Play Mats!

I wanted to pass along this find that everyone I know seems to love. We have mostly tile floors in Zach's play area (aka the lower level of our house), when he started having more active tummy time I would use a blanket to buffer him from the cold hard tile. Of course, as some of you know, Zach was a big time spitter when he was little so this led to a lot of laundry. Plus the blanket was always in the way on the floor and basically just a tripping hazard for Mommy and Daddy. So, in my quest to solve this issue I found these big foam play mats that are perfect for his play area!

They're about 18-24 inches square, they interlock so you can choose the configuration and placement to fit your space, and best of all, they are REALLY easy to clean. I'm anal retentive so I vacuum them and wipe them down with clorox wipes at least once a week and before and after any playgroup session we have at the house. So far they've held up great! A couple nicks from the dogs toe nails when he gets fiesty and wants to play on them, but nothing serious :). And as Zach becomes more mobile and has friends over to play, it's a great way for him to have his own space with toys and stuff!

We found them at Walmart in the kids toy section, at around $20 for a 4-pack. We ended up with 3 packs to make a 4x3 tile play area, these are great gift ideas for family, useful and fun (how often do you get both as gifts for your little ones from family?). These are similar but a little more pricey, and you can find ones with ABC's or 123's on them online, but none of the ones I've seen online were as good a bargain square footage-wise as the ones in store at Walmart. Let me know if you've found something like this that will work for a play area!