Indoor Playground Area

Indoor Playground Area In addition to the required outdoor playground area a licensed child care facility may also provide an indoor playground area. Child care facilities licensed prior to July 1, 2009 that have been granted permission to have an indoor playground area in lieu of an outdoor playground area shall be not be required to have an outdoor playground. However, it is highly recommended that if possible an outdoor playground area should also be provided. For child care facilities which provide such an indoor playground area the following items apply: 1. The total indoor playground area shall accommodate at least 33 percent of the licensed capacity at one time. 2. The indoor playground area shall be well arranged so that all areas are visible to staff at all times. 3. The indoor playground area shall be free of hazards. 4. Indoor playground areas shall be laid out to ensure ample clearance space for the use of each item: nine feet around fixed items and 15 feet around any moving part. Equipment shall be situated so that clearance space allocated to one piece of equipment does not encroach on that of another piece of equipment. 5. Swings shall have a clearance area of nine feet in all directions beyond the swing beam. 6. All fixed playground equipment shall have a minimum of nine feet clearance space from walkways and other structures that are not used as part of play activities. 7. All equipment shall be arranged so that children playing on one piece of equipment will not interfere with children playing on or running to another piece of equipment. 8. Moving equipment (e.g., swings, merry-go-rounds) shall be located toward the edge or corner of an indoor playground area or shall be designed in such a way as to discourage children from running into the path of moving equipment. 9. All pieces of indoor playground equipment shall be surrounded by a resilient surface of an acceptable depth or by rubber mats manufactured for such use, consistent with the guidelines of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Standard of the American Society for Testing and Materials, extending beyond the external limits of the piece of equipment for at least four feet beyond the fall zone of the equipment. These resilient surfaces shall conform to the standard stating that the impact from falling from the height of the structure will be less than or equal to peak deceleration 200G. Organic materials that support colonization of molds and bacteria shall not be used. 10. Indoor space designated as playground may be used by other individuals when the area is not in use by children attending the facility. However, children of the child care facility shall have priority use of the indoor playground area and the area may not be used by others when children are using it. The indoor playground space shall not count as additional classroom space when determining the maximum capacity of the facility.