Foam Alphabet Tile, Skip Hop Play Spot, Children's Factory Activity Mat, Or...

I got the alphabet tiles from Michaels (use a coupon and they're only about $10). They're on the floor of her bedroom and she loves them. I haven't put the edging on and took out the small parts (middle of Q, removed I). She's 19 months and still loves to put things in her mouth. They have held up well to theething, but one of the cats has enjoyed chewing on them and a few letters didn't hold up well to that. They are easy to clean, just wash with soap and water, you can throw them all in the tub. My neice who's 2.5 really enjoys playing with them when she's over here, too.

We did something similar to our gated in breezeway (from house to laundry and garage) for our daughter, but we didn't use the one that are kid oriented. We bought the industrial-like foam squares at Home Depot. I did use the others on top for her to play with and build.

We did this when she was one, used them for two years, put in storage for 3 (long move), and given away in great shape.

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Hi T.,

My little boy (now 2)is exactly like Thea's. He is constantly taking the floor apart and so in addition to the toys to tidy every day, I have to go in search of letters and bits of letters.

The upside of it is that he knows several of his letters because of it and will bring me an O or a number 4 or whatever if I ask him.

To be honest though, I could've taught him that in a different way and saved myself a lot of trouble, so I would get something solid with a pattern instead if I was doing it again.

If you decide you don't mind the puzzle pieces aspect of it, then it is good quality and keeps my little boy warmer than the hard wood floor would. It also adds a layer of padding, so when he decided to climb his book shelf and fell off he didn't really hurt himself.

The only thing I would really recommend is to get a unit with several drawers in it, to help keep things organised, but also so that your little one can find things easily. I have this unit http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Produ... (which I bought in England, but I'm sure you can find something similar. You might want to get something more neutral if it's in your family room ) and each drawer has a theme - cars, blocks, musical instruments, etc.

Good luck. Have fun.
D.

I did the same thing. I transformed half my living room: 14 feet by 10 feet into a safe play area complete with stations and baby safety gates (to keep her in and the dogs out). I bought foam tiles by Imaginarium, 34 tiles (I believe 4 inches by 4 inches?) sold at Toys R Us for about $25-30 (I can't recall exactly how much.) They are fantastic. I don't have any carpet in my house, just hard wood floor and some small area rugs. They really clean up well and are vomit proof, water proof, etc, etc... My baby's crawling all over the place now (11 months) and it's so soft on her knees. Good luck.

It depends on how into taking stuff appart your little girl is. My son has had the spirit of an engineer (that's the nice way of saying it) since he was tiny. We had a lovely set of foam alphabet tiles which he loved... however rather than play on them he was constantly pulling apart the interlocking pieces. So I was always having to search for the lost little dots from the middle of the "P" or the "B" or whatever.

If I had it to do over, I'd go with a solid mat with the patern on it rather than the puzzle style.

Hope this helps.
T.

I have the standard alphabet foam activity matt. I got it at the KB outlet in Petaluma (I think they recently closed) for about $20. Anyways, I do like it b/c it is soft to sit on, however it is a hassle to clean. You can put all the squares, edges and letters in the bath tub. That seems to be the easiest way. They clean easily, it's just a pain putting it back together. It has ridges, so wiping it w/ a spounge doesn't work that great. If you don't mind vacumming it, that could work. My 14 mos. old does like to pull the edges off, but hasn't figured out how to tear the whole thing apart. A friend had the same one I did and decided to buy the Hop Skip one b/c the quality was better and she told me it didn't come apart as easily. Best of luck!

I have the alphabet foam mat for my daughter, but even at 15 months, she is too young for it. I put it out one day, thinking it would give her a nice soft play area, but she started taking the letters out of the surrounding blocks and chewing on them! so, I put it away until she stops chewing everything.

Hi

I just bought an Alphabet mat for my 9 month old and well as some large 2x2 interlocking mats for use at her daycare provider's home. I searched and searched for the best deal and product. Try http://www.softtiles.com/. They have excellent customer service they will help you get the right number of tiles and borders for the size area you need to cover. Additionally they have an outlet section. I loved the fact that I got exactly what i wanted for a good price. The kids love them. A soft place to land and learn. Good luck.

You can get the larger foam tiles in bright colors at Sam's or Costco at a reasonable price. They work well and do not have the small parts to have to worry about when the child decides to take them apart.

Foam Alphabet tiles seem like a good idea until you realize that it is a puzzle--26 letters, 10 numbers and all the little pieces that fit in the centers. Plan on constantly picking up little foam colored puzzle pieces. I eventually packed ours up and gave it away with great relief. It was nice to have some sort of padding to sit, crawl, tumble on, but this wasn't the solution.

Check out www.LakeshoreLearning.com. They primarily are for classrooms/child care/ etc. but have great toys and learning materials. They have some wonderful activity carpets, like you would find in a school setting.

I would also go for the non letters. My 9 month took out all the middles of the letters & numbers. (We bought the mats from Babies R Us) He also can take out the letters. So if you don't want missing parts opt for regular mats!