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Synthetic Long Jump Athletics Track Construction in Peterborough

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The synthetic long jump run up construction in Ortongate, Peterborough was carried at a school on their grass playing field. The school desired for the synthetic long jump athletics track surface to be in two different colours. This appears as a red and blue stripe design.

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Installation of Long Jump Athletics Track

The installation of a stone sub-base and Multisport™ synthetic athletics surface can help reduce long-term costs by ultimately increasing the lifespan of the product whilst eliminating the need for a macadam sub base. Due to the long lasting life of the product, this means that the school will not need to regularly replace, resurface or refurbish their synthetic long jump athletic track.

This will help the school keep within their budget. The long jump athletics track will also act as an investment over time. The synthetic Multisport™ long jump athletics track can be installed on top of the sub base now that the ground is flat and level. As the client is a school, they required an aesthetically pleasing look as to help engage with the children. The vibrant design also helps to make sports and fitness seem more fun and appealing.

Please see video transcript below:

00:03 Hi there, this is Dan from Soft Surfaces here and today we’re going to be showing you a multisport synthetic long jump installation in the Ortongate, Peterborough area.
So the first thing we do here is we actually mark the area for the digging, so as you can see it’s quite a sizable area that we’re doing that on. Next up, the marked area is actually then dug up and a soft kerb edging is then installed. So you can see us installing the edging here to the area.

00:25 After that, the stone sub base and the sandpit is then installed shortly after, so you can see that coming into place now with these photos. And then after that the precast concrete, or the PCC edging, is then installed. So this is essentially the geotextile membrane installed underneath the surface, if you like. Finally the multisport synthetic turf is then actually applied, so you can see that on the photos here and it’s really starting to come into it’s own and come in to life, really, on the surface.

00:49 So now for the completed project. As you can see, this looks absolutely fantastic really. It gives the kids a massive area to be playing there, you know, long jump and high jump on. And not only that, it’s a very large area too. It’s 120 square meters this one, on a four lane long jump, so many kids can use this at the same time, really helping with their educational, recreational needs, really, at school. So thanks a lot for watching, guys, and I hope you enjoyed the video and I’ll see you guys later.

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The surfacing that was chosen for the synthetic long jump was an alternative to the traditional athletic tracks. This would usually be a polymeric rubber specification. The installation process of the synthetic long jump athletics track took approx 1-2 weeks on site.

Now the school is happy to have an all-weather athletics facility for the children to practice on. It is suitable for use all year round in all weather conditions.

For further details on these long jump runway pits, sand pit covers or athletics surfacing specifications please visit our Long Jump Runway page where it highlights the various designs and option you have and if you fill the contact form in then we can provide costs, prices and quotes to meet your requirements.

Rake for Maintaining Long Jump Sandpit

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The installation of long jump runways is quickly becoming more and more popular in schools, colleges and clubs throughout the UK. The keen interest in this and other athletic sporting events means that a top quality long jump sandpit is crucial.

Above all, a long jump runway surface and landing pit need to be safe. Especially those being used by children in schools or junior athletics clubs. As well as this, any type of athletic sports surfacing needs to ensure that the athlete can perform to the best of their ability. They don’t want their talent held back by a poor quality long jump sandpit or runway surface. But are we all looking after our long jump surfaces properly?

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Long Jump Sand Pit Maintenance

Most reputable athletics surface construction companies in the UK will be able to provide specialist maintenance equipment such as long jump sandpit rakes and covers to help you keep your long jump pit and runway in the best condition for whomever it is used by.

It is essential that you set up a schedule for the cleaning and maintenance of a long jump run-up and landing pit. This ensures you get the best use out of it and to save money on the costs of repairs and renovation of the flooring. A regular maintenance programme ensures that damage to the long jump surface is kept to a minimum. It also helps keep the area safe for use for as long as possible.

Athletics Sandpit Rake

One vital piece of equipment for maintaining a high-quality landing surface is a plastic long jump sandpit rake. These rakes have a special design for their purpose with a strong fibreglass handle and wide plastic head. This means it can reach to all corners of the landing pit in order to remove any dirt or weeds. It’s important to get rid of these as they may be contaminating the sand in the pit. The specialist design of the rake means that the sand spreads evenly around the landing area. This prevents injury by providing a steady surface for the athlete to land on.

As an athletics surface contractor we are able to offer these long jump sandpit rakes and other surface maintenance equipment along with the construction of a synthetic long jump runway or any other athletic sports surfacing you may require, we can install surfaces for a range of specifications and individual budgets depending on what you’re looking for.

Please get in touch with us today through the contact form on this page for more information on the products and services we can provide as well as additional equipment including the sandpit rakes.

