An outdoor play area in your back yard is great exercise tool for your kids. If you have children or grand children, chances are that you frequent parks in the summer time. Children love playing outside and outdoor play areas are a great way for your kids to burn off some summer energy. If your lawn is large enough, consider building an outdoor play area for your kids. Outdoor play areas can work in harmony with your existing landscape. You can integrate their design into your project so that it does not look out-of-place. Creating an outdoor play area for your kids will allow the adults to enjoy their outdoor living space as well.
Site preparation for your outdoor play area.
Some of the most popular play area features include slides and swings. There are many options to choose from including pre-assembled units as well as build it yourself kits. Before any installation begins, it is important to make sure that you properly prep your outdoor play area. We recommend removing about one foot of dirt material from the excavation area. Fill this one foot area with 3/8 base material and pack it with a vibrating packer plate every couple of inches. Fill the one foot hole up with about 8″ of 3/8 base material. Installing the base material helps make sure that your outdoor play area does not get soggy when it rains. If you frequent city parks, you probably noticed standing water or soggy areas after a rain fall. These soggy areas are created because the mulch or rock level is not deep enough, or the installation is made right on top of the soil. If you install base material before you install mulch, you will not have any soggy areas in your play area. Once you have installed 8″ of base material, now install at least 4″ of mulch material for your play ground.
There are mulch products on the market today that are specially made for play ground installation. These mulches are not made from recycled products and are much safer for children. Consider all of your options before choosing a mulch product for your play ground.