Are you looking to create a safe play environment for school children? Over the last 20 years, PlaySmart has helped UK nurseries, EYFS settings, infant schools, primary schools, and high schools achieve their playground goals. We resurface, refurbish, and install new playground surfaces as an experienced and API-certified surface installation company.
Read on to have your top questions about school playground installations answered. For more technical information you can visit our FAQ Page. Additionally, fill in our contact form for a quote or to book a call with our team.
Safety Standards for School Playground Surfaces
Safety is always paramount on the school playground. Children should be safe and free to explore and play independently or in social groups. A huge part of this play provision is installing and maintaining safe surfaces. This limits the risk of injury, allowing kids to have free range across the playground.
Critical Fall Height Protection
School playground surface installation must provide adequate protection from the highest possible fall from playground equipment. Independent certification teams measure Critical Fall Height from the highest point of equipment and extend this out around the edge. British Standard EN 1177 (2018) requires all equipment with a Critical Fall Height above 0.6m to have appropriate safety surfaces.
A play tower or climbing wall often reaches well over this height. Therefore playgrounds with these features need high-quality safety surfacing installed at the appropriate depths to achieve full protection.
PlaySmart provides a range of safety surfacing to meet these requirements. Our SmartPlay system of Grass Mats provides up to 3m of Critical Fall Height Protection. These are effective safety surfaces for school playgrounds. For more information, read our Guide to Grass Mats.
Avoiding Toxicity in Surfaces for Schools
Nursery school playgrounds additionally require special attention to the materials used in surfacing. Some SBR rubber products can leave behind Carbon Black Residue because of chemical interactions with UV radiation and physical contact. As children play and crawl around the playground, this residue can stain and can cause potential risks if ingested.
The safest choice for playgrounds catering to small children is a non-toxic, virgin rubber or cork surface. Our top choices are:
- Corkeen – a great choice of unconventional material. The cork surface is naturally hypoallergenic, water-absorbent, and ergonomic for crawling, walking, and running.
- EPDM – the material provides the benefits of a typical rubber surface without the potential to wear over time. The virgin rubber comes in a range of vibrant colours for surface patterning that children love.
Design Tips in Playground Surfaces for Schools
Customise your playgrounds with surface design in vibrant colours and exciting patterns. Bright colours and games on the playground help children engage better with play. This is essential for school playground design because it encourages outdoor activity, inspires imagination, and promotes socialisation.
Exciting, Engaging Surface Designs
Wet pour rubber with EPDM crumb is a versatile surfacing solution to create a wide range of school playground markings. Surface design can allow for a wide range of prescribed games as well as inspiring child-led activities and exploratory play.
Hopscotch designs and playground markings for schools with other game patterns or inventive shape markings inspire children into activity. Children can enjoy their time together running along wavy pathways, cycling around roadway designs, or jumping between colourful shapes in bespoke school flooring styles.
Designating different zones on the playground for various age groups or activities helps optimise even small areas of playground surfaces for schools. Landscaping for learning spaces needs to consider the needs of each group of children that are using the space. For example, an EYFS outdoor area should be visually distinct from play areas for older children, with vibrant colours; whereas, older kids’ play areas can incorporate more complex design and safety flooring suitable for the taller active play equipment.
School Sports Markings
School sports fields and pitches for PE lessons are also key elements of school playgrounds. Sports markings for schools can be combined and overlaid in a Multi-Use Games Area, or MUGA, where children can play a wide range of different sports.
Sports are crucial to encourage physical health, but also facilitate socialisation and friendship. Active play should always have a place on the playground and schools should endeavour to make it as appealing as possible. Therefore, PlaySmart offers a range of sports surfacing with vibrant colour, simplistic, straight-forward markings and ergonomic safety matting. This means children see the sports pitch as an inviting space for safe fun and play and they are more likely to get involved in sports.
PlaySmart’s sports surfaces are a cost-effective way to set up a sports field on your school playground. Therefore it is a favourite choice for sports areas across primary, junior, and infant school children. Non-disruptive installation for a reliable, durable school sports surface.
Additionally, for year-round school fields with minimal maintenance requirements, Perfect Pitch is the best choice. The grass carpet turf provides high-quality surfacing guaranteed to last at least 5 years.
Upgrade your Playground Surfaces for Schools
Do you need groundwork, resurfacing, or maintenance for your school playground surfaces? PlaySmart is here for you. Our team is experienced in working to specifications to build bespoke school playgrounds for any requirements.
Get in touch with our team with our Contact Form today. There, you can claim your Free Playground Quote or request a call to discuss your options.