Recycled crumb rubber playground surfacing tiles are the safest surfacing option due to their excellent shock absorption, customizable design, and traction-enhancing surface texture. Shock absorption is an important property to have in safety tiles for playgrounds as it will help prevent serious injuries as most playground related injuries are the result of accidental falls off playground equipment onto a non-shock absorbent surface. In addition, the customizable design of the kids’ safety mats allows you to create a safe and sufficient perimeter of padded play mats around the playground equipment. Furthermore, a rubber crumb play surface offers a slip resistant surface that is enhanced by the surface texture. Best of all, playground surfacing tiles are available in 4 different thicknesses to ensure ample padding according to the playground equipment present.

What is the Rubber Stuff in Playgrounds Called?

The rubber stuff in playgrounds is called crumb rubber and it is available in the form of interlocking tiles. The playground surfacing tiles are made of recycled crumb rubber that derives from post-consumer vehicle tires that have been ground up into a fine crumble and glued back together to form a solid product. A rubber crumb play surface is the ideal playground surfacing due to its excellent environmental resistance, shock absorption, and anti-slip properties. Their environmental resistance properties allow playground surfacing tiles to be versatile indoor/outdoor products without losing any of their safety properties. Crumb rubber playground surfacing tiles also offer excellent shock absorption properties that help cushion the force of a fall. Safety tiles for playgrounds retain a low compression set that gives them a “bouncy” surface which provides ample padding between the force of a fall and the hard subflooring underneath the tiles. Shock absorption is a necessity when creating playground surfaces as most playground related injuries are the result of a fall onto a hard playground floor. Case in point, “In the United States, playground-related injuries send 200,000 children to an emergency room every year… More than half of these injuries result from falls to a playground surface that can cause fractures, concussions, dislocations, and internal injuries” (Wikipedia.org). Interlocking crumb rubber playground surfacing tiles are the safest playground surfacing option compared to other surfacing products.

• (a) What Do You Put in the Ground in a Kids Play Area?

  You put shock absorbent crumb rubber playground surfacing tiles in the ground in a kids play area to help reduce chances of serious life-threatening injuries. The benefits of recycled crumb rubber kids’ safety mats are twofold. Firstly, they offer excellent shock absorption due to their low compression set. Secondly, they provide a non-slip surface due to rubber’s naturally grippy surface as well as the textured surface produced by the crumb rubber. A material’s compression set refers to the permanent deformation of the material after being under heavy pressure or force (Wikipedia.org). The higher the compression set, the less padding it can offer as it will become deformed whereas the lower the compression set, the more padding it can provide between a fall and the hard surface underneath the tiles. Recycled rubber crumb playground surfacing tiles retain a low compression set which allows for a solid, yet soft, surface that will provide sufficient padding in case of a fall. Additionally, kids’ safety mats made of recycled rubber crumb feature a textured surface that enhances rubber’s natural traction. The padded play mats are made from post-consumer vehicle tires that have been ground up into a fine crumble then adhered back together. The process of re-adhering recycled crumb rubber together produces the traction-enhancing surface texture of a rubber crumb play surface.

• (b) What is the Rubber Flooring in Playgrounds?

  The rubber flooring in playgrounds are recycled crumb rubber playground surfacing tiles. Rubber crumb play surface tiles feature an interlocking mechanism that allows for a customizable flooring option. This is a beneficial feature to have in playground flooring as it is important to provide enough padded play mats around playground equipment. The area around playground equipment is referred to as the “use zone” which is the area around the playground equipment where children are expected to land or exit from the equipment. A minimum of 6 feet of protective cushioning is required in all direction from the piece of equipment (cspc.gov). Recycled crumb rubber safety tiles for playgrounds are offered in various thicknesses, such as 3/4", 1”, 2.5”, and 3”, that are all thick enough to provide sufficient cushioning in case of a tumble. To know how thick your playground surfacing tiles must be, you must know the critical height of the piece of equipment to ensure adequate shock absorption to reduce chances of serious injuries. Critical height is “the fall height below which a life-threatening head injury would not be expected to occur”; therefore, “the surfacing material used under and around a particular piece of equipment should have a Critical Height value of at least the height of the highest designated play surface on the equipment” (cspc.gov). This will help maintain safe padded play mats around playground equipment that are amply cushioned.

  Playground surfacing tiles made of recycled rubber crumb are highly shock absorbent, customizable, and anti-slip. Their shock absorption can be attributed to recycled crumb rubber’s low compression set which allows a rubber crumb play surface to absorb the force of impact without becoming deformed. Safety tiles for playgrounds offer a customizable option that allows you to provide adequate padding around the playground equipment simply by adding or removing tiles as needed. Rubber naturally retains a grippy surface; however, traction is enhanced when using crumb rubber playground surfacing tiles due to the surface texture that is produced when creating the tiles. The 3/4", 1”, 2.5”, and 3” thicknesses allow you to choose tiles that are thick enough to provide adequate padding between an accidental fall or tumble and the hard surface underneath the playground surfacing tiles.