SAFE and Fun Playgrounds

Safe and Fun Playgrounds: A Handbook discusses safety in outdoor play environments and is a recommendation for schools and educators interested in the latest research on equipment, playground design, and play. It's written by the founders of the National Program for Playground Safety, and represents some eighty years of combined professional knowledge as it discusses basic rules for playground design and management and provides strategies for incorporating them into a child's overall educational process. From maintaining equipment to understanding dangerous surfaces and making modifications, this is a 'must' for any who are involved with kids and play.
Education Shelf, Midwest Book Review

Written by the founders of the National Program for Playground Safety, who share over 80 years of combined professional experience, Safe and Fun Playgrounds: A Handbook is a straightforward guide to creating, maintaining, and supervising children’s playgrounds that foster healthy cognitive, social-emotional, and physical development. Physical safety is given paramount importance (and incorporated into age-appropriate design choices as well as recommendations for fall surfacing), but the “fun” part of “safe and fun” is given its due as well. A wealth of appendices, including a supervisory checklist, an ADA accessibility checklist, routine safety/maintenance inspection checklists, and more round out this practical, “must-have” resource for schools, day care centers, and anyone involved in the creation of a public playground. Highly recommended!
Library Bookwatch

Informing, provocative, and comprehensive. Every elementary principal and preschool director should read this book; and they should take action on his/her playground using the information and checklists in the Appendix. There is no need for one more playground accident if playground safety is a priority and the principles in this book are followed.
Gesell Institute of Human Development