How to Keep Playtime Safe and Clean
Now that your children are spending their days at home (in efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19), it’s likely that they’re scavenging through their toys and playing with them nonstop to stay entertained. While staying at home and keeping your kids busy is the best thing to do right now, germs can spread quickly, especially among frequently-touched objects and surfaces. With that in mind, it might be helpful to consider how you can prevent germs to thrive and spread on your child’s toys and games. We provide some tips and tricks for parents to put to use!
The Traditional Soap and Water
Simply washing your hand with soap and water is a great way to prevent spreading bacteria and viruses. You can use this method to clean your children’s toys! If your children are younger and play with plastic blocks, rattles or teethers, then you’re in luck. These types of toys can also be easily cleaned with hand soap or dish soap and warm water. It is never safe to wash any electrical toys with soap and water. You can carefully wipe down more technical toys with disinfectant wipes every so often.
Kick It Up a Notch With Bleach
Diluted bleach is a safe and inexpensive way to disinfect toys and games. Before applying bleach, you can clean non-absorbent toys with soapy water, rinse, and wipe them dry with a paper towel. You can then further disinfect with a chlorine bleach solution with one tablespoon of bleach to one gallon of water. After thoroughly washing and soaking with bleach, you can lay out the toys to air dry.
How to Clean Outdoor Toys
Constantly touching toys that tend to be in sandboxes or anywhere in your yard can transmit illnesses such as E. Coli, the flu, or even the common cold. It’s inevitable that your children are going to touch their toys, whether they belong inside or outside of your home. When it comes down to this, you can rinse the toys with water outside and bring them in for a deep cleanse. If you don’t want to bring in dirt and mud into your kitchen, then you can throw these toys in a bathtub and sanitize them in there to prevent germs from reaching your drink and dishware.
Clean Play Areas and Surfaces Frequently!
While your child may not be particularly concerned with the playmats or rugs where they play, germs can still spread throughout these surfaces. Rugs and mats can be thrown in with your laundry and can be cleaned just as regular as you would with clothes! When it comes to surfaces, you can use disinfectant wipes.
Keep Your Kids Entertained and Healthy!
At Bob-O’s Family Fun Center, we care about the enjoyment and fun of your family, especially during these trying times. As soon as we are allowed to open back up, you can expect to experience enhanced entertainment once more! In the meantime, we hope these cleaning tips will provide some peace of mind for families all across the El Paso area.
