Providing Playground Consultations Across the Midwest

With our playground consulting services, you receive a personalized playground plan and long-term partnership. Our in-house team can manage your playground project from start to finish, ensuring every step fits together and stays on schedule for a stress-free process.

When you partner with our Midwest playground experts, we are able to provide a complete assessment and recommendation to meet your unique playground goals. Our playground consultants will also work with third parties, such as your construction manager, architect, or engineer, to develop your playground project alongside a larger project.

Playground Relocation

Playground Expansion

Inclusive Playgrounds

Our Playground Consulting Services

We provide playground consultations for a wide range of playground-related projects. Some of the most common include:

  • Planning your short and long-term playground budget
  • Expanding or relocating your playground equipment
  • Updating or building your ADA inclusive playground
  • Creating your personalized playground maintenance plan
  • Addressing and repairing problem-specific issues

Benefits of Partnering with SafetyFirst’s Playground Contractors

Playground Budgeting Made Easy

We help school districts and parks plan their playground budget to avoid costly surprises. From repairing a specific issue, preparing your annual playground budget, or creating a comprehensive repair or replacement plan over a 10 to 15 year period, our consultants can help.

Improve Safety for Children and Students

Our playground consulting experts know exactly what goes into planning, installing, and maintaining a safe playground for all children. Feel confident in your playground by working with a team that puts children and students first.

Cooperative Purchasing Contract

As a Cooperative Purchasing Connection (CPC) partner, we’re a playground vendor for schools and parks. No matter the size of your project, the CPC simplifies the bid process. This guarantees you receive quality playground surfacing at volume discounts while bypassing the time-consuming bidding and buying process.

Building Long-Term Partnerships

At SafetyFirst, we strive to be your first phone call for all your playground needs. As playground experts with responsive, high-touch customer service, we ensure every question, both big or small, is handled with thoughtfulness and urgency.

Playground Consultations for All Stages

Our playground services offer solutions both before and after a playground is installed. Our consulting services are backed by our full-service offerings and in-house expertise.

Playground Consulting for Parks and Schools

Our primary goal is to help school districts and parks make the best decision for their children and students. We help assess the state of your playground equipment to create a custom playground repair and replacement schedule and budget. Our playground consultation will provide a detailed course of action as you expand your playground for inclusivity or relocate for a building expansion. Not only do we provide upfront playground consulting services, but our team will manage the project from start to finish depending on your maintenance crews’ capacity.

Our Playground Consulting Process

1. Understand the project scope

During the initial playground consultation, we learn about your school’s or park’s specific needs or concerns.

  • What are the issues or setbacks?
  • What are your goals?
  • Do you have a defined budget?
  • What are the demographics or needs of your students or community members?
  • Who are the stakeholders in the project and what are their needs? Including the architect or engineer, school principal, maintenance and grounds team, or other stakeholders.

2. Strategize your project options

Next, our playground consulting experts take the gathered information to create your custom playground plan.

3. Discussing your design plans

Together, we discuss the presented playground plan. This often involves looking at the playground site more closely for a technical understanding of the project. We’ll work through the plan and timeline to determine what process will work best for you.

4. Finalizing your proposal

The last step is signing the contract and getting started! Once we finalize the starting date, our playground team will manage the entire project.

Planning Your Playground Maintenance Budget

Unexpected playground repairs can be detrimental to your playground budget. Your playground maintenance can feel out of control as costs pile up. Our playground budget consulting gives you an immediate, annual, and long-term (ranging from 10 to 15 years) repair and replacement schedule that meets your current budget while letting you plan for future costs. Whether you have one playground or dozens, we will create a total and per-site budget, so your park or school district knows what to plan for.

Playground Consulting FAQs

What is playground consulting?

Playground consulting is having a third-party playground expert visit and assess your playground needs and create a custom playground plan to achieve your goals.

How much does a playground cost?

The cost of your playground depends on the type and extent of your playground project. We help you strategize what options are best for your playground goals and budget. The factors that impact your playground cost include:

  • The total area of the playground needed for the number of children using the playground
  • Type of playground surfacing used 
  • Containment area construction, drainage base, and curbing type

Do you provide playground consulting for architects or engineers?

Yes! We work directly with architects to plan and manage the playground as it relates to the overall project. From relocating or expanding playgrounds, our team will work around your project’s schedule and timeline.

Tell Us About Your Playground Needs

I have been using SafetyFirst surfacing material in my district’s playgrounds for several years now. We have been very impressed with the quality and impact attenuation of this product. I would highly recommend it for any organization looking for a quality, long lasting product for their playground surfacing needs.

Facilities and Safety Coordinator
Eden Prairie Schools, ISD 272

In my nearly 30 years of facility management, SafetyFirst is the finest playground service company I have worked with, Bob Clarin, president of SafetyFirst was always available and was on site daily. From the simplest repair, a missing bolt to a complete rebuild including drainage and play structure relocation, SafetyFirst completed the work well and on time.

Supervisor of Buildings & Grounds
Roseville Schools, ISD 623

I would like to express my satisfaction with the wood chips and mats that we have purchased from SafetyFirst. The chips bind together well to make a nice playground surface with the fall protection we need. Bob has always had the materials delivered on a timely basis and is very pleasant to work with. I am sure we will be doing more business Bob and SafetyFirst in the future.

Parks and Forestry Superintendent
City of Brookings, SD