I got a wooden play set for the back yard this weekend (used in newspaper). I need to put a 6" deep safe fall zone under it. My choices are wood chips, wood mulch, sand or pea gravel. What do you think? Mulch tends to blow away where we live. Sand always ends up being a litter box, imho. Wood chips or pea gravel just don't seem really 'soft' to me, ya know? It's a state regulation for me (licensed child care) so I don't have much choice here. The only other option is that recycled rubber mats and they're expensive!!! So what would you like your child playing on at their child care provider's house? TIA

By Luvn29 on Monday, June 5, 2006 - 03:49 pm:

6 inches of pea gravel is a lot softer than you think. It gives when you fall, and that is what protects a child, not the "softness" factor. I actually think the pea gravel is better than wood chips, myself, though, our school playground uses wood chips. Probably cheaper.

Sand is messy. Does become a litter box. And blows easily into little eyes.

By Reds9298 on Monday, June 5, 2006 - 03:51 pm:

I would probably pick the gravel, just based on your question "What would you like your child playing on at their child care provider's house?" I think the mulch and wood chips are bad (just from experience) and sand would be a pain to walk/run in, IMO.
Good luck!

By Kate on Monday, June 5, 2006 - 04:19 pm:

What is pea gravel? Tiny stones? I, personally, hate tiny stones. They get in the kids' shoes (and mine) and HURT. It seems all we do is take our shoes off and dump the stones out. I certainly wouldn't want sand, either, as that fills your shoes and is impossible to walk/run on as Reds pointed out. If you can't do the mats (first choice) I'd go with the mulch.

By Trina~moderator on Monday, June 5, 2006 - 04:21 pm:

One of the preschools where I taught used pea gravel. It actually is pretty soft and cool to walk on, however, we were constantly sweeping the stones out of the school building. LOL! Another issue was kids grabbing fistfuls and throwing them at each other. Argh.

DD's school has the wood chips. They may be cheap but I would think they need to be replaced every year or so. Consider that when comparing costs.

DS's school has a brand new playground with the recycled rubber mats. VERY COOL! They are soft and cushy and look very durable.

By Vicki on Monday, June 5, 2006 - 05:55 pm:

My first choice would be the mat, my second choice would be the pea gravel.

By Andyjoy on Monday, June 5, 2006 - 06:35 pm:

I don't know how the price compares, but my personal favorite playground surface is loose "crumb rubber" (tire chunks). Though it will still get into shoes, it is extra soft, won't freeze, won't give you splinters, doesn't hurt as much as rock when thrown, etc. My second place vote would be for pea gravel. I HATED wood chips as a kid. I was always getting splinters and the chunks were large enough that they caused me to twist my ankles regularly.

By Dawnk777 on Monday, June 5, 2006 - 07:13 pm:

Wood chips get soooo wet, when it rains and it takes a long time for them to dry out. They are also kind of slippery, when wet. It's what our school district uses, though. So, sometimes the playground looks muddy, but it's just that the wood chips are so saturated with moisture.

There probably isn't a solution that's cheap and isn't messy, though. They don't add wood chips to the playgrounds every year, though. I think the school I work at will need some before the next school year, though! It must be our turn to get some.

I've seen the mats and they are nice, but if they are expensive, there goes that option.

By Reds9298 on Monday, June 5, 2006 - 10:15 pm:

Wood chips or mulch also gets into sandals so easily. We had that on my olds chool playground and the kids hated it.
The cut up old tires (rubber) is AWESOME and really ideal for any playground, but I have no idea how expensive it is.

By Cat on Monday, June 5, 2006 - 11:01 pm:

While I'd love to get rubber mulch, I don't have $2000+ to put into this, so it looks like we'll go with pea gravel. That's what I was leaning towards. I'd love to do the rubber mulch or rubber smooth surface, but just can't afford it. Maybe someday. Thanx for your input.