Which household items are safe or should be avoided for children?
You all know the scenario – your child has lots of different toys to play with but none of them are interested enough – Am I right? Especially some items that are lying around in the house catch the child’s attention, but they could be dangerous. In this article, we would like to mention the 10 most loved household items of a child, and we would like to let you know if they are safe for them to play with or not.
- TV Remote Control
Did you forget to hide the remote control from your child after watching last night’s tv program? The colorful control with all those buttons catch the children’s eye immediately when they are seeing it – especially after finding out that the TV turns on and off when they press specific buttons. As a parent you have no chance to take away the remote because if you do the child will be most likely to burst into tears. Nevertheless, a tv control consists of many small pieces that can be extremely dangerous. Furthermore, most controls use lithium-ion batteries that should not get any close to a child.
Tip
Buy your child a child-friendly remote-control toy. Those are often even more colorful and make sounds that catch children’s attention.
- Keys
Do you quickly want to distract your child but do not have anything close by? Many parents often choose their keys to entertain their kids for a brief second as they are very shiny and make an amazing sound. But you should watch out! Keys are often made from brass or nickel-plated brass, which is dangerous for children if they put it in their mouths. Furthermore, the sharp edges can be extremely dangerous as children might accidentally smash the key against their eyes.
Tip
BPA – free plastic toy keys are not as shiny as metal keys but much safer for your child to play with.
- Recycling Bins
A big container stuffed with all sorts of colorful trash – could it get any more exciting and curious for children? Probably not as it all makes nice sounds and looks remarkably interesting. Nevertheless, children should not play with recycling bins as it is the center of germs and bacteria.
- Tissues
Pulling tissues all over out of the tissue box brings a huge smile to your child’s face. Children often put the tissues in their mouths and some children even try to eat the papers. No worries, as long as the tissues are clean ther is nothing harmful about it as long as they do it sometimes and not on a regular basis.
- Pet Toys
Why playing with their own toys if children enjoy playing with their pet toys even more? Sharing is caring, am I right? Well not really! Animals carry a lot of bacteria from outside in their mouth. If animals play with their toys, the bacteria settle on the toys. Therefore, you should be careful that your child does not play with the animals’ toys the same as the pet should not play with the children’s toys.
- Open Packages
Boxes are a fun item to play with. You could build houses, tunnels or take the box as a drawing board. Overall, if the box is empty and no plastic is inside, packages are safe to play with. Just make sure the box is empty before the child gets in contact with it.
- Food containers
When storing away food, make sure to put it on the upper shelve, so children are not able to reach it. If children can reach it, the containers might fall and most probably open. Children are very curious about the food that fell on the floor and would most probably like to try what was inside. That is not always such a clever idea as children could choke on those items or might even be allergic to some of them.
- Kitchenware
Kids love to play with wooden spoons, plastic bowls, or silicone spatulas. They often use those items to make loud noises in the entire house which lifts their mood massively. Nevertheless, children are often too young to understand when a situation can be dangerous and when it is not. If you let them play with a pan during the day, and in the afternoon, you cook some food in the pan, children will not understand why suddenly they are not allowed to touch the pan anymore. If you cook in the pan, the pan will be hot and that would be a danger for children.
- Baby Lotion
To distract your child while changing the diaper, parents often give them a bottle or a tube of baby lotion in their hand. The lotion itself is harmless as it is made especially for babies. Nevertheless, the unscrewed cap could be risky for children as they could choke on it. To be on the safe side, choose other items for them to play with instead of baby lotion.
- Dirty laundry
A big mountain of clothes seems super fun to jump into, but children should especially not play with dirty clothes. Dirty clothes have often lots of bacteria inside from body fluids and therefore they should be avoided for children. If you decide for yourself there is nothing dirty in the laundry, then let your child play in it for a while if they want to but as advice, give them a bath later to make sure they do not go to sleep with germs on their body.
Overall, it can be said that most dangerous household items have a suitable alternative for children to play with. Make sure to always keep an eye on your child when they are playing. To keep your house child-safe room by room, read our blog with useful tips.
Questions?
We at Arte Viva want to create a safe environment for children to grow and develop themselves. Therefore, we offer child safety solutions for kindergartens and schools. Nevertheless, for us safety in every environment is important, therefore, we wanted to share these useful tips with you to make sure that each child is safe at home!
To discover more of our products, have a look at our website, feel free to contact us or send us a request. We are happy to hear from you!