Hellobee Boards

@autumnlove: we don't have one yet:) But i'll answer anyway to bump this..

I told DH when we build ours (this summer) we will NOT do woodchips! They hurt and kids can get spinters if they play with them. I don't like sand either because it's super dirty and terrible when wet.
Grass is OK but strictly for looks, we're doing a foamy, spongy woodchip look. Basically, they are foamy chips but they give the looks of wood chips. They are artificial and sponge, rubber wood chips that have a bit of a bounce to them if kids fall on them (off a swing)
They are made of this material:

and can come in many colors. We'd use like a cherry wood color or green.

@autumnlove: my only thing against it is...I don't want to dump sand out of his shoes and into my house every.single.day.
Plus, it rains a lot here so the playground would pretty much be out-of-service every time it rained because it would be so messy...and I think dogs & cats are attracted to sand ( to poop in!)