The project replaces outdated equipment and badly worn ground with a mixed-surface space built for climbing, outdoor learning and more.

Completed in August 2026, the £62,000 project saw the Devon-based playground specialist strip out the school's tired EYFS area and redesign it from scratch after years of heavy use had left the area no longer fit for purpose.

The existing area had timber equipment that had come to the end of its life, a damaged safety surface, and a very worn grass area with potholes and exposed roots. Staff were also conscious that the space was no longer selling the EYFS department to prospective new starters visiting the school.

The brief was to remove the old climbing equipment and seating, then completely redesign the space. Rhino Play presented a concept that, with a few tweaks, the school approved.

The completed installation included:

-A mud kitchen and digging pit: giving children a dedicated messy play and exploration zone.
-A play mound and tunnel: an A-frame ramp and a net climber, providing varied climbing and traversing challenges for early years pupils.
-Bespoke chalkboard houses and a bespoke play cabin: designed for role play and mark making.
-New seating and shade: alongside timber retaining walls to contain the bark.
-A mix of artificial grass and bonded rubber mulch surfacing: laid to zone the space.

Rather than surfacing the whole area in a single material, Rhino Play specified bonded rubber mulch as the impact-absorbing surface under and around the climbing elements, with artificial grass giving a soft, tactile finish for free play, role play and sitting down on. Both are hardwearing and low maintenance, so the area stays usable even through a wet term. The surface change also does a quiet job of wayfinding. Children read the switch from grass to mulch as the edge of one zone and the start of another, so the busier climbing area and the calmer role play spaces stay distinct.

Stuart Hunt, Head of Sales at Rhino Play, said:

"Early years areas take far more wear than most people expect, and Elmlea shows what that looks like a few years down the line: potholes, exposed roots, tired timber and a safety surface that has stopped doing its job. By that stage, the space is usually working against how the department wants to teach. Early years practice has moved a long way, and an area built around a single climbing frame does not give staff the zones they need.

"Designing the equipment and surfacing together is what makes the difference. Bonded rubber mulch under the climbing elements gives us the impact absorption we need, artificial grass gives the children somewhere soft to sit and play, and the two together turn one area into several distinct spaces.

"The school loved the concept, and we were extremely happy with the installation. The area now does a genuinely good job of selling the school and its EYFS department, and it will keep doing that for years to come."

The redesigned area is now in daily use, offering climbing, traversing and role play options that support physical development, social interaction and learning through exploration.

About Rhino Play

Rhino Play designs and installs playgrounds, outdoor learning environments, trim trails, fitness equipment, surfacing, seating areas and bespoke outdoor play equipment for schools, parish and local councils, and community and commercial organisations.

The company now covers locations well beyond the South West, from the established Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire areas, through to Hampshire, Berkshire and Gloucestershire, and as far as South Wales. Rhino Play offers free, no-obligation site visits across these areas, with installation teams delivering projects for public, educational and commercial play spaces throughout the region.