SAFETY FILE

Play Safety: Household Materials, Ages, and Supervision

Every game on this site uses ordinary household materials. This page collects the safety guidance in one place so an adult can check a setup in a minute.

What this page is, and is not

This is practical guidance for adults setting up household play.

Supervision

• Under three: an adult is within arm's reach and playing along, not watching from across the room.
• Preschool: an adult sets up, explains, and stays in the same space with eyes on the game.
• School age: an adult sets up anything involving cutting or throwing, agrees on the rules with the players, and stays within sight and earshot.
• Mixed ages: supervise for the youngest child present. Materials that are fine for a seven-year-old may not be fine for the two-year-old who wanders in.
• Groups: agree with the other adults on who is watching before the children arrive.

Ages on this site are loose guides. You know the child in front of you.

Tools stay with adults

Knives, box cutters, sharp scissors, hot glue, and staplers are adult tools. Do the cutting before play starts, away from the children, and put the tool out of reach before anyone picks up a box. Cut edges of thick cardboard can be sharp, so run a hand along them and tape over any that catch.

Preparing boxes and packaging

1. Empty the box completely.
2. Remove plastic bags, air pillows, foam pieces, and packing peanuts. Thin plastic is a suffocation risk and small foam bits are a choking risk.
3. Pull out staples and cut away packing straps, string, and zip ties.
4. Peel off loose tape and tape loops.
5. Remove or black out shipping labels. They show a name and an address.
6. Check that the cardboard is clean and dry. Damp, moldy, or soiled boxes are not play material.
7. Look at secondhand boxes with extra care, since you do not know what they held.

Small parts and children under three

Children under three put things in their mouths. For them, and for any game where they might join:

• Use only objects clearly too big to fit in a mouth.
• No coins, marbles, beads, magnets, batteries, bottle caps, or small balls.
• No soft items filled with loose pellets or beans that could leak.
• No torn cardboard scraps left on the floor.
• Check stuffed animals for loose eyes and buttons.

What goes in a stack

• Yes: large soft objects, empty boxes and cartons, board books, plastic containers with lids on, rolled towels and socks.
• No: glass, ceramics, cans, tools, anything heavy enough to hurt a foot, anything with sharp corners or edges.
• Build on the floor and keep stacks low: no higher than the chest of the shortest player.
• Never stack furniture, and never put a stack on a table or chair where it can fall from height.

Throwing and targets

• Throw only large soft things: foam or cloth balls, rolled socks.
• Throw at targets, never at people, pets, or windows.
• Keep targets at floor level or on a low, stable surface.
• Mark a throwing line. Everyone who is not throwing stands behind it.
• Clear the space behind the target. Nobody stands or walks there during a turn.
• No launchers, slingshots, rocks, hard balls, or heavy objects.

Target games are for older children with an adult present. They are not toddler games.

Cardboard structures

• Cardboard does not hold body weight. No climbing on, standing on, or sitting on boxes or stacks of boxes.
• No homemade raised platforms, beams, or steps. Body-balance games stay on the ground.
• No closed spaces. A fort has open sides or an open top, and nobody is ever taped, shut, or stacked into a box.
• Keep walls low and light enough that one falling on a child would not matter.
• Build away from stairs, heaters, stoves, and candles. Cardboard burns.

Playing outside

• Traffic: play only where vehicles cannot reach. Never set up a game that leads toward a road or across a driveway in use.
• Heat and sun: check the ground and equipment with your hand, choose shade, bring water, and go early or late on hot days.
• Surfaces: look for holes, broken glass, slick patches, and anything sharp before play.
• Weather: stop for lightning, high wind, or ice.
• Sight lines: choose a spot where you can see every child.
• Local rules: follow posted park, school, and building rules.
• Found objects: look, do not collect. Leave sticks, rocks, and unknown items where they are.

Water

We do not publish water games. Any play in or near pools, tubs, buckets, or open water needs its own water-safety plan and constant adult supervision, and it is outside the scope of this site.

Privacy when other families join

Arrange play between adults, privately. Do not post children's names, photos, schools, addresses, or meeting times anywhere public.

Before you say go

1. Is the space clear, flat, and away from stairs and traffic?
2. Are all the materials large, light, soft or blunt, clean, and dry?
3. Are the cutting tools put away?
4. Does every player know where to stand and what never to do?
5. Is an adult close enough for the youngest child here?

If all five are yes, start. For the games themselves, go to Find Something to Play or the cardboard, balance, and outdoor guides.

If you have a medical or developmental question about a specific child, ask a pediatric clinician who knows them.

By TeeterTop editorial. Updated October 11, 2026.