Growing Together: Open Forum

I'm creating an outdoor learning center next to our garden. What should I put down on the ground to make a soft surface for the students? I don't want cement because it's too hard and will damage the plastic seats I purchased for the space. I've considered mulch or artificial grass. Does anyone have other ideas? 

Mulch is nice.  It does have to be refreshed every year or so, but it also becomes a useful tool in a lot our lesson when they they have to collect different items. We have regular grass that we original scraped and had crushed granite.  Over the years the grass came back so we just mulch around the beds and pathways on a big workday once a year.

Artificial grass is mostly plastic, so is it's own environmental issue, in my humble opinion. 

Greetings,

I'm all for using mulch. Consider laying flattened, recycled cardboard beneath it: the cardboard blocks weeds, then gradually decomposes to enrich the soil. Plus, repurposing boxes instead of sending them to a landfill gives your students a practical, memorable lesson in environmental stewardship.

There are loads of options for surfacing - just depends on budget. Oakland Unified has an amazing guide for schoolyard updates and what's ADA compliant, natural and not harmful to the environment. You can find it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NYjIIaU2gnis_kkxbgTsRtQBcV902zy6/view?pli=1