Who we serve
Playgrounds for churches, daycares, malls, HOAs and parks
Six kinds of places call us, and each one needs something different from the same four services — installation, inspection, surfacing and maintenance.
Churches
Church playgrounds
A church playground works two shifts: Sunday morning for the whole congregation, and the rest of the week for a preschool or a Mother’s Day Out program if the church runs one. That usually means two age areas — one for 2- to 5-year-olds and one for 5- to 12-year-olds — laid out so the use zones don’t crowd the walkway to the fellowship hall.
Church playgrounds usually go through a building or finance committee, so we bring design recommendations, 3D renderings and a line-by-line budget the committee can vote on. Shade is worth planning from the start; USA Shade, Modern Shade and Shade Systems are all on our partner list.
Daycares & preschools
Daycare and preschool playgrounds
Everything at a daycare is scaled to the age group. Infants and toddlers from 6 to 23 months play on equipment built to ASTM F2373, a separate standard from the ASTM F1487 that covers older children, and the CPSC wants each age group in its own area. Preschool platforms higher than 20 inches need guardrails, and above 30 inches they need full barriers.
Under all of it goes a surface a stroller and a walker can cross — poured rubber, tiles or turf over a pad — rated for the fall height of the tallest piece in that area.
Malls & shopping centers
Mall and shopping center play areas
Indoor play in a mall’s center court is usually soft contained play: padded climbers, foam shapes, netting and slides inside one enclosure. It has its own safety standard, ASTM F1918, and the cushioned flooring under it has to be rated for its fall height just like a surface outside.
A center-court play area sees traffic from open to close, so padding seams, netting and connectors wear quickly. It deserves the same inspection and maintenance schedule as an outdoor playground.
HOAs & communities
HOA and apartment community playgrounds
A neighborhood playground usually sits beside the pool and the clubhouse, where sidewalks, fences and landscaping crowd the space. Getting a 6-foot use zone around the structure — and twice the pivot height in front of and behind the swings — is often the first design problem to solve.
Boards turn over; the playground doesn’t. A maintenance package with an annual inspection leaves each new board a written file of what was checked, what was repaired and what’s due next.
Parks & recreation
Parks and recreation playgrounds
City and county parks build the big ones: destination playgrounds with towers and rope bridges, and inclusive playgrounds designed around the 2010 ADA Standards. Section 240 requires at least 50 percent of the elevated play components to be reachable on an accessible route, with surfaces that pass ASTM F1951.
Parks also buy past the play structure — outdoor musical instruments from Freenotes Harmony Park and dog-park equipment from Barkpark are both on our partner list. When a project is bid from a spec sheet, we build it to the spec sheet, line by line.
Schools
School playgrounds
Recess is the hardest use a playground gets: a whole grade at once, every school day. School-age equipment for ages 5 to 12 is built to ASTM F1487, with guardrails on platforms over 30 inches and barriers above 48.
The layout matters as much as the equipment. Use zones have to stay clear of the blacktop games and the walkways, and the surfacing at the bottom of every slide and under every swing takes the most wear on the whole campus.
Answers
What churches, daycares, HOAs and parks ask us
How much does a church playground cost?
The same things that price any commercial playground: the structure, the surfacing its fall height needs, shade if you want it, and the site work. Churches get a free quote with 3D renderings and a budget plan, so the building committee sees the design and the number together.
Are church playgrounds open to the public?
That’s each church’s decision. If yours is open to the neighborhood, post the age ranges and rules, keep the use zones clear, and keep inspection and repair records — the CPSC recommends them for every public playground, and they’re what you’ll want on file if someone gets hurt.
What makes a daycare playground different?
The ages. Equipment for children 6 to 23 months is built to ASTM F2373, preschoolers from 2 to 5 and school-age kids from 5 to 12 get their own areas, and the CPSC recommends keeping those areas apart — with lower platforms, smaller steps and shade over the littlest ones.
Are indoor playgrounds safe?
They can be, when the equipment is built to ASTM F1918 — the standard for soft contained play — and the flooring under it is rated for the fall height. Indoor play in a mall or family center needs inspecting like any outdoor playground, because padding, netting and connectors wear with daily use.
Does an HOA need playground inspections?
It’s the best record an HOA board can keep. A written inspection by a Certified Playground Safety Inspector shows what was checked and what was fixed, and pairing it with a maintenance package means the playground gets looked at once a year, even when the board changes.
Do you build inclusive playgrounds for parks departments?
Yes. Under the 2010 ADA Standards at least half of a playground’s elevated play components have to be on an accessible route, on surfacing that passes ASTM F1951, and we build the ramps, transfer stations and surfaces so the play area works for kids who use wheelchairs.