Providing peace of mind for parents
SYNLawn, the world’s leading provider of synthetic grass products, is helping daycare centers make safer learning environments for children.
For parents, educational development and safety are the two biggest concerns they have for their children. Nowhere are those concerns more evident than in daycare and child development centers throughout the country.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 57.2% of children ages 3-5 are cared for in center-based educational programs. That translates to over 13 million children under the age of six who attend center-based programs.
A big part of center-based programs is focused on the playground. Young children spend a great deal of time developing cognitive, social, and physical skills on the playground. Many times, playground areas are not as safe as parents want them to be.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 24% of playground surfaces are unsafe, and 27% of playground surfaces are poorly maintained. SYNLawn continues to research and develop their playground turf to give parents the peace of mind they seek when it comes to their child’s safety.
Maria Teresa’s Babies Early Enrichment Center, located in Arlington, Virginia, has taken a big step toward making playgrounds safer.
Tony Saba, CEO of Maria Teresa’s Babies worked with SYNLawn Chesapeake Bay to select the SYNLawn surface and design the center’s installation. Chesapeake Bay Synthetic Landscapes, an Annapolis, Maryland based company which supplies and installs SYNLawn products in Maryland, Virginia, D.C., and the surrounding area, installed SYNLawn throughout the play area at the rear of the center. The center also has a mini-golf course made of the SYNLawn surface, making it the only child development center in the area with one.
“This is an investment that will last for years, and seeing the children’s faces as they enjoy their outdoor activities makes it all worthwhile,” said Saba. “Most importantly, we don’t have to worry about dirt or even small falls because of the cushion the SYNLawn product has and regular lawns don’t.”
Added advantages to the newly redesigned outdoor facility are that the kids can now go outside right after it rains. The SYNLawn surface drains quickly and the worry about muddy feet or clothes is eliminated. There are no grass stains and the product is non-allergenic. SYNLawn products are non-abrasive and cushioned, protecting children from falls as high as 12 feet, in accordance with the standards of the International Playground Equipment Manufacturers Association.
Best of all, the center is able to achieve its mission with the children.
“We play mini-golf, soccer, baseball and many other activities that support our healthy-mind philosophy,” said Saba. “These outdoor activities help the children develop gross and fine motor skills, as well as language, social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development.”
SYNLawn and its distributors have seen tremendous growth in the playground market based on all of these factors.
“Safety is a primary reason for the growth of SYNLawn playground surfaces,” said Kaitlyn Lord of SYNLawn Chesapeake Bay. “Surfaces constructed of mulch, gravel, or sand tend to be less safe as time goes by. High foot traffic areas tend to displace the materials and expose the hard ground underneath. SYNLawn provides consistent safety standards in high traffic areas, in any weather, at any height, and with all types of play equipment. You get all this and a perfect looking, lush green surface.”
That means, SYNLawn not only provides an incredible looking surface, they give peace of mind to the nearly 60% of parents in this county whose children attend early childhood learning centers.
