And as children can be the harshest critics, you’ll want to make sure they enjoy your play area and that it captivates their imagination.

To get you started, at Matta we’ve put together our top tips for designing your own outdoor play area.

Layout

The most-loved play areas create spaces for different types of play; from active and physical play to sensory, imaginative and role play.

Active and physical play will include more traditional play equipment such as climbing frames, slides and roundabouts. Imaginative play and role play are facilitated by play equipment and props which inspire a make-believe world, from a mermaid lagoon and a pirate ship to playhouses and dens. Sensory play allows children to experience different textures, sounds and smells while creative play encourages children to express themselves. By its nature, a play area is an ideal setting for social play such as sharing, turn taking and socialising while rest areas promote quiet play.

When you’re initially designing your play area, you’ll want to plan out zones for different types of play and for various ages and abilities – leaving plenty of space in between for free play. By incorporating different types of play in your play area, you’ll engage children for longer and help them to develop a range of skills, as well as appealing to different preferences and personalities.

Active play

When it comes to physical and active play, the opportunities are almost endless. This is your chance to get creative and you may decide you want to adopt a specific theme. We’ve seen some fantastic themes such as forest, under the sea, circus and space themes. Or you could stick to the more traditional playground, brought to life with bright colours. Equipment wise, your options are plentiful from slides, swings, climbing frames and roundabouts to mini-gym equipment, assault courses, zip wires and balance bars.

Consider different ages and abilities so you’re catering for everybody and make sure you map out your play area so you’re not crossing paths; you’ll want to avoid toddlers passing by bigger kids hurtling down fireman poles or swinging along monkey bars.

As well as being fun, active play helps to enhance various motor skills such as hopping, jumping, climbing, sliding, swinging and balancing. But of course, active play isn’t just about equipment, you can also provide free space for running about and playground games of tag, football or rounders. If you don’t have the budget for extra equipment, simply painting games on the ground or walls is a low-cost solution and very effective. This could include hopscotch, trails, a ‘road’, challenges to complete, mazes or a painted assault course.

Imagination play

Inspire role play with one large focal piece of play equipment such as a pirate ship, treehouse, castle, fort or a stage for children to perform on. It’s not only fun to climb up and explore but it inspires children’s imagination, providing hours of entertainment as they act out a fantasy adventure. You can also incorporate traditional play equipment into its design such as a slide, cargo net, rope bridges, tunnel and fireman’s pole.

Small world

By creating a small-world zone, you’re inviting children to act out scenes and stories. This could include a dinosaur den, fairy garden, a construction site or a farmyard. Use nature where you can, using pebbles and sand as natural surfaces with wooden steppingstones, branches and plants. If you can, provide toys so children can get stuck in straight away, or you can also set up a scheme inviting families to donate their own pre-loved toys or simply bring their own.

Loose equipment

Depending on your set up, you may be able to enhance your play area by providing loose play equipment such as balls, bean bags, stilts, boxes, pebbles and shells. Alternatively, if you lack the storage and supervision for loose equipment, incorporate fixed play parts to open up more play options such as built-in chalkboards, a water wall, a tyre trail or fixed musical instruments made from drainpipes, plant pots and wind chimes.

Sensory play

Sensory play can be an important part of a child’s development, stimulating their senses and helping them explore and make sense of the world around them. You can harness this through sensory play equipment such as mud kitchens, sand pits, music-making posts, water walls or even with a sensory path or garden. You can also incorporate different textures and materials into your play equipment.

Rest areas

Playing is great fun but also hard work at times. Rest areas such as benches gives children the chance to take a quick break, as well as supervising adults. One nice idea is to place a ‘friendship bench’ to help introduce children looking to make a play mate for the day.

Picnic areas also make the playground more of a destination so families can spend more time there and even become a community hub. Incorporating a refreshment stand or inviting a mobile coffee van to visit will make it even more attractive. And don’t forget to add bin and recycling stations to help keep your play area tidy.

Playground surfacing

When it comes to playground surfacing, do your homework. Playgrounds are places where children can run free and explore in a safe environment. However, concrete, gravel and hard flooring can be dangerous, causing children to hurt themselves if they fall over. Grass is a good option if you can commit to maintaining it – although when it rains and is subject to high footfall, it will inevitably become muddy and slippery. This can lead to children getting messy, falling more easily as well as the equipment becoming dirty too. Woodchip on the other hand is lower maintenance but brings its own issues. It can be messy and cause hazards when woodchip is inevitably moved away exposing harder ground underneath – leaving no fall protection. It also needs to be replenished and can limit the play area’s accessibility as it is not very wheelchair friendly.

Rubber on the other hand is hard wearing, low maintenance, non-slip and offers protection to children in the playground and there are several options available. Rubber mulch is made from shredded tyres, made to look like natural bark. However, it’s not as suitable for younger children to crawl on as it can stain skin and clothing. Wet pour is a continuous rubber surface but can be expensive and is renowned for shrinking over time.

Alternatively, Matta safety tiles are a practical alternative to wet pour and rubber mulch and are a cost-effective way to make areas both safe and fun. This unique and colourful safety surface matting solution offers several different shock pad and installation options, with unparalleled certified critical fall heights of up to 4.5 metres. Matta is suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs and requires no setting, curing or drying time, allowing immediate use after installation.

If you’re looking for a specialist in playground safety surfaces, look no further than Matta Products. With nearly three decades of experience, Matta is one of the UK’s leading brands of safety play surfacing. Our products come with a 10-year guarantee as standard, are compliant with UK and European safety, are fire retardant, require no maintenance and have a 100% recycled content. To find out more, get in touch with us today.