A Playground Surface refers to the material that is utilized around and under climbing slides, frames, swings and any other type of playground equipment. Playground surfaces are made from a variety of materials, some of which are more suitable than others. The surfaces are available in a wide range of prices depending on the construction design and quality of the material used. Some may meet national standards for wheel-chair accessibility and safety, while others do not.
So are you planning to design a playground or set up a prefab playground in your yard? Well, your most crucial concern should always be safety. As you well know from your own child-hood that kids simply like to push the limits- though they do not really know where those limits even are, you should prepare things in advance to minimize injury risks as much as possible.
One of the first aspects of your home playground to consider is the ground surface. Many injuries that happen on a play-ground or around a play-set have to do with the integrity of the surface, as children often fall-off of or jump from equipment, fall when running, and most likely rough-house on the ground. And to minimize the injuries, here are some things you should keep in mind when designing the surface.
1. Safe Material
Naturally, there are many materials to select from, and the first thing you should do is decide what type you need to utilize. Modern play-grounds have used concrete as a surface, and you can ideate how it feels to fall on-to something like that. And therefore, as a matter of fact, materials used should be soft in some manner.
Some play-grounds are also simple grass, or soil, but still, it comes with problems as well. Grass isn’t thick enough to offer the padding required, and the soil beneath poses just as many problems as raw soil. As the grass wears away where the most running occurs, it might as well be raw dirt any-how.
Soil becomes hard packed over time, more especially with kids running around on it, and in the long-run it may end-up as hard as asphalt.
Therefore, the best surfaces should compose of some type of loose material such as gravel, sawdust, mulch, or wood chips. Rubber has also become ordinarily used material, and it comes in the form of large mats or shredded.
2. Obstacles
Truly, the surface integrity can be jeopardized any time foreign objects are accidentally mixed in. And hence, before putting in the fill, you should make sure to properly get rid of any metal, thick tree roots, glass, or stones.
With time, you should always check around the play-ground and clean-up a little bit, checking for hard objects or trash that may have been dropped. Even water pools can be a risk as they may not only alter the consistency of the surface, but also harbor bacteria if it stands for long.
3. Proper Surface Laying
Also, you need to make sure the surface fill is laid down right. Whilst the laying differs depending on the type of fill you are utilizing, you can safely assume that any loose surface fill will need to be about a foot deep.
The surface below the play-set needs to maintain a 6 foot perimeter on all sides to hold the children safe no matter how far they fall and to compensate for swing sets, as they have the ability to throw children a little further.
You also need to consider on how high the equipment is. If the kids are standing on top, their bodies should never be more than 12 feet above the ground.
Ok, so still thinking of designing a good surface for your kids’ playground? Well, you are on the right place as the above basic tips would fully help you. Never think you can just buy a new play-set and set it up any-where in the yard without thinking about what a landing will feel like. You should offer soft, thick padding and injuries will be greatly reduced. Remember, your kids deserve to have fun, but again, they deserve an injury free fun play-ground.