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Costs to Construct Triple Jump Athletics Facility

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After the sporting success of the summer, why not add to your athletic facilities to breed the next generation of superstars? Our team install triple jump facilities and other athletics areas throughout the UK. We can tailor the costs of building a triple jump run-up to meet a school or sports club’s budget.

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Triple Jump Athletics Facility Specifications

To comply with IAAF and UK Athletic specification a triple jump runway should be a total length of 58 meters (Men); with a maximum length of 45 meters before the take-off board with a further 13 meters to the pit where the hop and skip phases would take place. The pit speciation matches that of a long jump being 9 meters long, 3 meters wide with a depth of 500mm.

Here you can see a video of one of our previous construction projects. The final product is a dual-use long jump and triple jump facility with striped red and blue lanes.

If you are looking to build a triple jump athletics facility for children this size of run way would be unsuitable and unnecessary and this is reflected in the cost. Here at Soft Surfaces, we can construct a triple jump runway to fit almost any budget and level of participation, there are many factors that can be compromised bringing the price down effectively.

A more suitable run way size for boys and girls would be a 30-metre track to the first board followed by 8 metres to the pit giving it the size and dimensions 38m x 1.22m. Reducing the pit size is also an option for example this could be reduced to 6m x 3m x 300mm.

We have a wide range of colours available to give your runway its unique look. For example, if your school’s colour is blue why not have a blue run way? The options are endless but if it is the cheapest you’re looking for a black EPDM would be the cheapest without sacrificing anything in terms of quality.

There are also a number of optional extras you add to your triple jump pit :

  • Rubber Edgings in the pit (Maximise Safety)
  • Mowing Strip, Concrete or Rubber
  • Sand Pit Cover
  • Fixed Take off Boards
  • Removable Take off Boards.

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For any more information on the construction of a triple jump athletics facility or any other of our products please contact us. Just fill in the enquiry form and include as many details as you can about the project. We can provide information with regards to the specification, costs and prices to construct these athletics facilities.

Fibre Bonded Needlepunch Sport Surfacing

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Synthetic fibre bonded needlepunch surfacing is a durable and long-lasting sports pitch material which provides excellent performance qualities for a range of sports including football, hockey and athletics. It is commonly installed to replace worn out natural grass pitches which have become unsafe for use.

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We are able to fit these surfaces in a variety of designs and sizes to suit different activities. Common uses for this particular product include:

  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Netball
  • Hockey
  • PE games
  • Outdoor activities at school

The designs are extremely versatile and we can incorporate different colours and shapes to create a unique facility.

Installing Fibre Bonded Needlepunch

The installation process for a fibre bonded needlepunch sports facility takes place in a number of stages. Once the ground has been prepared, the first stage is installing either a dynamic or engineered sub base, contractors usually prefer to install fibre bonded needlepunch onto an engineered sub base creates the most even surface.

If the needlepunch synthetic turf is going to be used for an athletics track surface, the artificial fibre bonded carpet can be applied straight onto the sub-base, however, if the surface is for a multi-use games area surface, a shockpad may need to be installed.

A preformed shockpad is typically included with the installation of fibre bonded needlepunch MUGA surfacing. It will help improve the safety of the surface by absorbing the impact of trips and falls.

After the sub-base and shockpad have been installed, the next stage is to apply the fibre bonded needlepunch carpet. This is available in a range of bright colours and rainbow designs. Therefore making it a popular choice for primary schools. Inlaid line markings can also be cut into the needlepunch carpet in contrasting colours to differentiate between the different sports for which the MUGA would be used for.

Once the synthetic turf carpet is installed, a layer of sand infill is distributed at the base of the synthetic grass fibres. This helps to maintain the pile height and keep an even playing surface. The fibre bonded needlepunch turf material has the highest fibre to the sand ratio of all the sand-filled synthetic pitch surfaces on the market. It is also commonly known as outdoor activity surfacing as it’s popular for school games and activities.

Sports Facility Accessories

You can choose to have a number of different accessories included with the full construction project of your fibre bonded needlepunch sports facility. Examples include fencing in a range of specifications and heights from 3m-5m, as well as floodlighting. These enable your facility to be rented out in the evenings to generate extra revenue for your organisation.

Maintenance equipment can also be provided along with the full construction as it’s important to look after your synthetic sports surface. This should ensure it remains safe for use and has good playing characteristics for your primary sports.

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Multisport Needlepunch Installation

The video below shows our team installing this synthetic turf surface. This client chose to have a natural-looking green facility with inlaid yellow line-markings. We carry out projects similar to this in many areas across the UK for schools and clubs.

The final product offers a much more comfortable and versatile playing surface in comparison to the previous flooring. The pupils at the school can now enjoy a selection of sporting activities during PE lessons and after-school clubs.

