To ask if you will let your children use playgrounds?

[PickACoolUserName]

Playgrounds are opening next week and already I've heard from a few parents who are saying they won't let their children anywhere near them.

DS has been desperate to go and I'm of the opinion that the risk is very, very, low. Just wondering what other people's thoughts are?

People have been using local parks already. I'm taking mine to skate park tomorrow

Just been to a local park for my walk and children were in the locked playground with their parents. The fence is not high and they are climbing over/lifting their kids over. It wasn't just one family so people are already using them.

Yes, I will let them use them. We have hand sanitizer. It has been horrible walking past chained up, taped off play equipment and I am looking forward to that being over.

Absolutely yes.

I've seen so many under 5s running up to the locked gates of our local playground and looking wistful. It's wonderful to think about them being able to go in again.

Yanbu to ask.

Have you heard of the Chat topic?

Absolutely - we’ll be queuing up at the gates, as will pretty much all of my friends with toddlers/small children. They’ve been closed for long enough.

I'll be delighted to see them open again. DS 14 is past the park stage but I remember what a godsend they were when he was an active toddler and youngster.
I'm happy to see the golf clubs back in use, but I'll be even happier when I see the swings going again

Yes of course. We need to start letting children be children again abs show them the world still exists!
Be sensible and wash hands before and after and don't go out of you have symptoms.
We can't hide away forever.

Absolutely! DS has been asking when it will be open and why it's shut when other things are open now. We'll be there as soon as the gates are unlocked again. Cleaning wipes for handles and some hand sanitizer, job done.

I will also be renewing my zoo membership asap, now that the playground will be open and we can spend a full day there (soon!).

If wools can sit on park benches and picnic benches to eat after another family have done then a playground outdoors seems as much the same if not lower risk

It’s ridiculous they weren’t opened sooner when they said children were unlikely to be spreaders

Absolutely. And the Sea Life centre, and the library. It’ll be so good to have options for things to do.

Common sense is needed if you go and its busy leave it and go later on take hand gel so kids an keep hands clean if it starts to get busy leave. There's one park by me that never got locked up I've been taking my children there for half hour if people there already we go later on kids are fine with that.

Bit over the top, considering loads of kids are back at school and certainly a lot of younger ones aren’t social distancing at all. Lots of kids mental health is terrible due to isolation, it’s down to parents to make individual decisions that are best for their child

What is the point of going to all the palaver of bubbles, finding non-contact games etc if half the kids are going to be playing out with multiple other families all weekend? So selfish, and makes the extra work and sacrifices of others bloody pointless.

We'll be going, although I'll be trying to figure out a fairly quiet time, as I imagine they will be mobbed for a while.

Absolutely yes. The risk is from Primark, IKEA and inside pubs.

Shameful that two of the above were open before kids playgrounds.

What is the point of going to all the palaver of bubbles, finding non-contact games etc if half the kids are going to be playing out with multiple other families all weekend?

Well take that up with the government, who have allowed the reopening of playgrounds.
We’ve got to get back to some sort of normal eventually. You can’t call people selfish for doing things that the government have permitted them to do.

You'd need an exceptionally poor grasp of science to still consider parks a risk,

^this

Yesterday I found a playground which wasn’t locked and was full of very happy children, I’ll be taking mine tomorrow.

The risk is from Primark, IKEA and inside pubs

Not Selfridges, Waterstones or restaurants? Just the ‘lower class’ places?

Yesssssssssss

The risk is from Primark, IKEA

^it’s really not - the risk is from hospitals & care homes! I’ve been to ikea & primark recently & didn’t get within two metres of anyone except when paying which was contactless behind a screen ... that must’ve taken all of a minute. I used hand sanitiser before & after entering the shop and didn’t touch my face. My chance of encountering the virus was staggeringly low let alone the risk of actually becoming ill if I did contract it.

Inside pubs I’m not sure about yet - outdoors I’m not even remotely concerned.

Playgrounds should never have been closed.

Yes I would - and will be!

Just wash hands when you get home or take wipes or sanitising gel with you

Yes, mine will wear some woolly gloves and I’ll sanitise their hands regularly, it’s outside and as long as it’s nit too busy should be fairly safe.

Personally no, but my children don’t actually like playgrounds that much. They would rather run around on the grass / in the forest so it’s not a big deal for them to go without for a bit longer.

I’m a teacher and our guidance for early years makes it clear we need to clean large equipment between different ‘bubbles’ of children so not too many children share it. When this is relaxed I’ll be happy for my children to use playgrounds again.

My ds has been playing in our local playground for a week or so as everyone else was.
Let's face it , they've always been hotspots for germs ! By rights kids should be catching bugs regularly from these places , but they never do !