Classroom Rug Safety: Part I

Shopping for classroom decorations and other creative and unique teaching tools is definitely a lot of fun but there are certain (important) things to keep in mind when bringing various items into the classroom, especially when it comes to carpeting or any other flooring solutions.

When it comes to kids, safety has to be a primary factor and there are two main areas you should consider before purchasing a classroom carpet: fire safety and air quality.

In this blog post, we are going to focus on the first of those two aspects, fire safety. In a future blog post we will dive into the importance of CRI Green Label Plus eco-friendly classroom rugs.

Flammability Rating

It’s not something anyone likes to think about, but school fires do happen. Just take a look at these statistics:

• An estimated 4,060 structure fires involving pre-school through grade 12 buildings were reported every year from 2007 to 2011.
• Half of these fires were intentionally set.
• About 24% of these fires were contained trash or rubbish fires.

Every school must abide by national, state and local fire codes that were written, and are enforced through inspections, in order to ensure that the learning environment is as safe as possible. If you have carpeting in your classroom, one large aspect of passing this inspection relies on whether or not the carpeting used has earned either a Class I or a Class II flammability rating.

The National Fire Protection Association is responsible for creating these class ratings and tests how susceptible a carpet is to spreading a fire once it becomes compromised.

A Class I rating provides the highest level of protection and means that a fire will spread less quickly, compared to a Class II rating. While both a Class I and Class II rating are sufficient enough to pass the national standards, certain facilities, like schools, daycares, pre-schools and churches require the higher level of protection. A rug with a Class I rating will provide additional time to exit the building for those who need it if a fire were to occur.

When buying a carpet to be used in a facility with children, it is especially important to choose one that provides the highest level of protection possible and carries a Class I flammability rating. It would be a shame to have to throw out the rug you bought with the last of your yearly budget because it wasn’t up to fire code par.

There are two well-known manufacturers with years of industry experience that offer amazing classroom carpets that have earned the NFPA rating of Class I: Carpets for Kids® and Joy Carpets®. While choosing a rug from either of these brands will provide you with high-quality flooring options with safety in mind, it does not in any way mean they are unaffordable. Their value, in terms of safety and as an educational tool for teachers and educators, is unmatched when compared to other department stores and big box retailers.

For more information about these wonderful classroom carpets and to shop a wide selection at discount prices, please visit us at www.rtrkidsrugs.com.

A to Z Animals Rug - Product Spotlight

Adding the right amount of color and fun to your classroom without going overboard and creating unnecessary distractions for your students can be a fine line to walk. For classrooms, the best way to avoid divided attentions is to make sure that the classroom decorations can also be used as devices for learning. That’s why the A to Z Animals Rug by Carpets for Kids is the perfect way to incorporate a fun learning tool in the classroom!

The A to Z Animals Rug comes in two different shapes so that you can create the perfect learning environment for your students. Both the oval and rectangular classroom rugs come in two different sizes too!

• Small Oval — Rug: 6’9” x 9’5”
• Large Oval — Rug: 8’3” x 11’8”
• Small Rectangle — Rug: 7’6” x 12’ | Individual seating space: 17” x 23”
• Large Rectangle — Rug: 8’4” x 13’4” | Individual seating space: 19” x 26”

The individual seating spaces incorporated in the rectangular A to Z Animals Rug make it the perfect classroom decoration for students of any age! Whether you need to create a lesson area for preschool students or simply frame a reading area for a first grade classroom, this precious animal alphabet rug is ideal! Students can take pride in their assigned animal seat or even have fun getting a new alphabet letter to occupy each week.

To create an even more adaptable space, consider adding the oval-shaped A to Z Animals Rug to your classroom. The solid middle area of the rug lets you to be flexible with the space, allowing it to easily transition from play time, to show and tell, and to reading time with all of your students seated around the alphabet border.

Learning activities for toddlers and preschoolers will be perfectly suited to this rug. You can familiarize your younger students with the alphabet letters by asking them to line up behind the first letter of their name. Then try last names too and help them remember their initials with their animal combination!

Besides being fun and colorful learning tools for kids to use in the classroom, these A to Z Animal Rugs are also safe and extremely durable. When talking about safety, these rugs, along with all other Carpets for Kids brand rugs have a Class I Flammability Rating, which means it meets or exceeds all national fire code requirements. And for even more peace of mind, these rugs have earned the CRI Green Label Plus certification which is the most stringent testing standard in the industry for air quality!

When it comes to standing the test of time and general wear-and-tear, they feature the patented KIDply® backing technology that will give you benefits like wrinkle and crease prevention, increased durability, superior softness and flexibility, and better sound and thermal insulation. Plus, the 100% commercial grade nylon yarn resists fuzzing and piling so your kids can continue to enjoy the colorful designs on the A to Z Animals Rug for years to come!

The A to Z Animals Rug really is the ultimate addition to any classroom for young students. Read even more about the awesome benefits and qualities of this precious children’s rug at RTRKidsRugs.com! Let us know how you plan to set up your classroom using the rug and share your ideas about how to utilize this great learning tool for kids in your lessons!