We are specialists in the sports surfacing industry with plenty of experience. Our team install synthetic needlepunch facilities at schools and clubs all over the country. To see more of the products and services we have to offer, please visit our website at http://softsurfaces.co.uk/ We would be happy to discuss any enquiries you have regarding full construction, resurfacing or maintenance of a multi-use games area or athletics track facility.

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Please fill in our contact form in as much detail as possible regarding the work. A member of our staff will get back to you with some helpful information regarding quotes, prices and specifications for your project.

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Den Building Ideas for Schools

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New ideas are being needed for schools as they want to develop certain skills for kids, so they can have brilliant skills when they are in the later side of primary and prepare them for learning new things. Building dens is a great answer to this demand as this blog will show.

There are several different types of play equipment for schools and this is just one type which you can use. Check out some of our top den building ideas for schools and get some information for new activities.

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Skills Children Learn from Making Dens

Den building can give children loads of useful skills for the future. Building on physical, mental and social skills, this sort of activity should be encouraged a lot more throughout schools and homes to ensure healthy development is occurring. Skills that are developed include:

  • Independent/group work – Working on something like this is a great way to introduce children to what they can accomplish if they focus and work together. If they are building a den by themselves then they can understand what can be accomplished when a clear goal is set, and you work towards it. Helping children understand these two concepts at an early stage is a great way to build them into brilliant leaders and team players. See this post for more details on different outdoor learning ideas.
  • Creative skills – Obviously, building a den is going to allow a child to be incredibly creative. They should be given full control over the construction of it and allowed to decide what the outcome is. Not just this, but decision making will be developed and improved as the kids will have to decide what materials to use, what colours to paint with, the dimensions of the den etc.
  • Communication and social skills – Whether it’s being built or being used, a den is going to encourage children to talk and socialise with each other. Personally, I think this point is key as building a solid understanding of how to communicate and socialise properly will start to slowly introduce them to the world around them and of course, help them make friends.
  • Role-playing – Linking strongly to the previous point, this skill will help the child be slowly introduced to how society and the world around them operates. Of course, it’s also a lot of fun for them as most of the time they will act as other influential figures in their lives (parents, family, friends, characters) and usually re-enact past or present events. Children will usually build their den to represent the chosen scenario (a hospital, shop, post office etc.).
  • Problem-solving – Building dens won’t always go the way the child plans. Running into problems will be very common for them and they will be encouraged to think outside the box to solve the problem. Effective and a great skill to have, improving their problem solving will help children deal with issues in the future they may encounter.

With a wide range of skills being developed, many people can understand why den building is such a vital activity to include and encourage throughout the world. One key point to remember is that teachers and parents should have hardly any say over the development. Kids should be allowed to have full control over every step in the building process as this will allow them to learn all the skills without any being compromised.

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Den Building Kits

There are many different types of den building kits available depending on the situation the kid wants to build in. By this, some kids might want to build theirs inside whilst others may find it more fun to build them outside.

You can usually buy or put together bundles of equipment to build a strong and vibrant structure. It’s important to always check the content of these kits as most of the time, they contain everyday items which you can find around your house/school. Keep in mind though, some kits are great as they will contain a lot more supplies and offer more variety for the kid to be creative and fully express themselves. These can be used for a range of National Curriculum play activities to help children learn vital skills.

Outside dens usually require a lot more supports as there is usually less furniture to use. Boxes, crates, buckets and other similar things can all be used to hold up the materials. Inside is slightly different as tables, chairs, beds etc. can be used as support. Usually, inside dens will have a lot more focus on decoration and looks whilst outside dens are more focused on stability and working well.

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Building a Den on the Playground

On the playground, they’ll be a wide variety of different den building ideas as all children will want to have some sort of contribution towards it. In addition, with it being located on the playground, children will interact with this daily and will look at it as a mode of escapism. Children will associate this space with escapism since it’s located on the playground, which is where they are given free time to mess around and play games.

As the den is located on the playground, the materials used to construct it might have to be a lot stronger and more resistant to damage. Doing this would avoid the chance of it collapsing or becoming unsafe for the children to play on. This type of activity is promoted by the National Trust who encourage children to embrace nature and the outdoors.

Try to stay out of the construction process and let the kids have full control and if they need any help with anything, they will proactively seek it. Apart from that, let the kids have some fun with the design and construction. You could even use different floor markings like these to mark out the different areas to build on.

Equipment for Making Dens at School

The best bit about building dens at school is that all the equipment you need is right there! Ranging from creation to decorating, children have all the tools to fully create their dream den without the restrictions of lack of supplies and tools. As well as this, kids will be surrounded by their friends meaning that they can feel a lot more engaged with the activity and find it a lot more fun.

A good thing you could incorporate is a few competitions to build on their competitive spirits. Ask them to build a den with a certain object present in it, or only with objects that are a certain colour. Through this as well, you can teach kids about things in a fun and interesting way without them feeling pressured into learning about it.

