Trust
Child Safety and Supervision Guidelines
Every activity on this site carries its own safety notes, but these rules apply to all of them. Please read this page once before using anything here with your child.
You know your child. Our age guidance describes a typical child in that band; it does not override what you know about yours.
Active supervision
Every activity here assumes an adult is in the room and paying attention, not in the next room with the door open. This matters most for water play, small parts and anything involving scissors, heat or a sealed container.
Choking hazards
Children under three explore with their mouths. Below that age, avoid rice, dried beans, small beads, pom poms, water beads and loose googly eyes entirely. Water beads should not be used with any child who still mouths objects, regardless of age, because they swell after being swallowed and do not show on an X-ray.
Water play
A child can drown in a few centimetres of water in under a minute, silently. Never leave a child alone with a filled tub, paddling pool or bucket, and empty every container the moment play ends.
Materials and allergies
Check labels for non-toxic marking and a conformity mark for your country. Flour-based dough is unsuitable where there is a wheat allergy, and many craft glues contain latex. Where an activity uses food, we say so, because some families avoid playing with food altogether.
Plaster, heat and tools
Adults mix plaster of Paris, every time. It is an exothermic reaction: it heats as it sets and must never be moulded around any part of a child's body. Kettles and hot water are adult jobs. Child-safe scissors from around four, with the cutting hand supervised.
Outdoors
Teach the rule that nothing found outdoors goes in the mouth, wash hands after handling soil and plants, and check your local guidance on ticks and poisonous plants before nature collecting.
Emergencies
If a child swallows a non-food item, shows a reaction, or you have any doubt at all, call your local emergency number or poison service immediately. This site is not medical advice.
Frequently asked questions
What age is safe for sensory bins with small items?+
From around three, and only with an adult present. Below three, use fillers too large to swallow such as large pasta shapes, cooked spaghetti or water.
Are your play dough and paint recipes taste-safe?+
Our home-made dough and flour-based recipes are non-toxic if tasted, but they are not food. Shop-bought paint should never be treated as taste-safe unless the label says so.
What should I do about plaster of Paris?+
Adults mix it, always. It heats as it sets and the dry powder should not be inhaled. Children join in once the cast is fully set and cool.