Spring Riders

Spring riders are figures mounted on a single coil spring anchored into the ground. The catalogue holds 9 models: animal figures such as horses, elephants and lions, motorbike and vehicle forms, and sea creatures. The body panel is a surface built for outdoor exposure; the spring and fixings are steel, and grips and footrests are sized for a small child's hand and foot.

The age range is roughly 2 to 6. At this stage a child is not yet climbing or reaching high platforms; they are learning to stay balanced while seated, to rock back and forth, and to control their own speed. A spring rider offers exactly that. To use one, a child needs to sit unaided and hold the grips — below that stage it is not suitable.

Within a play area plan, spring riders play a completing role. The playground set and the swing form the main structure; the spring riders are a second place for younger children to play while queuing for the slide or while older children occupy the main unit. Because they take little space and can be bought individually, they also suit phased budgets: the area opens with the main unit and is extended later with a few riders.

Two points matter in siting. First, the movement is not confined to one axis — a child can rock forwards and backwards but also tilt sideways, so clear space is left all around rather than in a single direction. Second, these units are usually installed in numbers, and there must be enough distance between two riders for children not to collide. Lining them up facing the same way causes fewer problems in practice than facing them towards each other.

Fall height is low here, but surfacing is still needed: falls are frequent at this age and young children are poor at breaking them. The impact-absorbing layer must cover the clear space around the unit, not only the ground beneath it. The low height does mean a thinner layer can be used. TS EN 1176 is the standard that covers this type of play equipment. Dimension tables for this group are not published on the catalogue pages, so we send the figures in writing at the survey stage.

Choosing the figures is more functional than it looks. Where several riders in one area carry different figures, children sort out between themselves which unit they will use; install several of the same figure and disputes over turns come up more often. On projects that want thematic coherence, picking different figures from within one family — sea creatures, or farm animals — satisfies both concerns.

Installation requires anchoring into a concrete foundation. The spring's lower fixing is the unit's structural point, and all the force passes through it into the ground — so foundation depth and anchor tightness should not be treated lightly just because the unit is small.

In maintenance the part to watch is the spring: check monthly for cracking in the coils, permanent deformation and looseness at the lower fixing. The bolts between spring and body are reviewed together with their protective caps, since this is a pinch point. On body panels, sun-related fading and edge brittleness are assessed annually. Tell us your site dimensions and the age spread of the children and we will work out how many riders and which figures suit.