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Schools offer a great chance for kids to build dens and more importantly, improve the skills mentioned before. Slowly but surely, early years are starting to merge den building into their daily routines because of all the benefits and positive reception. Overall, whether at home or school, den building ideas are a great way to let the children enjoy themselves and fully express their ideas.

Creating a Storytelling Area in Your Playground

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Schools often have favourite activities which they promote a lot more. Ranging from athletics to garden trips, it really depends what school you go to. However, one activity that a lot of schools promote and that works incredibly well is storytelling.

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Today’s post will explore more about the activity and how you can incorporate it into your curriculum. Check out this previous post to learn more about National Curriculum play activities. Creating a storytelling area in your playground doesn’t have to be difficult or involve a lot of expensive equipment.

School Story Time Equipment

Creating an environment to tell stories must be done perfectly. You can choose different types of school story time equipment to suit what you need. You’ll want to create a relaxing space that also captures children’s imaginations. The aim of telling a great story is to get the audience (in this case, the pupils) to escape into the fantasy land being described. It may seem hard at first, but the equipment used during this time can really affect this point.

Firstly, the seats. Most storytellers sit on a big chair to give the illusion of fantasy and fairy-tale. This chair usually has a tall backrest and resembles some sort of throne which again, gives the impression of a fantasy setting and lets the kid’s imaginations go wild. However, it really is up to you what kind of seating you do for the kids. A popular choice is little mushrooms as these usually gain the kids’ attention and engages them quickly and effectively.

It’s also a good idea to think about the surrounding areas on the playground. Maybe the floor surfacing could be a different material than just grass (like wetpour or rubber mulch) as the feeling of it will interest the children very quickly. Paintings/graphics of fantasy creatures will set the mood for the kids and will also ease their imagination into an active state to allow for a more engaging school storytime.

How Storytelling Can Benefit Children

Storytelling allows children to fully immerse themselves in a fantasy world whilst gaining benefits for the real world. It explains why so many early year schools have storytelling sessions and why it is encouraged so much amongst this age group. Here are some of the best benefits of telling stories can have on your pupils:

  • Allows children to explore their own culture (as well as others)
  • Broaden children’s ideas and method of thinking
  • Kids can empathise with new people, places and situations
  • Introduces differences and similarities between people
  • Wisdom is common to all people and cultures
  • Being nasty gets you nowhere whilst being nice can make you go far
  • Morals are taught

Not only can storytelling have benefits for individual pupils, but it can have a strong impact on the class, with positives like:

  • Promotes feelings of well-being and relaxation
  • Increasing children’s willingness to communicate their thoughts and feelings on certain matters
  • Verbal proficiency increases over time
  • Listening skills become a lot stronger
  • Active participation is encouraged massively through the stories
  • Use of imagination and creativity is more common meaning it becomes a lot stronger
  • Cooperation between pupils is increased through the activity

Many may see storytelling as just an act of entertainment and that it carries no benefits with it, but after noticing these points; you can see for yourself how much this simple activity can help children develop into stronger human beings whilst at the same time offering a lot of moments of laughter and smiles. Click here to see another article which talks about the benefits of telling stories.

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Playground Storytelling Seating Area

Seating areas are commonly placed outside because the environment can help set the tone of the story, as well as all the health benefits that it carries. Ofsted also loves these types of activities greatly due to them promoting outside teaching and how it gives another reason for classes to go outside and perform their activities there. Different types of school playground furniture can also be included in these areas.

As described before, seating areas often have one big chair (usually shaped like a throne) for the reader and a dozen small seats for the audience. Using this format allows children to understand who the storyteller is, and it grabs their attention visually, giving a stronger focus on the actual story itself. There are plenty of different designs options for a playground storytelling seating area if you are interested in something like this.

The atmosphere is incredibly important as reading a story in class may sound like a good idea but with all the surroundings being linked to education and boring, kids will instantly not feel engaged with the story and end up becoming bored as well. Outside however offers a different atmosphere for the kids and will get their attention a lot easier as the outsides atmosphere is a lot more exciting and unknown.

Reading Stories for Primary School Children

Children of primary school age will enjoy and learn from these activities as they are beginning to develop their reading and listening skills. More complex stories can be read however you must keep in mind that they are still children, and certain genres and books aren’t suitable still. There are many benefits of reading stories for primary school children as it can enhance many skills.

Obviously, books directed at adults don’t do well. It’s important to choose books that are age-appropriate for the class so they don’t become bored or find it hard to follow the story.

Good stories to choose from would be things like fantasy fiction. Children love to use their imagination at this age and will want to explore new worlds. Fictional creatures often interest the kids quicker as they must imagine how it looks and acts. Escapism is achieved a lot quicker through this type of story and therefore, children become a lot more endorsed and enjoy the activity a lot more.

