We're moving into townhouse this summer which has a long straight set of stairs going up that I believe are limestone. The home is in a hot/dry/dusty climate, so the stone is nice in terms of clean up and cool floors but I am a bit nervous since I have a bunch of small children and the thought of someone tumbling down those stairs is terrifying.

What can I do to make them more child-friendly? I was thinking carpeting them (not quite my taste) or putting a runner down the middle, but how would you do this with stone stairs? Glue? Would it ruin the stairs?

I also imagine that dealing with carpeting/runners in this dusty dry climate would be a pain, but we have to pick our battles.

Is there such a concept of laying wood/laminate on top of the stone stairs? If so, is that also done with glue?

Any ideas or thoughts are welcome.

Thanks!