A Quick Guide to your Playground Surface Material Options

The options of playground surface materials have drastically grown in the last decade with everything from sand to rubber playground matting. Protective surfacing is actually one of the most influential components to keep children safe when they visit the park and climb on the play equipment. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, released a statistic that about 200,000 children are treated in U.S. emergency rooms with playground-equipment injuries and almost 60% of these injuries are from falls to the ground (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/323.html). What are the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of floors that may cause our children all of these heartaches – or more aptly, headaches! The following list examines playground surface options and the differences behind each:

• The Ugly, Hard Surfaces: When schools and parks first started installing playground equipment, they gave little thought to the playground surface materials that they used. Oftentimes play structures would be placed directly over concrete or grass. These surfaces are extremely dangerous for taller play structures because children tend to want to jump off of them. According to the CPSC, falls on asphalt or concrete can result in critical head injuries and even death. While grass is a somewhat softer surface depending on if the dirt is loosely packed, it still has no ability to absorb shock after wear and environmental conditions.

• The Bad, Sand: Many schools and parks utilize sand for their play areas. With a loose-fill material like this, it is important to have the proper depth of sand to prevent injuries from heights. Fine sand can become tightly compacted depending on weather conditions and heavy foot traffic, causing it to decrease its shock absorption. Sand also can and does move. There is no guarantee it is at the right depth when needed. With a 6” depth of sand, the tallest structure can only be 5 feet high. Sand is one of the least effective loose-fill playground surface options. It also can blanket dangerous, sharp objects from sight so that they can scrape or poke children that are running by.

• The Bad, Wood Bark: Wood chips are also a common material found on playgrounds. These do not become tightly compacted depending on weather, but rather remain loose all year round. For this reason, they are more effective to provide a softer impact if a child falls or jumps down from a structure. Wood chips at a 6” depth can prevent serious injury from a fall up to 7 feet high. Wood chips, like sand, also cover up dangerous objects because they are loose-fill materials. This flooring, however, is not comfortable to walk on because they are harder pellets than sand.

• The Bad, Rubber Mulch: Well if we had a not so bad category, mulch would fit there. This product consists or recycled tire buffing and nuggets. These crumbs are the result of discarded tires that are ground up once their steel bands are removed to create a durable surfacing. Using recycled rubber for playgrounds is an eco-friendly solution to keep playgrounds safer and landfills emptier. Rubber mulch, unlike sand, will remain loose regardless of temperature and weather conditions. This surfacing will not harbor fungus or mold because it is an inorganic material so it will remain more health conscious than using wood chips for wet or damp areas. Rubber also possesses a springy quality to absorb shock better and offer increased comfort for any falls. Because it is a loose-fill material, however, rubber mulch also disguises hazardous objects if pushed into the mulch. Like all other loose-fill material its biggest downfall is that it moves. It is also extremely difficult to clean rubber mulch because it consists of so many bits and pieces. This shifting material also is not wheelchair accessible as it constantly changes.

• The Good, Pour-in-Place Rubber: This is a permanent surface that allows for a certain amount of creativity when set. Using Pour-In-Place Rubber flooring, you can personalize this playground with designs and pictures of bright and brilliant colors. Be warned this is an extremely expensive option and perhaps not for the residential or most commercial playgrounds. This surfacing is poured in two layers. The first layer is a base layer of Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) and polyurethane binder. The top layer of Ethylene Propylene Diane Monomer (EPDM) is a UV ray and Ozone resistant surface that will ensure the flooring remains durable. With this flooring, the playgrounds are fall height protected from 4 to 12 feet. This material, however, is hard to replace once worn as it was permanently poured in. After years of usage, however, the material will become worn. Due to the bi-layer nature of this playground, once worn it can become a large hassle and expense to replace the surfacing.

• The Good, Rubber Tiles: Rubber mats for playground surfacing is one of the most durable installations of playground surface options. Tiles, similar to mulch, utilize recycled rubber for playgrounds that inherit the resilient and weather resistant qualities from tires. Rubber playground matting also is accordance with CPSC’s safety standards to ensure that children who fall from a play structure have a significantly lessened chance of serious harm. Using rubber mats for playground flooring, unlike loose-filling material, will not hide any dangerous objects because any dropped items rest on top of the mats. This version of rubber flooring is less costly and a Do It Yourself installation project. Many tiles can be interlocked and are rated for 6-foot fall heights. This rubber playground matting is also easy to clean because they are solid tiles that can be simply swept or, for more intensive cleaning, wiped down and mopped up. With recycled rubber for playgrounds, these eco-friendly tiles help to keep children safe while also keeping tires from filling up landfills. Rubber is also a naturally anti-slip surface so that children running around will be better protected from tripping and falling. These tiles are also modular, which means they can be moved from place to place due to their simple installation process. This is extremely helpful when a tile becomes worn out. Rather than resurfacing the entire playground, just replace the singular tile to save time and money.

With an array of playground surface options, it may seem difficult to decide which playground surface materials are the best. While these options all have pros and cons, rubber playground matting is one of the safest options and cost effective as well. Next time you visit the park, check the playground surfacing to ensure that your children and family are as safe as possible.