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There are plenty of options when it comes to creating a storytelling area in your playground. You can choose from a variety of coloured flooring designs along with seating and equipment to make the space even more exciting.

Get in touch with our team today to get more information on the designs and costs of installing a facility like this.

Benefits of Athletics for Schools

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Out of all sports, many schools see athletics as one of the best types of sports to get kids into due to its wide range of activities contained within it. But, how do schools start to include athletics into their PE lessons and leisure time?

There are many benefits of athletics for schools as there is a wide range of events available to suit different pupils’ abilities.

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Which Athletics Events are Available?

The beauty behind athletics is how there are so many different events to choose from, really allowing for people to build upon different skills. Creating a multipurpose track is always a good idea as it allows for multiple sports (e.g. sprint, marathon, hurdles, long jump, relay races) to be carried out on it.

Surfacing for more specific events can be installed/supplied by us, and these include discus circles, long jump tracks, high jumps and triple jump. Installing things like this can really encourage children to try out new activities and possibly spark an interest in a new event that they previously didn’t know any information about beforehand.

Classic athletic tracks can be requested also like the 1200m track. We can add the painted lines to create a more stand out track and make it clearer for those taking part. If you’re looking for just a simple 100m track, then we can also help with that as well. All ideas are welcomed by our team so make sure you send us an enquiry as soon as possible with your ideas

Athletics Tracks and Facilities for Schools

Athletic tracks are incredibly beneficial for children in schools. With so many different types offered, you can really cater for what the kids want to do whilst also giving them a wide variety of physical and mental benefits. We at Soft Surfaces can supply and install various types of surfaces which can be used for a full running track to smaller facilities.

Choosing the surface of your sports track can be a bit of a nightmare if you don’t know what you’re looking for exactly. Below are the two most popular selections we get and some points to note for both.

  • Polymeric rubber – Being made up of rubber granules, this surface offers a great platform for athletes to fully express themselves. Many professional athletic clubs and high schools make this their prime selection when it comes to picking between the two as the surface is perfect for aspiring/professional athletes.
  • Needlepunch turf – On the other hand, some people may find polymeric a tough surface to fall on and may result in injuries to those who are inexperienced or too young. Needlepunch turf is a perfect counter to this problem. Being a lot softer, many primary schools like to choose this surface out of the two. Visit this page for more information on this particular surface type.

It really is up to you how you want to design your athletic tracks/facilities as you can pick either and even change colours and add patterns depending on the size. Soft Surfaces really promote the idea of having full creativity over your own product and so we will try and make sure that your ideas are bought to life.

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Boosting Children’s Health with Sport

Recent times have seen children become unhealthier as time goes on. The UK government has stated that 1 in 6 children during reception and 1 in 3 children during primary school are classed as obese.

With an increase from previous years, many believe that technology had some role to play in this whole act but there are ways in which we can improve health. Starting with athletics. Some benefits of athletics for schools include:

  • Healthy habits are built – Through athletics, healthy habits are improved on and children start to become a lot more adapted to the effort that you must put in. Preparing them with these types of activities is great to start to integrate sports within their lifestyles. See another post here to find out more about healthy and active lifestyles for kids.
  • Slow down ageing – Getting older can lead to many bone and muscle problems for those who don’t do any exercise. By getting children doing exercise like this, it decreases the chance of these problems occurring earlier.
  • Improves confidence – Children often suffer from a decrease in confidence when they don’t do a lot of sport as they can start to think of themselves as incredibly unhealthy. Athletics gives kids a wide variety of sports to take part in and really express themselves without any worries.
  • Teamwork – Relay races rely on great teamwork to have a winning chance. Sports like these highlight the importance of teamwork amongst children and gets them into a strong mindset to understand how an effective team can accomplish and achieve goals within a quick time.
  • Sharpens coordination – Sports such as shot put, javelin, hurdles, triple jump all require great coordination. Combining two key muscle functions, children start to improve coordination skills In school and learn how to master certain functions of the body.
  • Great sportsmanship – Taking part in these activities means so kids will win whilst most will end up losing. Loads of children don’t want to lose but by taking part in these types of activities, they start to understand that it’s more about taking part and enjoying the sport than winning.

These are just a few of the points which are important to note when it comes to how these activities can boost children’s health. A good point to remember is that children get bored incredibly quickly with most sports as they end up being the same thing repeatedly whilst athletics offers a wide variety of sports to take part in.

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Designing a School Athletic Facility

When it comes to designing a school athletic facility, it can be incredibly overwhelming and complicated at first. You may not know what type of surface you want or how to structure the track properly. We at Soft Surfaces can solve those worries for you and make it ten times easier to decide on what you want and need.

