Playground floor material must be shock absorbent, anti-slip, and resistant to damaging environmental factors to prevent serious injuries. The ideal playground floor material is recycled rubber crumb due to its excellent durability, shock absorption, and indoor/outdoor versatility. Available in the form of playground rubber tiles, these rubber outdoor playground mats are easily customizable for sufficient surfacing around playground equipment. Crumb rubber tiles are safe alternatives to hard surfaces, such as carpet, concrete, grass, and hardwood, and will offer the impact absorption and anti-slip properties required for safe playground flooring. Therefore, recycled crumb playground floor material is the safest surfacing option for both indoor and outdoor play areas.

What is the Material Used in Playgrounds?

The material used in playgrounds in recycled rubber crumb that derives from resilient post-consumer vehicle tires. Recycled rubber crumb playground floor material comes in the form of interlocking tiles that allow for easy installation in both indoor and outdoor settings. Recycled crumb playground floor material is the idea material for playground surfacing as it is highly durable, shock absorbent, non-slip, and environmentally resistant. A recycled tire playground surface will offer excellent moisture resistance with low absorption and high impact resistance (sciencedirect.com). Shock absorption is an important property to have in playground rubber tiles as it can help prevent serious life-threatening injuries. Shock absorption can help protect children in case of a fall or a more serious fall from playground equipment. Without a shock absorbent playground floor material, the chances of serious injuries are significantly increased. Falls are one of the most common, if not the most common, cause of serious playground injuries. Case in point, “79% of ALL playground injuries involve falls. Falls also account for 90% of the most SEVERE playground injuries” (brainline.org). A fall onto shock absorbent playground floor material can help reduce chances of severe injuries by adding a layer of padding between a hard subfloor and the force of an impact. Although it cannot completely protect a child from all injuries, a shock absorbent recycled rubber crumb play surface can significantly reduce chances of a traumatic brain injury. For instance, “Energy absorbers are responsible for protecting the brain by reducing the head acceleration… concussion risk can in principle be lowered by reducing the force transferred to the head” (arxiv.org). A shock absorbent playground floor material can cushion the blow of an impact to reduce chances of a traumatic brain injury by absorbing the energy.

Not only does crumb rubber playground floor material protect against serious impact injuries, but it also actively prevents these accidents from occurring. Crumb rubber in the form of playground rubber tiles offer excellent anti-slip properties that can help prevent slip and fall accidents even when moisture is present on their surface. Rubber is naturally a traction-enhancing, non-slip material; however, the surface texture produced by crumb rubber further enhances the tiles’ non-slip properties. For example, a rubber crumb play surface enhances rubber’s natural grippy surface by producing a surface texture that helps footwear grip onto the playground surface better. The texture of a rubber crumb play surface is produced during the manufacturing process of recycled crumb playground rubber tiles. Instead of being melded together, recycled crumb playground floor material is bonded together using an adhesive – producing a texture rather than a smooth surface. A rubber crumb play surface will not lose its traction even when moisture is present on its surface.

In addition, recycled crumb rubber is highly resistant to damaging environmental factors allowing it to be durable and long-lasting playground floor material in outdoor settings. Made of post-consumer vehicle tires, recycled playground rubber tiles will not be damaged by harsh UV rays, ozone, oxygen, and moisture. Tires are made of durable natural and synthetic rubber materials that are designed to resist abrasions as well as harsh outdoor settings. Environmental factors, especially UV rays and ozone, can be extremely damaging to most materials if left exposed for too long; however, due to the combination of natural and synthetic rubbers in the production of vehicle tires, a recycled tire playground surface will resist deterioration. This durability will help keep the rubber outdoor playground mats level and intact to avoid trip and fall hazards and its resistance to wet weather conditions will help it retain its grippy surface to further prevent slip and fall accidents.

What is the Floor of a Playground Made of?

The floor of a playground is made of interlocking recycled crumb rubber tiles. Using interlocking playground rubber tiles is highly beneficial as it can be customized according to the size and placement of the equipment on the playground. It is important to have sufficient shock absorbent playground floor material around the playground equipment in case of a fall off them. Because it is difficult to determine where a child will fall or exit from the equipment, playground surfacing should extend at least 6 feet in all directions from the equipment to ensure that a child will land on a cushioned surface to prevent injury. This is easy to achieve with playground rubber tiles thanks to its customizable interlocking mechanism. To install, simply connect the tiles together with small plastic connector pins through the holes that line the sides of each tile. For customization, continue adding on tiles or remove tiles until you have reached the correct size. Additionally, recycled rubber crumb playground tiles are available in 3/4", 1”,2.5”, and 3” thicknesses. Depending on the height of the playground equipment present, the thickness of the playground surface may need to be adjusted according to its critical height. The critical height value of playground surfacing should be thick enough to absorb the shock of a fall from the highest point of the equipment (cspc.gov). With 4 thicknesses offered, it is easy to find playground surfacing tiles thick enough to absorb the shock of a fall according to the playground equipment present.

What is the Floor on a Playground Called?

The floor on a playground is called playground surfacing. Playground surfacing is “the material that lies under and around swings, slides, monkey bars, and other playground equipment” (Wikipedia.org). Made up of interlocking recycled crumb rubber tiles, rubber playground floor material meets the standard for ASTM F1292, which is the minimum requirement for impact absorption of playground surfacing materials (astm.org). Playground floor material comes in the form of interlocking tiles, and thanks to its interlocking mechanism, they are easily customizable to provide sufficient surfacing around playground equipment. Additionally, playground surfacing tiles can be placed over a wide range of subfloors, including carpet, hardwood, concrete, dirt, and grass. These surfaces, even grass and carpet, do not offer sufficient shock absorption required for playground surfacing. Furthermore, they are excellent indoor/outdoor products that will not be damaged or deteriorate in the face of harsh environmental factors, making them excellent rubber outdoor playground mats.

Recycled crumb playground floor material offers superior shock absorption, anti-slip, and environmental resistance properties making it the perfect surfacing option for both indoor and outdoor play areas. A recycled tire playground surface is made of resilient post-consumer vehicle tires which gives it unmatched durability and shock absorption compared to other playground flooring options. Additionally, playground rubber tiles are available in 4 thicknesses which allows you to choose tiles that are thick enough to provide sufficient padding according to the equipment’s’ critical height. Furthermore, its customizable sizing option allows you to create flooring that extends far enough to protect children as they exit the equipment or in case of a fall off equipment. Overall, the best playground floor material for creating a safe play area is recycled rubber crumb.