Ways To Make Playgrounds Safer
For children, the playground is the place where they can let out their pent-up energy and interact with others. Although allowing kids to run around freely and enjoy themselves is pivotal to their health and development, while doing so, they may also hurt themselves at times. As you design a playground, you should diminish the chances that children may become injured by using these ways to make playgrounds safer.
Include Safe Ground Surfaces
Kids will want to jump around while on the playground, and they may occasionally fall down. If the ground is too hard and rough, they may scrape themselves or even become seriously hurt from the impact. For this reason, you should include safe surfacing that provides a good degree of cushioning around playground equipment. This way, there won’t be a high risk for children as they climb and go back and forth on swings. A few examples of surfacing that you can use include wood chips, mulch, rubber, and sand.
Put Up Fencing
Fencing is important for playgrounds because it keeps kids from running out of the area while unaware of their surroundings. It makes it easier for parents to supervise their children and prevents dangerous situations where kids may move onto streets and parking lots. The fence you build around the playground should have no sharp edges and should include enough space between pickets, so no part of the playground is hidden from open view. It should also have an adequate height so kids cannot climb over it. When you’re looking for a fencing material, plastic lumber is a great choice because it does not splinter as wood does or rust like metal.
Build Sturdy Equipment
The equipment is the aspect of the playground that children will make the most contact with. Consequently, you want the structure to be sturdy so it can properly support their weight and won’t degrade from consistent use and exposure to precipitation and changing temperatures throughout the year. In addition to its practicality in fencing, plastic lumber is an ideal material for playground equipment because it has substantial strength and can include fiberglass to further reinforce its durability. Its molded boards are also free of jagged corners, and it will remain unchanged under the pressure of outdoor elemental forces.
While keeping these ways to make playgrounds safer in mind during your design process, contact Tangent Materials today to acquire recycled plastic building materials for your project. With plastic lumber, your playground will look attractive and will act as a secure area for children to have fun.