Over 20 years of experience makes our advice and services nearly unbeatable by any other company operating in the industry. Ranging from commercial to residential, we have dealt with all sorts of clients and always received great feedback about our work and staff.

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If you have any questions or queries that you would like to be attended to, then send us an enquiry and one of our team will get back to you quickly. We can give more information on the benefits of athletics for schools to help you decide what you need. Whether it’s the design process to the installation process, our team will be more than happier to assist you.

Outdoor Playground Roadway Design

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One of the most common products that we have installed for schools and nurseries is an outdoor playground roadway design. These will feature the layout of a road printed onto the play area surface and can also include a number of other related graphics.

The colourful shapes and patterns provide a fun area for children to enjoy making up games. You can also use them as a handy tool for teaching about road safety and navigating around their local area.

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School Play Area Road Markings

Having school play area road markings installed is a great way to brighten up an existing playground with functional designs. We can offer a variety of shapes, sizes and specifications to suit your budget and the amount of outdoor space you have. Anti-slip materials also help to improve the safety of playgrounds, especially in winter. See our tips on preparing a playground for winter to learn more.

Different colours and materials are available as well depending on what kind of play area you want to create. Markings can be applied straight onto tarmac for a quick and simple finish, or alternatively, we can install a wet pour safety surface containing the graphics of your choice.

Many schools and nurseries choose these products as they are a great multifunctional addition to a plain outdoor surface and can really help engage children’s imaginations. View our imaginative play area ideas to see how else you could enhance your outdoor actvities.

Children’s Road Safety Activities

It’s important to teach kids how to cross roads safely from a young age. Children’s road safety activities can be incorporated into lessons and play time with the right equipment and resources. Taking these lessons outside creates an even more realistic environment and familiarises young pupils with the risks of real roads. Visit this post to see some more ideas for playground designs at schools and nurseries.

Along with the benefits of learning these crucial life skills, an outdoor playground roadway design can also be used for imaginative games. Kids can make up their own games and stories, and create an imaginary town. Additional graphics can be added to the flooring to enhance the design even more, for example:

  • Crossings
  • Bus Stops
  • Shops
  • Schools
  • Hospitals
  • Roundabouts

There are plenty of options available and we are able to create a bespoke set of graphics which suits what you’re looking for.

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Wetpour Rubber Roadway Design

If you’re looking to add an impact absorbing surface to your play area, wetpour is a great option which we often install close to play equipment. It is a rubberised surface which helps to reduce injuries if a child falls over. Find out more about the surfacing specification here.

We can also apply a wetpour rubber roadway design using shapes which fit into the flooring. This way, you can enhance the safety qualities of your outdoor space as well as creating a fun and engaging playground.

The video below shows one of our recent projects which involved installing a wetpour roadway with artificial grass in the centre:

There are several different colour options and shapes that we could install when it comes to the rubber safety flooring. It is ideal if you have play equipment such as climbing frames or swings and you want to protect the children using them.

Thermoplastic Playground Road Marking

If you already have an existing tarmac area and you want to keep the surface the same, thermoplastic playground road marking can be applied directly onto it. These are made from pre-cut plastic shapes which are laid onto the tarmac and heated until they melt and adhere to the surface.

You can choose from a variety of different colours and shapes to suit whichever designs you would like. We can also apply more graphics to suit children of different ages and Key Stage levels. The durable markings are perfect for brightening up a dull play area and making it more interesting for pupils.

We could also apply a coating of high durability, anti-slip paint to the tarmacadam in order to enhance the appearance and prevent slips and trips. Visit this page to learn more about our playground marking products.

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Find Out More

If you are interested in finding out more about the outdoor playground roadway designs, feel free to get in touch with our team and we’d be happy to send over some case studies of previous work. We’re able to customise each design so you can choose something which suits your school and budget.

Fill in the contact form on this page and let us know what you’re looking for. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible with some more details on costs and specifications.

How to Maintain a 3g Pitch in Winter

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With the popularity of 3G pitches increasing, a lot of people are wanting more information on how to maintain them with the utmost efficiency. Throughout this post, we’ll give you some tips and tricks on how to do this and how to maintain a 3G pitch in winter and avoid any unnecessary problems.

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Maintaining 3G Synthetic Pitches

Even though the pitch is synthetic, 3G sports surfacing requires some maintenance to keep it working well without any issues. Some good points to keep in mind are:

  • Daily checks – even if the next match is scheduled a week away, make sure regular checks of the area are performed. Finding any damaged areas or an uneven spread of rubber crumb infill can help you keep the surface as healthy as possible during this time and avoid any more unnecessary damage being caused.
  • Explain to users – a very peculiar yet important step you should take is going over ways to care for the 3G pitch with those using it. Ranging from correct footwear to what to do if the field seems damaged, explaining these points can really help it thrive.
  • Fix damages quickly – if any damage is spotted, do not procrastinate. You need to act quick simply to avoid any more excessive damage from being caused. Sorting the damage quickly will save you money and time and avoid any sudden shocks.

