Would You Let a 2 Year Old Have a Sparkler?

[disneyfav4ever]

One of my friend's posted pics from her family's 4th of July party on FB. They included pictures of their two year old holding his own sparkler. That just seems like a huge safety risk to me.

 

[Tiffylv]

.

 

[bsblady01]

no,that is way too young for something like that.

 

[Geoff_M]

My wife, who has a scar on one of her fingers from falling on a sparkler as a small child, would answer a firm "No" to the OP's question. Other people thought it was odd that our kids were required to wear oven-mitts while holding sparklers, but that's why.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Nope.

 

[kimblebee]

If I was right beside/behind her, I might let her hold it and wave it around for a few seconds. Other than that, no way.

 

[sookie]

They are not made to be held by anyone. You are supposed to put them into the ground and then light them.

The metal handle can often heat up very, very quickly. The fire itself can be a problem too - facial burns and eye injuries are common, in addition to severe burns on the face.

 

[etoiles]

Do we have the same friend? My friend has a son three months older than my two year old and also posted a picture of him with a sparkler and I was surprised that he could hold it. I would not let my two year old do that.

 

[indimom]

We let our kids hold them at that age, hand over hand, with us. By about 4, we let them hold it themselves. We always kept the kids spaced out, and they were careful to keep them extended away from their body/clothes. They liked "writing" with the sparklers. We didn't have issues, but were always very cautious because they do burn very hot. We never had an issue with the handles being too hot to hold. I've held hundreds of sparklers and the handle/stick end always stayed cool. We kept a pitcher of water to dispose of the used sparklers.

 

[diz8297]

Nope. Heck, I won't hold them.

 

[penn19]

Nope. I won't even hold one. One of my "things" is fireworks. And fireworks and alcohol. Which the recent thread on here about it, while extreme, is pretty much why. It has always made me nervous.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Ahh, I have fond memories of "writing" with sparklers as a kid, but not quite that young. I expect at that age, My dad would have let me "help" him hold one.

Who knows who was hovering just outside the border of the photo, though. I wouldn't dwell on it.

 

[Art 1]

At 5 yes, 2, no.

 

[MickeySP]

Nope, I might let her hold my hand while we waved it. Mine would be the top in case of sparks falling

 

[puffkin]

My DS will be 3 on Friday. He did a ton of sparklers by himself on the 4th. He also did them last year. My DH lights them and then hands it to him. He stands in the driveway, waves it around then puts it in the bucket of water then comes running back for more. If he was not holding them properly, waving them in his or someone elses face or clothes, then they would be taken away. But he was absolutely fine or maybe my kids are just really coordinated because they had no issues holding them safely. My DS9 did 2-4 at a time with no issues (we had the multi color packs and he liked doing one of each color). It is a part of childhood I refuse to take away from them and compared to the sparklers we had as kids, they are pretty wimpy nowadays.

Once again, I am proving to be a horrible DIS parent.

 

[mnrose]

The safe and sane sparklers? Probably. The kind we had when I was a kid? No way.

LOL!

There were "safe and sane" sparklers at a party I was at on the 4th. Good grief. Very lame and tame. Very.

So, maybe in this thread we are talking about two different things? The kinds they sell in states where the big booming fireworks are legal (such as Wisconsin) are very different than what you can buy, legally, in Minnesota. Seriously, the "sparks" went no farther than 1 inch from the stick. It was almost like a glowing stick.

 

[Meriweather]

We let our kids hold them at that age, hand over hand, with us. By about 4, we let them hold it themselves. We always kept the kids spaced out, and they were careful to keep them extended away from their body/clothes. They liked "writing" with the sparklers. We didn't have issues, but were always very cautious because they do burn very hot. We never had an issue with the handles being too hot to hold. I've held hundreds of sparklers and the handle/stick end always stayed cool. We kept a pitcher of water to dispose of the used sparklers.

This is the way we did it too.
They loved writing with them.

 

[lorimay]

No, no, no, no, Fireworks of any kind near a toddler would make me a nervous wreck.

 

[trip]

They are not made to be held by anyone. You are supposed to put them into the ground and then light them.

The metal handle can often heat up very, very quickly. The fire itself can be a problem too - facial burns and eye injuries are common, in addition to severe burns on the face.

In our state, wire sparklers are banned - they must have wooden handles.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

No.