Using bark as playground impact-protection provides more than a naturally-sourced, environmentally-responsible, sustainable safety solution- it also promotes kids’ immunity and general health and wellbeing.
Bounce Bark® is a product developed solely by Wholesale Landscapes in Nelson. It is the only bark-based, safety-certified impact protection used in playgrounds, childcare centres, schools and public areas across New Zealand. Bounce Bark® upholds the New Zealand Standard set out in NZS 5828:2015 Playground equipment and surfacing.
This Standard promotes and encourages the provision of playgrounds that are well designed, constructed and maintained, innovative and challenging, while still offering children a degree of risk in a controlled environment.
The use of Bounce Bark® ensures compliance with this Standard and reduces liability under health and safety legislation for those responsible for school safety, including property managers, principals and board members. Playground safety surfacing must have a certificate of compliance to show that it is installed according to the manufacturer’s instructions and Wholesale Landscapes can provide this.
Play is essential to the healthy development of children. Through independent or cooperative play, children are able to learn about themselves and their environment, while stimulating their creative, emotional, and physical development. Risk-taking, however, is also an essential feature of play. Children need to learn to cope with risk and this may lead to bumps and bruises and occasionally even a broken limb.
Bounce Bark® is designed to dissipate the kinetic energy of an impact by localised displacement, such that the acceleration is displaced. When installed and maintained at appropriate depths, this product is an excellent shock-absorber which is also cost-effective.
Compared to other surfacing options, such as wet-pour rubber or playground matting, installation of Bounce Bark® can reduce expenditure by up to 95%. Please refer to our brochure for the price comparison.
Bounce Bark® is a naturally-occurring by-product of sustainable forestation and forms part of Wholesale Landscapes’ circular economy which eliminates landfill disposal.
Bounce Bark® is resilient in extreme temperatures, meaning it won’t heat up in the height of summer, nor will it become a slip hazard during wet, icy winter months. Specified between 25-50mm, this size nugget is durable, lasting for up to 10 years, and its weight means it won’t get dispersed by wind.
Wholesale Landscapes also produce Bounce Bark® Chip, measuring 10-25mm. This is surface media specifically designed for Early Childhood Education Centres as the smaller size is proven to be softer and more comfortable for toddlers’ feet.
Bounce Bark® is also the environmentally-conscious choice when it comes time for disposal and replacement. As it is natural product, it can be re-utilised and add value as a garden mulch or compost. Rubber products, in contrast, require ecologically-costly disposal at landfill sites.
Recent scientific studies have shown that exposure to microbes prevalent in the great outdoors will establish a stronger, more robust immune system in young people.
Although Bounce Bark® is screened to remove sticks and stones and washed to eliminate transferable mud, this natural bark product will still help to promote the development of a healthy immune system through play in a natural environment.
Known as ‘the schools choice when safety is first’, Bounce Bark® is well known for its impact-protection properties. Under kids’ feet all over the South Island, Bounce Bark ensures they are playing in the safest environment possible, whilst still boosting their overall health.