It may seem tedious or annoying but keeping the field in great condition with maintenance can save you a lot of money and time in the future. In addition, organic pitches would require a lot more work compared to maintaining 3G synthetic pitches, you would be dedicating less time on maintenance and more time on the important things. This is one of the main benefits of 3G pitches and why many people see them as a good investment.

Winter Maintenance for a 3G Football Pitch

During the winter, a lot of football matches can get cancelled on organic turf. However, with 3G synthetic pitches, the odds of this are lower, but not completely inexistent. Usually, the cold temperature will freeze the fibres and cause them to become brittle, making it unstable and unsafe for anyone to use. But there are some countermeasures that you can take to avoid any of these problems. Check out our sports facility maintenance page for advice on maintaining various types of sport surfacing.

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Winter maintenance for a 3G football pitch can be a pain with the harsh weather conditions and the fluctuations in the environment. A good routine to perform is:

  • Check the weather – Sports matches are planned in advance, meaning you can get the date beforehand. With the date, do some checks on how the weather will be before the day and on the day as this will allow you to avoid the most common issue, being unprepared.
  • Lay PDV salt – If you find out that the weather is going to be cold and freezing, you should prepare yourself with some PDV (Pure Dried Vacuum) salt. Sprinkle the salt across the synthetic pitch the night before. The salt acts as an anti-freeze prevention method, meaning that in the morning, the field shouldn’t be badly frozen where damage can be done.
  • Scoop snow off – Snow can be incredibly bad for the pitch if left on it for too long. It’s usually recommended to remove the snow within a period of a day to avoid constant damage being done on the surface.

Explain to users – a very peculiar yet important step you should take is going over ways to care for the 3G pitch with those using it. Ranging from correct footwear to what to do if the field seems damaged, explaining these points can really help it thrive.

Winter can be bad for sports and sometimes it’s just recommended to close the pitch until the weather conditions improve. Putting the surfacing through strain in cold weather conditions can really damage the pitch and in general, could lead to the 3G synthetic turf being replaced.

Cleaning Your Artificial Sports Surface

Cleaning may sound simple but it’s important to note that your pitch can become affected in different ways. Dirt, contaminants or unbalanced levels of rubber infill can all cause the pitch to be labelled as dirty and all require different methods of cleaning.

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Grooming and drag brushing is a common method to evenly distribute the rubber infill to maintain even playing characteristics and remove some dirt. As it’s just a brushing, all you’ll need is a brush and some time. Go around the pitch and make sure that you give areas in which you think may have unbalanced levels of rubber infill a good brush. If you’re finding that there is hardly any rubber infill across the whole 3G pitch, then an infill tops up is likely needed (adding extra rubber infill). This post shows a similar process for cleaning infill in a hockey pitch.

Moss and algae may grow around the synthetic surface which can cause the looks to fade away. In addition, it can damage the turf over time. To avoid this happening, chemical treatment cleaning can be done. Simply acquire a moss/algae remover and start to distribute it around. Be careful though, applying too much in one area could end up damaging the fibres quickly.

Sometimes, the pitch may be too seriously damaged to clean properly and therefore you may have to consider a resurface. It can be incredibly expensive to do so and that’s why it is often recommended to maintain your 3G turf to the best of your abilities to avoid this problem occurring.

3G Pitch Maintenance Services

Maintaining the synthetic pitch can be a huge pain at first and you might find it a complicated process. Soft Surfaces can help with this issue. Over 20 years of experience, we can help you with every step of the process, making sure that you understand what’s happening along the way.

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No matter what the season is, our team are more than happier to help you learn the best ways to keep your 3G pitch maintained and working well. If you have any questions or queries about how to maintain a 3G pitch in winter, send us an enquiry and one of our members of staff will get in contact with you shortly.

Benefits of 3g Sports Pitches

Posted on by Elliot

3G sports pitches have become a lot more popular recently due to how people are slowly realising how much more beneficial they are compared to organic pitches. This article will help you understand a lot more about the current argument and allow you to see the benefits of 3G sports pitches.

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What is a 3G Pitch?

A 3G pitch is an artificial surface which is made up of fibre blades of synthetic grass. Over time, these types of surfaces have become a lot more popular due to the increase in technological development within the industry. Check out our sport surface page to learn more about this specification and other options.

The major problems of original artificial grass were how the turf didn’t look natural enough and how it felt completely different. These factors did put a lot of people off the surface as people wanted to keep the looks and feelings of natural grass. As time went on and improvements of the surface occurred, 3G pitches are now incredibly hard to differentiate from natural pitches.

