Garden help..

[Jelly Baby]

Although looking out at the horrendous rain & wind I don't know why im considering it but here goes!

We rent a lovely house BUT the garden is rather an odd layout. The playroom leads out on to a paved area but its like a narrowish area and you have to go up a few steps to get to the level bit. The top is grassed but I don't like the little ones up there on there own due to there being a drop (which weve sorted out but still)

So im concentrating on doing the lower area for the little ones..my partners going to put up a fenced wall to enclose it but im struggling to know what to put on the floor. Its kind of a paved/slab type flooring and not so great under little feet/knees and thought of the following..

Fake grass-expensive?
Coloured Matting-doesn't last well on days like today!
Black rubber matting-my friend has and the colour always seem to come off on them/feet etc

Don't want to spend a fortune as not our house and an odd area to have excess stuff should we have to move (not expecting to but?!)

So anyone got any ideas please?
Thanks

[mama2three]

I had the black matting , the colour never came off!! But over a period of time they started to lift at the edges when it was particularly windy. They had lasted well , at least a couple of years.
I looked at lots of alternatives but settled on green outdoor carpet to put over the top of the black tiles. If your ground is even then it would be fine laid straight down , but mine was awful od uneven crazy paving.
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[moggy]

To be honest, I don't know what is wrong with concrete/paving slabs? I have patio slabs and large sandstone gravel directly from my garden doors. Babies crawl on it, toddlers toddle on it, no problem. Easy to clean and no wear and tear problems! I might put down a picnic blanket for a little one, that is easy enough. All the other surfaces I have seen have their draw backs and end up getting tatty. Good honest natural materials for us- stone and grass!

[Maza]

I was thinking the exact same thing as Moggy. x

[Smiley]

Me too
Children need to be able to get used to different surfaces and experience uneven ground. It helps them to learn how to risk assess under our supervision.

[mama2three]

And even though I have got the covering I completely agree with the others - my surface simply wasn't safe any more so needed something as we couldn't afford the whole area re done at the time.

[bunyip]

Can't quite picture the garden from the description, but I'd say you need to consider the drainage for any new surface, so rainwater is directed away from and not into the house.