Interlocking foam tiles - how well will they stay down?

[KrisM]

I want to buy those foam tiles for the play area in our basement. If we fit them in from wall to wall, will they still be easy to take apart? I'm concerned that DS will spread them out all over the house or something!

[jwozy]

We had the small foam tiles with the alphabets and numbers, kinda like puzzle pieces in the foam tiles, in our play area and the kids constantly took the small pieces out and it was a pain for me to put back. I ended up buying the larger foam tiles that you can find at TRU or Sams club and the kids can't get those apart.

[KrisM]

That's good. Those larger, plain ones are what I am considering.

[MarisaSF]

We had them between the time that DD was 1-2 yo. DD was definitely able to pull them apart. Ours weren't fitted wall to wall, but I think your son would be able to get the ones around the edges.

Some tips:
1. Pieces. Even though the ones with the animals and lettes and whatever are tempting, they are just more pieces to pull apart and clean.

2. Size. Most tiles are 1x1. I'd look into the bigger 2x2 tiles. Target has them in bright (pastel?) colors and Target also has dark gray 2x2 tiles over in the exercise section. The bigger ones with fewer pieces would probably be harder and less tempting to pull apart.

3. Thickness. I would assume that some brands are thicker than others. The thicker ones would presumably stay down better.

4. Cleaning. I would consider these a temporary installation. We don't wear shoes in the house. Still, ours were so cruddy after a year and I found cleaning them a PITA; now they are in a bag in the garage.

[ett]

We have the big plain foam mats. While I'm sure DS can pull them apart, he doesn't so we haven't had a problem with that.

[TwinsItIs]

I bought the solid yellow from this site:

http://www.softtiles.com/?gclid=CMCt38Ldp4cCFQ7BPgodOFVZ-Q

and was very happy with the service and quality. They hold down pretty well, are big (and you can get bigger) and thick. You can get corners, which I LOVED!!

[anamika]

A really good place to buy foam tiles is an automotive shop. This tip is from DH - my cousin just bought some from Pepboys (plain black ones) and she was thrilled with how much she saved. She also used it in her basement.
hth

[wimama]

I just bought some colored ones from Sams Club. They are nice and thick and have edging pieces on them. I think I got 8 large sqares for about $25. I like them alot. They are colored on one side and plain gray on the other.

If they are still usable after you DS is done with them, you could use them with the gray side up for the garage, near the tool bench etc.

[DAKnits]

I got the huge gray ones with edges (at an automotive shop) and use them in the play areas. They stay down completely, unless DD starts picking at the edges, but she's pretty good about listening to me when I tell her not to. I used to have the smaller ones with the letters/numbers and they were a nightmare -- when DD was really little, she pulled out all the letters and numbers and chewed on them. As she got older, she just pulled them out for fun.

[nupe]

We have the multicolored 2 x 2 ones from Lowes. DS has not developed a fascination with pulling them up. His table and chair are on it, and I think that deters any thoughts of pulling it up.

As for cleaning, I vacuum weekly or more frequently if needed. I could see how they could be hard to clean because of the texture.

Nupe

[ajmom]

We had some of these tiles from Sams also and I hated them. The boys always pulled up the gray edging pieces and used them for swords. I've since donated them to our church nursery for the infants... it's a clean place to play and the little ones don't know how to take them apart yet! :)

[DAKnits]

I forgot to say that I use them with the smooth side facing up, the textured side facing down, so it's easier to clean and softer on DD's feet.

[KrisM]

hadn't thought of that! Good idea. Thanks.

[KrisM]

I looked at those and they're probably more than we want to spend. I want to do a large area in our basement and it was adding up to $900 or so!

[KrisM]

I hadn't thought about cleaning. It would be in the basement, so mostly used on rainy days and winter days. Usually, we're upstairs or outside. I will have to consider that though before I buy a bunch.

[nupe]

I saw a 4 pack of 2x2 black ones in the auto section at Tuesday Morning for $9.99 yesterday.
Nupe

[jrhoads]

I also saw some big ones at Costco- can't remember the price though