We've been going to our neighborhood playground first thing in the morning and making sure we bring hand sanitizer with us. Up until a few weeks ago, we were doing swings only, and wiping down the chains with a clorox wipe. Now we just do hand sanitizer afterwards.

Go early in the morning or during younger kids “nap time” in the afternoon. Use hand sanitizer before and after. If it gets too crowded, leave. I’ve taken my 5 and 1 year olds to 2 playgrounds since they opened in VA on Friday and it was fine. Have fun!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:JFC. Your kid has been outside 10 times since March?

Go to the MFing playground, for god’s sake! Wash the kid’s hands before and after.

Also take a Xanax.

+1

There is no award for locking your kid inside for months.

+2 That's really extreme. You can still do so many outdoor activities safely.

Anonymous wrote:We are tempting to take 1 child to outdoor playground starting this weekend because MoCo opens phase 2 this Friday. Anyway to increase safety? Helicopter child to make sure she is not touching her face? Change clothing inside car right away after she is done with playground? Or put plastic cover over car seat? Bring a bunch of wipes to wipe his hand after done? Or go at odd hours & weekdays when kids are less likely to be there? Or just play swing, no slide?
Which playground Is better?

My child has not really left the house since mid-March, except only probably 10 walks in the neighborhood.

That’s so sad! Why?? No bike riding, playing sports outside, sprinkler, or anything? They should have outside time daily.

Anonymous wrote:JFC. Your kid has been outside 10 times since March?

Go to the MFing playground, for god’s sake! Wash the kid’s hands before and after.

Also take a Xanax.

+1

There is no award for locking your kid inside for months.

Took DS4 to playground in Virginia at 5 pm last Saturday. It was great! One family was just leaving. Three other families came but everyone was staying apart. When we were on the swings, other kids were in the sandbox, etc. so never closer than 20 feet away. Did not wipe anything down. Washed our hands with soap and water when we came home. Just go when it is not crowded.

JFC. Your kid has been outside 10 times since March?

Go to the MFing playground, for god’s sake! Wash the kid’s hands before and after.

Also take a Xanax.

Anonymous wrote:Wiping down surfaces is somewhat overrated. Sure, do it you if you can, particularly any surfaces that are likely to be near their mouth (e.g., a baby swing), but that's not the big ticket item.

COVID is spread primarily through inhaled respiratory droplets. The most effective thing you can do would be to keep your child away from other kids.

So, go to an empty playground. If other kids show up and start invading your personal space, move to a different part of the playground, even if that means you can't really wipe it down. There's far greater benefit to avoiding close interactions than you'd lose by not wiping down surfaces.

So in other words, my reaction from reading the OPs post is that they're focused on the wrong things.

+1 15:08 here, and I agree. It's not the equipment you need to worry about.

Wiping down surfaces is somewhat overrated. Sure, do it you if you can, particularly any surfaces that are likely to be near their mouth (e.g., a baby swing), but that's not the big ticket item.

COVID is spread primarily through inhaled respiratory droplets. The most effective thing you can do would be to keep your child away from other kids.

So, go to an empty playground. If other kids show up and start invading your personal space, move to a different part of the playground, even if that means you can't really wipe it down. There's far greater benefit to avoiding close interactions than you'd lose by not wiping down surfaces.

So in other words, my reaction from reading the OPs post is that they're focused on the wrong things.

I would think swings are safer than other equipment, provided that there isn't another family/child adjacent to you. I feel that if local playgrounds roped off every other swing I would consider them (and we've been super cautious so far), as it is the easiest equipment to sanitize (I'd just spray with alcohol before we used the swing). There's no way to really sanitize other equipment given how many surfaces are touched, and it would be harder to keep distance from other kids. I should note that the city of alexandria is opening playgrounds, but ALSO advises parents to disinfect all playground surfaces before and after touching them. Really do not see how that is possible, so it suggests that they are opening but don't really believe they can do what's necessary to make them safe.

We just went to our neighborhood playground last night. The kids were so excited! I told them not to lick the slide, and that was it.

That said, it was completely vacant. I think the problem is not with the virus living on playground equipment. I think the problem is with how crowded a playground may be. And with everyone coming out of hibernation desperate for something to do, and lots of places closed, then the crowds at playgrounds are going to make me nervous. But not the equipment itself.

I would start with a neighborhood playground that is not a destination.

I took my child to an empty playground and let her swing. I wiped the swing down first. Then I let her climb up to slide a couple of times and wiped her hands and sanitized right away. I felt nervous even though we were the only ones there and stayed for only 10 minutes.

We just went to one of the state parks in MD that has been open for a few weeks. It wasn't crowded, although there were other families there. We sanitized hands just before getting in the car, and that was it.

My takeaway is that if not super crowded playgrounds are major sources of outbreaks, we know almost nothing about how COVID spreads. Between the constant movement of kids and the natural elements, everything we know about transmission, especially between kids, suggests that they're very low risk.

Go when it is not crowded and sanitize right after. It will be fine, even if he touches his face.

As we learn more, we need to adapt. We are learning that the primary mode of transmissions is from person to person, masks are very helpful for adults, and kids are not primary vectors.

We plan to bring scissors (to cut the fencing and ties) to our local park at 5:01 on Friday - can’t wait!

We are tempting to take 1 child to outdoor playground starting this weekend because MoCo opens phase 2 this Friday. Anyway to increase safety? Helicopter child to make sure she is not touching her face? Change clothing inside car right away after she is done with playground? Or put plastic cover over car seat? Bring a bunch of wipes to wipe his hand after done? Or go at odd hours & weekdays when kids are less likely to be there? Or just play swing, no slide?
Which playground Is better?

My child has not really left the house since mid-March, except only probably 10 walks in the neighborhood.