Using play mats and rugs in your play areas

Using play mats and rugs in your play areas

In most daycares, small mats and rugs are part of the décor. They are colourful and decorative, but also quite useful. For example, they can help reduce the noise level and make play areas more comfortable for children.

In terms of noise reduction, play mats and rugs are extremely helpful mostly due the fact that instead of falling on hard floor surfaces, toys fall on a soft surface. Furthermore, they reduce the sound of children's tiny footsteps. Those made with textile fibres have soundproofing properties since they literally "absorb" sounds whereas hard floors (wood, ceramic, laminate floating floors) allow sounds to bounce off of them, making them seem much louder.

Of course, installing play mats and rugs is great for children who spend a lot of time sitting, on their knees, crawling, and moving around. The softer surface they provide increases children's level of comfort as they play and explore.

If, on the other hand, you have soft floor coverings in your daycare (linoleum or vinyl tiles), the use of play mats and rugs is optional. Not only are these types of floor coverings more comfortable, they also act as noise barriers on their own. What's more, they are much easier to clean.

Here are a few examples of play mats and rugs that are great in a daycare setting:

A) Foam mats (oversized puzzle pieces). They are somewhat more difficult to clean, but they are without a doubt very comfortable and great noise barriers. They are inexpensive and can be found in most big box stores.

B) Tiny rugs with designs. Different styles and models are available. They are often quite pretty and their fun designs can encourage play. Low pile rugs (much like commercial carpeting) are easier to clean, but can however scrape little knees. Shag rugs are very difficult to clean.

C) Gymnastics mats (or naptime mattresses) are ideal for play areas in which children are very active and areas reserved for infants. They are normally very simple to clean. They are also thicker and very comfortable. Visit the educatall online store for this product: http://www.educatout.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=26.

Annick Dufresne
Interior designer (Créations Addap)

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