Try to think like a child! Put on a "I'm new to the world, everything about it fascinates me" mind. Then take a look at your house with that in mind. Now you should better be able to see what areas are NOT childproof. Toddlers are inquisitive, imaginative, exploring their surrounding, still learning to walk and run so they are enthusiastic and athletic (!) but unsteady and clumsy and fall over easily, bang into things or knock things over and drop them.

One of the bedrooms and a corner of my living room is a play area for children - Somewhere with a non-slip rugs and cushions, colourful and full of toys to distract them from other things. The electric sockets and CABLES ARE COVERED UP OR HIDDEN BEHIND FURNITURE. WHERE THERE ARE SHARP FURNITURE CORNERS the space to pass them is kept narrow so that children see that they cannot run to get past them but have to walk in single file to get past- usually this means that they avoid that area anyway. There is no CLIMBING ACCESS to windows (like chairs under them). The handles to WINDOWS AND DOORS THAT LEAD DIRECTLY TO THE STREET OR BALCONY are kept locked. I have very few GLASS ORNAMENTS, only wood, metal or plastic. ALL VALUABLES LIKE MY CHINA DOLLS are kept on shelves or in cupboards, corners or rooms that the child has no access to, can't get into.

Toddlers don't easily recognize danger and will get themselves into alarming situations, but at the same time they are easily frightened by things not always the obvious. The times I have had to comfort a distraught child because something I thought that they would enjoy sent them into panic: clowns, bursting balloons, blind fold games, cute fluffy pets, etc. You live and learn!

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