Improvements on looks and feels have made it a much more viable option for big sporting events as in the long run, money is being saved in maintenance costs. At present, the FA state that there is currently 889 3G sports pitches throughout England alone. With this number, you can clearly see how the popularity of these surfaces has increased.

It’s for this reason that 3G pitch construction has become more in demand than ever here in the UK, with more and more commercial and domestic interest from across the country.

Main Advantages of 3G Surfaces

3G surfaces provide a lot of benefits for the owner and the users over a wide variety of different factors. Some of the strongest advantages that people usually witness more than others include:

  • All-weather surface – Many organic pitches suffer from one major problem. Weather. Rain can leave huge, muddy puddles and the heat and sun can turn the grass to a brown colour. With 3G synthetic turfs, they don’t suffer from this issue at all as the drainage can handle the rain and the surface itself can handle tough heat conditions for months.
  • Reduce the risk of injury – One way to ruin someone’s match is with an injury. Players, clubs and fans hate it equally. 3G pitches however reduce this risk hugely by having an underlay that can absorb the impact of trips and falls.
  • Frequent use – Pitches can end up having ‘dead zones’ where a lot of foot traffic has occurred on top of it, resulting in the organic grass dying and leaving uneven patches. The fibres in the 3G synthetic turf can withstand this pressure a lot easier than organic blades. Keeping this in mind, you could decide to start renting out the pitch to other clubs, groups and people without the worry that the turf will get damaged through excessive use.
  • Low maintenance – Cutting the grass, applying fertilizer, watering it etc. can be incredibly tedious for people who own natural turf. It requires a lot of energy, time and even money. Synthetic grass can solve this issue due to how it doesn’t need this much care. The only thing needed is just a regular brush down to remove any debris from the surface. View this page for more details on maintaining sports flooring.
  • Specific requirements – To achieve a certain look with natural grass, can require unnecessary labour and effort and still, you’re not guaranteed the look you want. 3G turf can come in a wide variety of colours, patterns and depths, really allowing you to have full control over how you want it to look.

Points like these can really help you understand how beneficial these types of surfaces are than just regular, natural turf. In addition, 3G turfs are environmentally friendly as it requires hardly any water. Less water means less money spent on water bills, alongside knowing that less water is being wasted.

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Why Have a 3G Football Pitch?

3G pitches are often preferred by a wide range of different people. From football clubs to leisure centres, these turfs have become a lot more popular over recent times compared to natural turfs. By knowing this, you can see how different groups of people are starting to see the great application of 3G synthetic turfs.

Synthetic turfs are a great way to engage people in sports as they provide a comfortable environment to play games instead of an uneven playing field. Life spans of these surfaces have increased a lot over the years and can increase even more if regular maintenance is carried out on them to avoid any unnecessary damage occurring.

Disadvantages of Natural Grass for Sport

Natural grass is okay, but many people can start to notice the disadvantages that this type of turf comes with once it is compared with synthetic turf. Some of the major points that are noticed include:

  • Muddy and puddles – When it rains, natural turf can suffer badly and become waterlogged. Water can’t be drained as quickly and so; the pitch becomes incredibly muddy and messy. Alongside this, puddles can form which will lead to grass blades drowning and/or contaminants starting to appear in certain areas (moss/algae).
  • Winter is dreadful – Winter can become a natural grass owner’s worst nightmare. Temperatures during this time are usually incredibly low, resulting in freezing temperatures occurring and making the grass blades more brittle. With this, grass can end up dying quickly and so, patches of hardly any grass will start to appear. Of course, the pitch can also become rock hard and more dangerous if someone slips and hurts themselves on it.
  • Maintenance is needed – Time, labour and money can become heavily drained due to the requirements natural turfs need. People can get lazy however and don’t want to do these tasks and because of this, their pitches end up showing signs of dying and therefore users will start to notice problems with it and be put off by it. The same goes for natural garden surfaces, see our artificial turf lawn page for more details on synthetic products.
  • Difficulty with runs –A huge part of most sports that are played on these types of pitches is running. It can lead to a game being won or lost if the team have a great pace and stamina. Problem is, if the pitch has lumps, holes and/or slippy areas, players will find it incredibly difficult to make strong runs on it. Injuries and complaints can start occurring a lot more often than usual.
  • Patches and weeds – Natural pitches can have problems with patches and weeds, even if maintenance is carried out to an effective level. Weeds and patches can affect the playing qualities and appearance of the sport surface.

Problems like these can end up lowering reception towards the pitch and ruin a lot of chances of renting out the pitch to others to earn a bit of extra money on the side. Linking to that, these types of pitches can’t handle many people on them at a constant rate which can ruin a lot of the chances of renting things like this.

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Get in touch with our team to learn more about the benefits of 3G sports pitches and to see how they are installed. We would be happy to provide more information and give a quote if you are thinking about installing one of these facilities.