Setting up Swingset/Playset on Grass

Hi L., I bought a Rainbow Playset when my daughters were pretty young like your son. We weren't sure if we should do the same about the wood chips. It's expensive and takes up more room to surround the playset. We decided to just put it on grass and it was just fine. The girls jump off their swing.... tons of kids have been over ... there were no issues because it was on grass. The grass is pretty soft too... it's not like they are landing on concrete.:) I hope this helps... L.

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Contrary to all the other posts, I believe a fall surface is absolutely necessary! I still remember very vividly - I was 8 years old and at my piano teacher's house. Her 10 year old fell off the swing onto grass (not dirt) and an ambulance came because she had broken her arm. They also thought she'd broken her leg but that turned out to be "just" a heck of a bruise. I have a friend who's set is on grass and her middle child also broke his arm in a fall.
We have wood chips under our playset. they were not only the cheapest but will be the easiest to remove when the kids are done with the playset. You need to talk w/ the supplier (we used Pioneer Sand and Gravel because we had a coupon) - there are wood chips for landscaping that are NOT appropriate because they will leave splinters and there are wood chips that have been rounded and won't give splinters. We're three years in and are looking at needing to add some again. I think our total cost was about $200 for the chips, $40 for the landscape fabric underneath (to prevent weeds) and about $75 for the landscape railroad ties we put around to hold the wood chips in. Cheap insurance in our minds. And, one week after we put it in...our nanny's then 2 year old fell straight back from the ladder (from about eye level) and landed directly on the back of her head. Got up w/out a whimper, no dizziness, etc....so the wood chips do work!
Sand is actually not a good surface plus what a pain to put in and take out. If I remember right, 12" of gravel was slightly better than 12" of wood chips for safety. We said no to gravel because of the back-breaking labor to put it in and take it out. The rubber stuff is the best - but at the time it was $1500 or more to do what we needed - No thanks!
Sorry for the length, but I really think a fall surface is needed under anything that a child can fall from greater than 3-4 feet.

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L.,

Happily, my children are now 12 and 15, and our swing sets were always in the grass. The grass suffered more than any children who ever played at our house, and our home was always the neighborhood spot because we had the coolest swing set (think back yard adventures). So the moral of the story is that they will be fine. Every one is just looking to make a dollar. Harsh, but true.

I was just looking on Costco's website for swing sets. They have some rubber mulch that comes in a few different colors. It was expensive, but might be worth looking into.

We had the same problem. We had bought a swing set and were trying to decide what to put under it. Our backyard was dirt and we wanted to get sawed put in. We thought about all the things that are recommended to put under a swing set, but the swing set is so big that we would only have a little grass to play on. We finely decided that we were just going to get sawed in the whole yard and set up the swing set up on it. I know that you try to keep your children safe, but having grass under a swing set is not that bad. That is all that was under my swing set when I was growing up, and I am still here. I only had 1 injury as a child that ended up in broken bones, and it wasn’t from my swing set.

My little ones attend a school that has woodchips on the playground. During the warm months, when they wear flip flops or crocs they always get a woodchip stuck in their shoe or worse, in their foot. I think grass is perfect just make sure it is anchored into the ground. We put our playset over sand (very cheap) with a sand box on the side and grass around. Having the sand also creates another activity.

Have fun!

We just did the same thing but since I own a day care the requirement is to have woodchips or something around it. I've done a lot of research and it is a bit of a drive but the Layton landfill has the small barkmulch for $5 for a yard an a half. That truely beats the $45 a yard at all of the garden centers in town. But before I opened my day care with the old swingset I didn't have anything around it and the kids didn't really have any problems. The grass under the swings and at the bottom of the slide was completely gone though.
Good Luck!
B.

I would say whatever you choose keep it up. I worked at a daycare and we put in a really nice wood play structure. Due to the nature of the playground (a fence around part of the parking lot)we put in 12" of bark. About a year later, due to the rain compacting and decomposing the bark down, one of our kids fell from the top of the slide and broke his arm in two places when he hit the solid surface the compacted bark became. Gravel gets hot, so does sand, so I don't think there's a right choice but safety and supervision are key. Make sure the kids are using the equipment the right way. The child mentioned would not have fallen if he hadn't been trying to play superman down the slide. Better to be a strict mom than be sued by the neighbor or tracked down by their insurance.

