10 Dangerous Toys Kids Can't Help But Love

The safety of children used to be primarily the concern of the parents. Today, toy makers have to be more concerned with the safety of their toys than they were in the past. Toys are made with warning labels to protect the manufacturers from liability if parents allow them to be used inappropriately. Some toys that kids love the best also happen to have a measure of danger involved with their use. Here are ten of them that are very popular.

1. Skateboards – The simple fact that skateboards are operated on concrete brings the possibility of injury to a high level with this very popular item. Scraped knees, elbows and hands are the minimal injuries that can be sustained by the novice or even expert skateboarder. Broken bones and concussions are at the further end of the spectrum of possibilities.
2. Slingshots – Little boys have been slinging rocks with slingshots since Biblical times. The story of David killing the giant Goliath with a sling and stones has been an inspiration to many would-be giant slayers and the cause of a few broken window panes, as well.
3. Trampolines – What’s more fun than bouncing into the air on a trampoline? Beds aren’t made for jumping on, Mom always told us, but trampolines are. Unfortunately, their height off the ground and the unpredictability of the direction a bounce might take can mean landings on hard ground, which is a lot harder on human body parts than the mat of the trampoline.
4. Lawn Darts – This outdoor game is great competition and easy for almost anyone to participate in. At the same time, large pointed metal objects being tossed through the air is a description that has been used of dangerous weapons for centuries. Although injury isn’t the intent, it most certainly can happen if these ‘game pieces’ make contact with a body of flesh while sailing across the lawn.
5. Pogo stick – A bouncing stick, just like the trampoline is a lot of fun. Like the skateboard, you do need a smooth hard surface to operate this toy on, which can make for hard landings if you fall. Most injuries from pogo sticks, however, have been as a result of kids trying to use them on surfaces that aren’t flat, such as going down steps or an incline.
6. Sleds – This simple form of winter fun is another item that has been used by kids as long as there has been snow and hills. Sleds come in many varieties: From the small round saucer to the long toboggans to inflatable tubes. The danger that comes with these fun toys is the amount of speed that can build up during a slide down the hill and the inability to steer away from objects or people that come into your path.
7. Scooters – The scooter could be described as a skateboard with a handle, though scooters are usually much narrower than a skateboard. Again, it is the speed combined with the concrete or asphalt surface that scooters are ridden on that create the danger of injury.
8. BB Guns – In reality, this item should not really be classified as a toy, though many people have listed it as such for many years. In spite of how small the metal pellets are that are shot through these small guns, they are capable of doing injury to people and property.
9. Bicycles – There are very few kids who haven’t owned and ridden a bicycle during their lifetime. Bicycles are also used for adult transportation, so it is hard to think of them as being dangerous in any way, but they can be. Bicycles can easily swerve into the path of a car when riding along a street or highway. BMX bike riding carries even more risks as riders fly over jumps and drive at high speeds around a dirt track.
10. Baseball bats – There is more than one picture in a family album of a little kid with a shiny black eye that was received either from the swing of a bat itself or a baseball that came flying off the end of a bat. Many windows have been replaced also, after a ball was batted in the wrong direction out in the yard.

Yes, there are still plenty of ways that kids can hurt themselves and others or damage property, while playing with seemingly harmless simple objects. We can’t protect them from everything, and we certainly don’t want to protect them from the fun to be had with most of the items on this list.

Taken From Babysitting Jobs