At The School Playground Company, our most popular range of outdoor playground equipment is the timber adventure trail or trim trail as they are more commonly known. We look at the benefits of trim trails in Schools.
For many years Schools have invested in playground equipment such as obstacle courses or trim trails for their outdoor spaces. Timber trim trails have been installed in schools for over 30 years. Consisting of exciting equipment installed in a flowing playground design, a trim trail gets the children active.
Trim Trail Design for Schools
We can design individual trim trail items of outdoor play equipment together to create a range of activities like an obstacle course. Allowing EYFS ages to develop low-level balancing and coordination. Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 age with challenging climbing and hanging items of trim trail playground equipment to aid physical skills.
We have a huge range of components which usually consist of the following key groups:
Balancing Beams
Balance beams aid the most basic of physical skills and movement in the early years of development. We design a range of beams including sloped beams and weaving balance walks.
Stepping Logs
A simple yet effective way of linking different outdoor playground equipment or adventure trail equipment together in a playground design. A stepping log or stepping stone will allow children to develop imaginative play as well as physical development and coordination.
Net Bridges and Rope Climbing Nets
The most popular way of connecting two parts of trim trail equipment together is with a wobbly bridge. Our range of playground bridges and timber walkways are available with various options of challenge. For Nursery and Early Years settings, we can provide playground equipment in the form of handrails and timber slats. For Key Stage 1 & 2, we can provide play equipment with more physical challenges such as a Burma Bridge or a net bridge.
Hand over Hand or Monkey Bars
An extremely popular item for any challenging trim trail, Monkey Bars help to develop strength of the upper body. the inclusion of Monkey Bars into your playground equipment also acts as a natural filter when designing play equipment for multiple age groups. Trim trail designs can start relatively easy and increase in difficulty and physical activity along the route, meaning children can build confidence as they complete different elements.
Traversing Walls or Climbing Walls
Popular with Key Stage 2 trim trails especially, children love to clamber and climb across a fearsome mountainside or scale a daunting rock face.
Crawl Through Tunnels
Crawl-through tunnels are a popular addition to any trim trail design. The sense of a hidden underground passage makes the use of tunnels in playgrounds a great way for kids to develop their imagination when using the playground equipment.
Trim trails in a school or nursery playground are both a fantastic resource for outdoor play times and also as part of a structured primary PE lesson. As part of our consultation process when designing a new trim trail we discuss curricular and non-curricular activities.
Important points to consider when designing your Trim Trail equipment:
Consultation
Who needs to be involved? It is important to consider who will be using the school playground equipment as it will affect the types of activities included. Remember – it is always good to build in an element of challenge and risk even for EYFS as it increases development. Get the school council involved – choose from a range of activities to build their perfect activity trail design. Let them call it something unique! To view some of our trim trail products you can visit our gallery page!
Space
Although trim trails can be linear in shape, they are also a really effective way to link irregular spaces in the playground too. Don’t forget that un-usable space in the corner. We can add trim trail equipment and play surfacing to transform unused areas of the playground.
Find out more about how you can use a trim trail in any outdoor space or children’s playground in our new blog!
Budget
We can design and price each item individually, which makes designing your trim trail a straightforward process. It’s always important to have an idea of the likely budget. We are able to give you simple, quick costings to allow you to plan your finances for the project.
Safety Surfacing
At The School Playground Company, our comprehensive range of low-level trim trails can be installed directly onto grass, although we would always recommend some sort of surfacing to prevent erosion. We offer many options for playground safety surfacing and will always advise on the ongoing maintenance so you get a “warts and all” view of what your playground equipment will need after installation. Visit our Safety Surfacing page for further info.
We offer a free consultation, advice, design and quotation service. Contact us to discuss your next School Playground Project or book an appointment with a member of our team.