I have a 7, 5, and 3 year old at home. We had bought a play set for my youngest when he was 18 months. It has been so wonderful and we have alway had it on the grass. We have never had a problem, except a little dead grass.
I had rules of course, the main one being that the babies were not to be helped on to anything that they could not get on themselves unless there was an adult present. I think that saved some potentially serious falls when all eyes were turned away.
Have fun, he will love it!

Our house already had an area clear of grass for a playset. We looked into wood chips but they are so pricey. We found a tree removal company that gave us an entire truck load of a chipped tree for $40. They aren't the special rounded ones but we rarely have had splinters or slivers since we got them a year ago. They are cheap and deep and make for a soft fall.

L., My kids are grown and gone, but we always had our set on the grass. That said, we have grandkids and are getting a swingset for our yard again and have decided to put pea gravel under it. It seems to be the safer thing to do. I am getting our pea gravel and railroad ties free from Craigslist. Craigslist.com FREE STUFF. People are so generous and give it away all of the time. That or playground sand. We are doing gravel to keep the sandy mess down. Good luck. S.

I think the biggest reason for putting a swingset on wood chips, pebbles, etc. is because it is such a pain to mow around them when they are on the grass. Pebbles aren't any softer to land on than grass or wood chips. One of the reasons they recommend putting them someplace other than grass is because the legs won't rust as much if they are on a more solid surface.

I think with the one level swingsets, the basic type, grass is fine. I would definitely do more to cushion my children's falls when we move up to a 2 level swingset. Farther to fall needs more cushioning.

Ours is on grass as was the one I had when I was a child! I've never had a problem. In fact, it seems when we go to a playground with woodchips, they are forever getting in my children's shoes, sticking into the soles and sometimes hurting my children's feet. I hard fall onto that? No thanks. Grass is soft...a better option in my book.

Hi L.,

I don't see a reason for putting wood chips or pebbles under a swing. If anything I would get sand. On the lawn you are going to get a dirt spot under the swing from the kids skidding their feet to stop. The grass will get worn away and will not have a chance to grow with the skidding of the children's feet. Sand is pretty inexpensive compared to wood chips or pebbles and much softer to land on. Call a sand and gravel quarry and they can even deliver to your home. The sand will also be much cleaner, it doesn't turn into mud like the dirt spot will, when you water the lawn or it rains.
Kind Regards,
T.

P.S.
I was thinking about getting sand for my daughter, so I made a call to Geneva Rock. You can get a pickup load of washed sand for $40. phone no. ###-###-#### 6400 S 6200 W.

There is a lot of research that shows injuries are worse on grass as the dirt is packed down and usually the grass is gone, but we all survived it. My husband and I decided on sand. It's just a bit safer than grass, but it was also affordable. I do agree, most people have grass, but no parks I have seen do anymore, simply for the safety reasons. I don't remember where I found the info, but it didn't take much looking, and I found a chart that broke the landing surfaces down to compare them to a car accident at different speeds. Grass was the worse, followed by sand. I think rubber chips were the safest (probably most expensive and unsightly, too). Like I said, though, sand is significantly better and affordable.

My dad finally put down fine gravel. Of course, don't forget to set it in cement to keep it from tipping over. Good luck!!!!

Ours is on grass...it's been no problem at all. The wood chips at the park give my kids splinters and the pebbles at my kids' schools come home in their shoes and get strewn all over my house. I wouldn't spend any extra $$ on all that other stuff if you have a nice grassy area to put your swingset. It's not like you're putting it on a concrete patio...

Mowing around a swing set proves challenging which is why majority typically makes a "pit" area for the swing set. Otherwise it is pretty much your choice. To anchor most swing sets you have to dig into the ground, sometimes use concrete which is another reason people use chips to cover it up. It is up to you either way. Most schools have wood chips and gravel type stuff with pads under it around where the swings are to lessen the hurt if they fall. I can say grass would be softer. My kids have fallen at school and end up with splinters in their hands with the chips and with the stones they end up in their shoes!!! :)

L. , Make sure it is anchored down so it don't tip over . Also I would suggest Peat gravel instead of woodchips that have slivers . Hope this helps.