Daycare Flooring Guide: Reasons to Ensure Safe Play Surfaces for Toddlers

Early childhood education and care play a crucial role in a child’s development. It’s very important to create a healthy and safe learning environment in which children can thrive and develop skills they will need later in life. When it comes to caring for children, childcare facilities are a fun and exciting place for toddlers to stay while their parents are at work. These facilities attend to the needs of the children at least five days a week and foster all the aspects of the child’s development by providing valuable educational and social experiences.

High-quality child care keeps children safe and healthy while nurturing and cultivating their growth. In addition to having a well-qualified staff and programs, it is important for facilities to have the right features and keep their building perfectly clean to create a safe environment. This holds true for all the surfaces including the floors.

Although many daycare owners overlook the importance of flooring, a safe and durable daycare flooring is essential to ensure the health of the kids under their care. Every daycare or preschool needs to make sure the flooring surface is safe, clean and comfortable for small children as they fall often while discovering and starting to walk.

The Importance of Choosing the Right Flooring for Daycare

Daycare surfaces are the perfect place for children to engage in free play. They are a place where babies can crawl on and toddlers can learn to walk, run, jump and play with peers. Kids spend a lot of their time playing on the floor as many of the childcare activities take place on the floor. Therefore, care providers need to make sure that children stay safe on the daycare surface.

When choosing you’re a floor for your daycare, it’s also important to take into consideration other factors like cleanliness and appearance of the flooring. Choose a surface that is easy to clean and maintain. Kids are mess makers and will eventually spill their drinks and food on the floor or draw off the paper while doing arts and crafts. For this reason, you will need a floor that is washable, doesn’t hold water and can be regularly mopped. In addition, foot traffic tracks, dust and other unwanted elements can make the flooring unsanitary. Regular cleaning and disinfection will keep the floor hygienic and can minimize the transmission of colds, pink eye and other illnesses.

Flooring Options for Daycare

There are so many options for flooring for daycare and each one has different pros and cons. Examples include vinyl flooring, carpet, laminate, hardwoods, cork, and more. The choice ultimately should come down to your needs. The comfort, safety and health of children under your care should be the determining factor.

Vinyl flooring

There are a lot of reasons why vinyl flooring is one of the best options for your daycare facility. Vinyl is slip-resistant, waterproof, tough and durable. Plus, vinyl floors offer cushioning that prevents kids from slips and falls. Vinyl flooring is super-silent and 100% waterproof and germproof.

It has a smooth surface which is one of the simplest floor coverings to clean, making it resistant to staining and dirt. Due to all these reasons, vinyl playground mats and resilient rubber tiles make the perfect, safe play surface choice for daycare. Plus, they come in many colours and styles which will add character to your facility. Colours are appealing to the kids, and can even stimulate their brain activity.

Carpet

Carpets are another choice for daycare flooring. Carpeting provides a soft space for the kids to run around or lay on. It has cushioning and prevents kids from getting hurt when they fall. In addition, carpets are resistant to stains and wear without sacrificing softness. There are different styles of carpets made with different fibres including polyester, nylon and Triexta fibre. Nylon carpets are a great choice for playrooms as they resist crushing and matting. However, carpets can hold onto dirt and trap dust, so regular vacuuming and occasional shampooing are extremely important in order to ensure the health of the little ones. Such flooring may not be the best choice for kids with allergies.

Cork

Cork is one of the best flooring coverings for daycares. It is an environmentally friendly flooring choice and entirely non-allergic. It offers a moderate degree of cushioning, making it a safe play space for the kids. However, cork is not resistant to water and can be easily damaged by liquid spills. Therefore, you should expect that it will have a limited lifespan.

Hardwood

Wood floors are the most versatile choice of flooring on the market. They offer warmth and natural style and can be fitted with almost every décor. Hardwood floors are easy to maintain by cleaning with a vacuum or dust mop. They come in many colours and patterns. The opportunities are endless. When it comes to daycare facilities, such flooring may not be kid-friendly since it may be too hard for kids to crawl or lay on as well as spills and potty accidents may occur. However, you can always lay down playground rugs with a layer of memory foam that will provide comfort and create plenty of cushion for playtime.