Play areas are the heart of any school or community, bringing all types of people together to enjoy playing outside. The best time for kids to enjoy playgrounds is on sunny days. But hot playground equipment can deter children from using it. The sun can also harm visitors, potentially causing skin issues later in life. Sun shades for playgrounds offer an effective solution as they protect visitors and equipment from the harsh sun.
Discover how your school, business, church, HOA or other entity can shade your playground and why shade can benefit your play area’s longevity and visitors’ well-being.
How to Protect Your Playground From the Sun
The sun casts harmful UV rays, which can damage skin and can cause dangerous heat-related health issues. In addition to being harmful to both kids and adults on the playground, the sun can heat play equipment to dangerous temperatures and fade the colors over time.
Two of the best playground shade solutions include trees and commercial shade structures. Consider how you can use these two solutions to provide playground sun coverage.
Position Play Equipment Under Trees
Trees can provide an effective natural canopy over play equipment. If you’re designing a new playground, consider where you can keep existing trees, plant new ones and position equipment so the natural canopy will offer protection.
Keep in mind that in the fall and early spring, your trees may not provide as much shade as they would in the summer. Newly planted trees will also take a while to grow, so it may be several years before you can benefit from their shade. In addition, your playground maintenance crew will need to regularly upkeep the trees by trimming the branches and cleaning up leaves.
Install Shade Structures
If you’re looking for a minimal-maintenance way to protect your playground, consider commercial shade structures. You’ll be able to choose from a variety of options, such as shade sails, cantilever and single-post shade structures to ensure optimal playground sun protection. Your school, business or other organization can further personalize these structures by choosing fabrics that reflect your brand colors or display your logo.
Sun shades for playgrounds are an ideal option for new or existing playgrounds to cover large areas in a visually pleasing way.
Benefits of Playground Commercial Shade Structures
Shade structures provide the following benefits:
- Keep kids cool: Kids can easily overheat when playing in the sun on hot days. Commercial shade structures prevent direct sunlight from beating down on a playground, which helps lower temperatures in the play area. You can also select breathable fabrics for your structures, enabling a constant airflow to keep kids comfortable during play.
- Give adults a comfortable place to rest: When parents and guardians visit the playground, they want to keep cool, too. Extend play space shade over your area’s benches and picnic tables to keep all visitors comfortable and out of direct sunlight.
- Provide UV protection: UV rays can lead to uncomfortable sunburn and are a leading cause of skin cancer. Shade structures can block up to 96% of harmful UV rays, making them a critical aspect of playground protection. As UV rays can still penetrate clouds on overcast days, children and adults are at risk even when it’s cloudy. Adding playground shade structures provides constant UV protection, preventing skin damage in all weather conditions.
- Prevent sun damage: Much like how sunlight can damage skin, too much direct sun can damage your play area equipment. This damage impacts your playground’s overall aesthetics and can affect your equipment’s structural integrity. Shade structures shield playground components from the sun, helping to prevent fading and wear and tear. As playground equipment is an investment, taking care of it helps to increase the longevity of your equipment. That saves you time and money, as you won’t need to replace play components as often.
- Increase usability: Children and families are more likely to use play spaces when they’re shaded from direct sun. Additionally, shade structures eliminate the issue of hot playground equipment, allowing kids to enjoy the space even on sunny days.
Shade structures can also benefit other areas in and surrounding your playground. Walkways and seating areas are great areas to add shade structures, as they help make all visitors comfortable. Try to use simple shade structures in these areas to ensure adequate visibility lines so caregivers can supervise children.