How do you make a safe playground? When it comes to playground installation, soft playgrounds are safe playgrounds. To make a safe playground, always start with a rubber playground surface. Modern technology has significantly improved playground safety standards. Nowadays, many public playgrounds have safety mats for kids covering their entire surfaces—making them soft playgrounds. In fact, it’s practically necessary to have safety matting for play areas. After all, accidental falls have potentially disastrous consequences. Thus, when doing playground installation, one of your first concerns should be the playground’s flooring.
What is the Spongy Material on Playgrounds?
You may have wondered to yourself, “What is the spongy material on playgrounds?” The spongy material on playgrounds is rubber. Outdoor rubber safety mats for play areas are the ideal play-area surface. While you may see this surfacing at your children’s schools or at your local park, you can actually bring this DIY rubber playground surface home. Well, not literally. But since playground safety-surfacing is widely available and highly affordable, soft playgrounds can now be built in your own backyard. Not only is this surfacing easy to install; thanks to the Internet, companies like Rubber-Cal are sharing their expertise on topics like outdoor rubber flooring for playgrounds, helping you come up with the best backyard play-area ideas and making playground installation easier.
How Thick Should Playground Mats Be?
Playground mats should be at least 2.5 inches thick because, with this thickness, most soft playgrounds can adequately cushion the impact of a fall from heights of up to six feet. Rubber-Cal’s Eco-Safety Tiles are designed specifically with playground safety in mind. These tiles are 2.5 inches thick and are fall-height rated to prevent serious injuries when a person falls from heights of up to six feet. Therefore, if you’re doing playground installation, pay attention to how thick your mats are.
Do You Install a Soft Play-Area?
To install a soft play-area, use rubber padding for playgrounds. Soft playgrounds begin with soft playground safety mats. Rubber outdoor playground mats are also DIY-friendly; this is for multiple reasons. Because companies like Rubber-Cal typically produce their playground pads as playground tiles, rubber floors for playgrounds can be DIY-installed according to the exact measurements your project entails. Soft playgrounds are so DIY-friendly because a residential playground ground cover, if made of rubber, requires minimal technical knowledge to install yourself. Furthermore, making soft playgrounds is very affordable because companies like Rubber-Cal are making their soft play-surfaces using recycled rubber, thereby reducing the average playground rubber flooring price. Again, your question—how do you install a soft play-area? Follow our guide below on how to make soft playgrounds:
1. Location: Decide on where you would like your playground to be situated. Clear the area of any debris to make sure you have as leveled and clean a surface as possible before you get to work.
2. One Tile at a Time: Begin with an edge piece or a tile in the corner because starting with the area’s perimeter will help you visualize how the rest of the project will unfold. As you can imagine, starting in the center of the area can quickly get chaotic.
3. Make a Connection: Push your connector pins into the holes located on the side of the Eco-Safety Tile. On each side of every tile, there are four holes. Insert a connector pin into each one of these holes. Then, using the holes of a second tile, connect the second tile to the pins you’ve just inserted into the first tile. You can do this step of our playground installation guide by hand. But if you want extra security, gently tap the tile you’ve just inserted with a rubber mallet.
4. Design as You Please: Rubber floor mats for kids, like Rubber-Cal’s Eco-Safety tiles, are available in several colors: black, coal, blue, green, and terracotta. Because they all utilize the same method of connection—connector pins—you can order multiple colors and bind them together as you please. Like the order of a deck of cards, there are a virtually endless number of potential combinations. So, do what’s pleasing to you. Soft playgrounds can be beautiful, too.
5. Trim Your Leftovers: It’s sometimes the case that there’s some excess tiling that extends beyond your desired surface area. If so, the solution is simple: Cut away the excess rubber using a standard utility knife. Try your best to cut in singular motions. The tiles are thick, so you may have to slice through one piece multiple times. Since rubber has a high coefficient of friction, you may find it difficult to smoothly cut across the tile. In that case, dip your blade into a soapy solution, which lubricates the rubber as you cut it. Remember to use gloves throughout this entire step of our playground installation guide.
6. Attach Ramps to the Perimeter: After you’ve finished installing your playground flooring tiles, remember to connect the Eco-Safety ramps to the exposed edges of the outer tiles. Using connector pins, attach the ramp pieces to these edges. Again, you may use a rubber mallet if it’s necessary.
7. Voila: Your play-area surface is done! You now have access to soft playgrounds in your own backyard. Playground installation has never seemed easier.
How Do You Make a Safe Playground?
Remember, soft playgrounds are safe playgrounds. To make a safe playground, start with safety mats for play areas. We hope that our guide has helped you in your playground installation process. All those tips and tricks will prove to be crucial accessories in your toolkit. In case you need to ask again: How thick should playground mats be? 2.5 inches is the average thickness for playground safety matting. At that thickness, a playset mat can comfortably cushion a fall from heights of up to six feet. Just make sure your playground padding for backyard safety is fall-height rated, too. Rubber playground flooring tiles are the best outdoor play-mats for toddlers and kids. Thus, when it comes to playground installation, rubber outdoor play-mats for playgrounds are essential to soft playgrounds. After you’ve finished building your personal playground, don’t forget to take some time to marvel at the majesty of your play-area floor. We’re sure it looks great!
Making Soft Playgrounds: A Playground Installation Guide