Your facility’s play area is one of its greatest assets. Playgrounds create a space where children can enjoy endless adventures, form meaningful connections, develop important skills and enjoy pure fun. Playgrounds also prioritize family and community, which reflects well on your establishment.

Maintaining your playground throughout the year is one of the best ways to continue to serve your community or patrons and make the fun last. Seasonal playground maintenance is also vital for ensuring your play area remains compliant with safety standards and can help you save costs by avoiding expensive repairs and replacements. Following a few seasonal playground equipment care tips can help keep your play area in good condition year-round.

Summer Playground Maintenance Tips

During summer, the warm, sunny weather ushers in one of the busiest times for your play area. You can prepare your facility’s playground for this busy season by following summer playground cleaning and maintenance tips:

• Address storm hazards: In many parts of the country, the summer months bring stormy weather, so it’s vital to check your playground after rain for damage or hazards. You can check for low-hanging or fallen branches, loose stones and slippery patches of mud. You can also inspect your equipment for any wear and tear caused by heavy rains.
• Inspect drainage: Another issue heavy rain may cause in your playground area is pools of water. Deep and shallow water pools pose hazards, especially the risk of slipping. Standing water can also damage equipment and playground surfacing by causing damp patches, rust, corrosion or rot.
• Check for problematic pests: Summer is a busy time for ants, wasps, bees and other pests. Unfortunately, these insects can create nests in your playground, damaging the equipment and creating unpleasant or even dangerous scenarios for the kids. Regularly inspect, clean and maintain your playground and its surroundings to keep it free of pests. If you notice a problem, enlist professional help.

Fall Maintenance Tips

Fall playground upkeep involves more than just clearing leaves — it’s also the perfect time for your winter playground preparation and general maintenance. Fall maintenance can include the following basic practices:

• Remove leaves: Clear the play area of leaves to avoid areas where slippery, damp mulch develops.
• Follow rust treatment steps: Apply appropriate, manufacturer-approved treatments to playground equipment to avoid rust.
• Landscape: Trim nearby trees in accordance with your area’s regulations to reduce excess leaves in the play area.
• Improve visibility: Maintain existing lighting features or add lighting options to offer plenty of light as shorter days arrive.

Winter Maintenance Tips

Pre-winter maintenance is one of the best ways to keep your playground in good condition during colder months. With cold temperatures, ice and snow, winter maintenance can seem complicated, but these playground inspection tips can make your winter maintenance more manageable:

• Inspect surfacing: Winter weather can be harsh. Inspect playground surfacing regularly to check for damage, like cracks, that could worsen with heavy snow and ice.
• Protect surfacing: Always follow best practices for protecting your playground’s surfacing during winter. These practices include avoiding adding corrosive materials like salt and shoveling snow carefully with a plastic shovel.
• Store components: If your playground has loose components, put them in storage before heavy snowfall.
• Protect wooden components: Prolonged exposure to snow and ice can damage wooden components, causing warping, cracking and dampness. Paying extra attention to these parts of your playground area during winter can help prevent costly repairs and replacements.
• Install nonslip mats: Freezing conditions can make surfaces extremely slippery. Take every precaution you can, including adding nonslip mats to appropriate areas like the playground’s entrances.
• Ensure proper drainage: Inspecting and maintaining playground drainage is important to prevent water buildup from freezing rains or melting snow and ice.

Spring Maintenance Tips

Spring is when your facility’s playground will start becoming increasingly busy again. Spring playground cleaning and maintenance can be a breeze when you implement the following to your routine inspections and tasks:

• Do an inspection: Start by checking for any wear or damage that may have occurred over the cold winter months. This process will include inspecting playground components for corrosion, rust, splinters, dampness and rot. Make sure to check all chains and anchors to make sure no components have broken or become loose due to thawing ice. Inspect your surfacing to confirm it’s still intact after the snow and ice have cleared. You may need to replace the playground surfacing and lay new mulch.
• Make repairs as necessary: If you notice signs of damage during your inspection, refrain from opening the playground and have a professional complete the repairs. Otherwise, make sure the area is clear of any remaining snow or debris.
• Clean the equipment: After a few months of minimal use, your playground equipment might have built up residual dirt and grime. Sanitize and clean the area to prepare it for the start of the busy spring months.

General Maintenance for Year-Round Playground Care

Seasonal playground repairs and maintenance help your playground stay compliant, safe and enjoyable. You can take your routine maintenance checks a step further by creating a list of playground safety checks to complete year-round.

These general playground inspection tips and tasks are helpful for adding to your routine inspections:

• Maintain the play area and surrounds: Year-round play area maintenance should include mowing the surrounding grass, trimming surrounding hedges, sweeping, weeding, and periodically cleaning and disinfecting the equipment.
• Conduct regular surfacing checks: Inspecting your facility’s playground surfacing helps make sure your play area remains compliant with federal standards and regulations.
• Conduct regular equipment checks: Make sure all screws, bolts, chains and other playground components are tightened and secured.
• Maintain playground components: Lubricate the moving parts, chains, hinges and any other metal components regularly to prevent rust.
• Maintain accessibility: Clear entry points and the playground of debris and obstacles, such as pools of standing water and leaf piles. It should be easy for kids and guardians of all abilities to access and navigate the play space.

Explore Expert Playground Products, Services and Solutions With Soft Play®

Seasonal maintenance like playground equipment weatherproofing, surfacing inspections and pest control helps your playground remain functional, compliant and ready to enjoy year-round.

If you want to upgrade your outdoor playground equipment or expand your facilities to include indoor play components, Soft Play can create your establishment’s dream play area. At Soft Play, our teams of experts work with you to create amazing indoor play areas and durable outdoor play spaces using quality equipment and inspiring solutions. You can also customize your indoor play space in various ways to suit your specific industry.

We help you serve kids of all ages and abilities by providing ADA-compliant and inclusive play solutions for more accessible spaces. Contact us to request a quote today and start creating your custom playground!