Rubber playground surfaces, referred to as pour-in-place (PIP) surfacing, are a great investment for your public playground, but may require restoration through a Roll Coat topping. Unfortunately, rubber playground surfacing is not a maintenance free option and you’ll see that through normal use and exposure to elements, the surface will start to degrade from:
fading and [...]
Are there Georgia safety standards or regulations for public playgrounds?
Read the complete story here: Playground Safety in Georgia, what do you need to know? While the national safety standards for playground equipment as established by ASTM and CPSC are still considered as “voluntary standards”, each state may have its own criteria. The Childinjurylawyerblog has [...]
FAQ’s for Accessible Playgrounds–Are They Enforceable?
As law, no they haven’t been enforced–yet. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a civil rights law, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. In 2000, the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board issued a final rule in the form of accessibility guidelines to serve as the [...]
Must-Have List for Designing Your Playground
Good design involves balancing your children’s needs, volume, age distribution, developmental aspects, and site conditions. Assess your present space by drawing a rough diagram. Include the seasonal aspects of your layout including sunlight, wind direction, snow/ice/rain. Observe the following:
type and amount of natural materials
small vs. large space
[...]
14 Layout Considerations for your Playground
1. Organize zones to facilitate play and minimize conflicts, e.g. locate quiet play areas away from active spaces
2. Provide areas that encourage group interaction as well as places from solitary and partner play
3. Avoid putting high-activity zones close to transitional zones
4. Locate compatible play zones close together, e.g. creative play [...]
The Sensory Rich Playground
Young children learn by using all of their senses, so your playground should offer as many experiences as possible. The more sensory experiences, the more is learned and gained during development. The playground should include the following sensory areas:
Visual
Vestibular
Tactile
Kinesthetic/Proprioception
Auditory
Visual: Adults tend to look at the functional aspect of playgrounds [...]
7 Critical Steps for Planning a Playground Layout
Before choosing the actual layout for your playground, it’s helpful to have an overall plan or design for the placement of furnishings. You will want to organize the space in a way that will promote physical and social play while minimizing conflicts. The following is called the zoned [...]
Comparing your playground designs
Be sure your playground incorporates as many play experiences as possible. Remember, it isn’t always the number of play events that are on a play structure that make it a good value, but the value of the play itself.
As an example, let’s compare Playground A vs. Playground B
Playground A contains a 3 [...]
Stretching your playground budget:
Here are a few ideas to help make the most of your hard-earned funds. As an example, here’s how your funding will normally break down with a typical turn-key project:
Description
Percentage
Equipment
60%
Installation
28%
Playground Borders
7%
Mulch/In-fill
10%
Taxes/Shipping
5%
Total
100%
Sales promotions- Make sure that you’re able to take advantage of any of several substantial sales taking place throughout the year. Discounts [...]
