Ride on Toys ride on what Surface?

Hi - I have a chunk of my backyard fenced in for the dc with swingset, jungle gym, and a few other items, and have some ride on toys. The ride ons would ride better on my long side driveway but I worry about the safety if some of the bigger kids pick up speed. Also I'm not keen on the hard surface for the little ones just learning to walk. This summer I have 5.5 yr old returning as his 2 siblings will be here. But the grass isn't that great to ride on either.

When my own kids were younger, I made a large track around our maple tree that they rode scooters, tractors and trikes around. They loved it. I skimmed off the grass and put down limestone gravel. When we moved, the pple buying our house wanted to keep the track for their 4 kids. I'd like to put another track in this back area, like an 18 to 20 ft circle, but no limestone as a top surface as I did have to wash it out of scrapes a few times. I'm thinking of putting a type of outdoor green rug (?) not sure what it's called or short artificial turf cut into strips on top of a level track. Something that's better than the grass for scooters but they can't race on.

What surface do your dc kids ride on and does it work well for you? I know I have the choice of declining care for older kids but I don't mind putting in some sort of track. Plus I had him since baby. Neighbours wouldn't be able to see the track as I'm on half acre so their houses aren't too close. I know there's that soft pavement you see at playgrounds and I'd love to get my hands on that but it's only installed by the company at extreme cost. Any ideas? Tx!

You can use the foam mats found at Walmart and keep them down with camping tent pegs. For us we only play out front. They ride on the driveway and I put two long wood 2x4s at the end of the driveway to keep kids in and to stop balls and ride ons from rolling into the street. My little newbie walkers just play on the slides on the foam mats beside the driveway. We have no grass so it's all mats on the front yard.

Mine use it on the grass fine. The yard takes a beating but I find the play structures, houses and picnic tables are worse for the yard. I try and move the stuff around to keep from killing areas too badly but every year we seed our yard.

If the yard is too wet, we are having a car wash or just for some "faster" play, I do take them out to our driveway.

The track sounds cool though and if I had more room, I might consider it!

Ohhhhh 2x4's. I went to get pool noodles yesterday to keep the balls on the driveway but they were so light the wind would blow them away. I didn't even think of 2x4's! Thanks!!

I LOVE the idea of a track! The green fake grass should work, assuming the ground is hard enough underneath. We use the driveway at the end of the day for ride on toys. We play out back in the mornings. It is working great as they have 2 different play zones to kewp things interesting. They learned very quick to stay on the driveway and how to stop their fast moving riders. We are sloped down so they do pick up speed. BUT, we are on a cul-de-sac with only 3 driveways so the chances of a car are so slim I am comfortable with this set up. But the balls roll all the way out, even if they don try to let them roll away (very annoying)!

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Originally Posted by ebhappydc

I'm thinking of putting a type of outdoor green rug (?) not sure what it's called or short artificial turf cut into strips on top of a level track. Something that's better than the grass for scooters but they can't race on.

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I would caution with any thing you put down that might be slippery when wet. I don't know for sure but would an artificial turf be slippery? If it's not, it might be too expensive. The mats others have mentioned might be ok if they are hard enough to ride on and would stay together. The kind you put down in a garage might work but I would think they would be quite expensive.

My kids aren't allowed anywhere near the driveway to play (fast, busy road) but I have a 16x16 patio in the back yard for ride ons. They use them on the grass too. My side yard is all grass but there is a decent slope that they ride down.

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Originally Posted by Lee-Bee

Ohhhhh 2x4's. I went to get pool noodles yesterday to keep the balls on the driveway but they were so light the wind would blow them away. I didn't even think of 2x4's! Thanks!!

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If you threaded the pool noodles together like beads with a small rope and used tent pegs at either end, would that keep them in place at the end of your driveway?