It appears staying two metres apart is going to be difficult, if not impossible, at Hamilton spray pads.

At Bruce Park on the central Mountain, about a dozen children were observed having fun and cooling off on the spray pad there in the mid-afternoon on June 26 while their mothers watched.

The youngsters were running back and forth through spray areas and no face masks could be seen.

Most of the city’s 68 spray pads reopened on June 19.

“We’ve been very careful,” said Jade Logan, who was watching her four children enjoy the water with their friends. “I told them to stick with who they know.”

While there was little physical distancing on the spray pad, Logan said her children have been told not to touch anyone.

“They can talk to others, but don’t hold their hand and don’t embrace anybody,” said Logan, who added her children need to get out and socialize and that she had some hand sanitizer nearby.

She pointed out the children were touching the spray pad equipment while playing.

“I personally don’t know how you can get around that,” Logan said.

For her children, getting out and having fun was all that mattered.

“I feel happy,” said six-year-old Jacob Logan.

“It’s good to be back in the water,” added his twin sister Nicole.

Holly Chriss, president of the Centremount neighbourhood association, was making her first visit of the season to the spray pad with her two sons.

“It feels great,” Chriss said. “The kids have been through a lot the past couple of months.”

Chriss, a former sales manager at Hamilton Community News, said she feels comfortable letting her children play on the spray pad with the others.

“With the water flowing and they’re not staying in one place very long, I think it’s a reasonable risk to take, I guess,” she said.

The City of Hamilton put out the following reminder about spray pad use June 19 as part of its coronavirus Phase 2 reopening announcement.

All of the typical COVID-19 precautions remain in place while using spray pads.

Users of spray pads should:

-       Keep two metres of physical distance between yourself and others who aren’t in your “social circle.”

-       Don’t gather in large crowds or groups.

-       Wash your hands: Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer or wash your hands with soap and warm water as soon as possible.

-       Don’t use spray pads if you are sick or showing signs of being sick.