the swing have been kicked away, leaving hard dirt below. What do you do?

Close off the swing, rake the chips back if you can do that safely, and report it. Packed dirt does not protect a child from a fall, and the area may need more fill.

4. A parent donates a bag of toys for the toddler room. What do you check before they go on the shelf?

Look for small parts, broken pieces, strings and batteries. Check for recalls at cpsc.gov. Clean and sanitize what you keep. Follow your program's rule on accepting donations.

Key Takeaways

• Walk the space before children arrive, and look at it from a child's height
• Keep small items, cords, chemicals and medicine out of reach at all times
• Button batteries, magnets, balloons and plastic bags need special attention
• Check the playground every day for overnight hazards and worn surfacing
• If you cannot fix a hazard, block it and report it in writing
• Each new skill a child learns changes what is dangerous for them