Kids Foam Floor Squares
recommended by experts
The Best (Nice-Looking) Play Mats for Babies and Kids, According to Experts
Photo: Courtesy of the retailer
A lot of baby gear can be garish — bright colors and eye-popping designs stimulate a child's development but might not fit your more sophisticated design scheme — and baby play mats can be some of the primary offenders. For those looking for play mats and floor mats that are both padded and good-looking (and safe for your child to spend a lot of time on), we spoke to editors, bloggers, and parents about the ones they use. Below, their 14 favorite (aesthetically pleasing) kids' play mats — which are not to be confused with activity gyms, though we did include two recommended styles of those that come with non-offensive play mats for good measure — any of which would look great not only in a nursery but also in your living room.
Those looking for a play mat with a playful (but still tasteful) design may want to consider this circular one from Pehr that we heard about from two folks. One is Fatherly deputy editor Matt Berical, who says, "This is a very plain, design-friendly play mat with no bells and whistles," noting that "it has a really nice hand-screen-printed design" of sea creatures on one side, while the reverse is patterned with stripes. Berical adds that the quilted cotton mat is very gentle and available in a few styles, telling us, "A lot of parents like it because it fits in everywhere." Ashlee Neuman, the Bump's deputy editor, also recommends Pehr's play mat — she likes the Noah's-ark pattern, which has colorful animals on one side and stars on the other.
A lot of play mats for babies include a fabric base with an overhead "gym" attached (and are commonly known as play or activity gyms). But for those looking for just a mat, Berical recommends this extra-large one from Tiny Love that features built-in activities and a variety of textures. "It's a large, quilted mat that works as a portable play space for kids," he says. "It's made to help kids move around and interact, and it folds up really small so it's easy for parents to pack in a bag whenever they go somewhere. It's also machine-washable."
While the above two mats are made of fabric, if you're looking for a baby-friendly one made of foam, former Babylist editor-in-chief Rebekah Otto told us about this reversible option that looks like a rug on one side and has bright, stimulating graphics on the other. "It's a big roll-out mat that's pretty well-cushioned and is completely BPA-free," she explains. The mat is made of multiple layers of foam that's water-resistant and easy to clean. Its rug-style side features a simple design of interlocking circles, and the baby-friendly side has a vibrant pattern of yellow circles with little scenes and characters that's still muted enough as to not be distracting.
If you want the dual functions of an activity gym and a play mat, Berical also told us about Lovevery's play gym, which was designed by child-developmental experts. It features a removable overhead gym made of sustainably sourced wooden legs and accessories like an organic cotton Montessori ball, a wooden batting ring, and a teether — all of which are washable. "It's comfortable for the baby and there's a lot of clever developmental aspects to it," he says. "It's just a good-looking and well-designed piece of equipment for your child."
For a more affordable option, Berical recommends Skip Hop's Baby Treetop Friends Activity Gym, which he says is another popular choice among parents. It features a round, padded, machine-washable surface with a couple of activities as well as an overhead gym with dangling toys that can be set up and removed in two minutes. "It's a really nice padded activity mat with additions that everyone really likes. The consensus is that even after kids have passed that stage, there's still a use for it," he says. "It packs up really small, is comfortable, and is made with friendly materials."
For older kids who simply need a protective surface to play or learn to crawl on, foam floor mats are your best bet. House of Noa makes play mats that resemble rugs. Instead of being one piece, though, they are made of two-foot square jigsaw tiles that seamlessly interlock and are also expandable. The brand's mat comes recommended by several experts and parents, including Otto and Neuman, who describes it as "a durable foam mat that has the look of a beautifully patterned rug." In other words, it's a great option for parents who want a more subtle mat in their living spaces. According to publicist Alisa Richter, "It's aesthetically pleasing, and there's a great selection of patterns and colors that blend in with most decor." She adds that it's also lightweight and thus portable: "When we traveled, we often brought some of the squares so our son had a safe place to play." Speech-language pathologist Ellice Kim Lacerda also used the Noa mat for her kids. While she admits it on the pricier side, she says it looks nice and that the customer service is top notch. "We had a few squares start peeling. When I contacted them, they sent us free replacements quickly," she says. (She adds that the mats may not necessarily be great for households with dogs or cats, as their claws can scratch up the surface). For publicist Sonya Li Casino, it's the mat's adaptability and expandable nature that won her over. "I found it practical and I have since ordered two more sets because I keep wanting to cover more spaces," she says. Like the other foam mats on this list, it's made with premium quality, non-toxic foam.
If you're looking for something a little more affordable, this jigsaw-style play mat from Skip Hop is a hit with parents and comes recommended by Otto, Neuman, and Greenpoint store Flying Squirrel's owner Kate Schmitz. "Skip Hop play mats are very tasteful instead of being horrible primary colors," says Schmitz. They're the most adaptable, too, and come in a variety of muted colors. Because the pieces are not square, "you can arrange them to create a pattern of your choosing, like chevron stripes," adds Neuman. Otto also calls out the flexibility the pieces offer: "Because they can be reconfigured, you can change the look of them" depending on your child's needs, she says, like arranging them into a longer piece to create a hallway for a crawler. "And there's enough range in the colorways where if you have a gray couch and you want something to match, you can find something," Otto adds. Speaking of colorways, the mat comes in black and white, gray and white, or white, peach, and gray combinations.
For a rug-style foam mat that comes in one piece, Los Angeles-based El Abad, the founder of the blog Happy Mom Land and the Happy Mom Conference, recommends mats from L.A.–based company Ruggish. While she advises looking for mats that are eco-friendly, sustainably made, and have no chemical odors, design is also a priority for Abad: "When it comes to home design, I love having things for babies, but I want them to fit into our home décor and furniture pieces and don't want them to stick out like a sore thumb," she says. "Even in the play area, I like things to be neutral and kept really clean so I don't want anything too busy-looking or too colorful. Something that can actually look like it could be a beautiful rug is what I ended up choosing." That something would be the Romy play rug. Made from non-toxic memory foam that's free of BPA, phthalates, lead, latex, and formaldehyde, it has a double-sided design that resembles a rug on one side and has a graphic, interactive toy-car track on the other. "The track is on a gray background and is still very neutral-looking," Abad promises. "It's not very colorful but it's fun. My little boys love driving their little cars on there, and it made them want to crawl along it." Neuman also recommends the Romy play rug, calling it a "splurge, but oh-so-cute."
Registered dietician Shirley Kim is a fan of Baby Care's less-expensive reversible foam mats, which also feature rug-like patterns on one side and more kid-friendly prints on the other. "They are relatively light, so they're easy to move around," she says, adding that they're a cinch to clean and also comfortable for kids to sit and crawl on. Mom of two Julie Kim agrees, adding that the mats are low-maintenance and durable. "We don't baby a lot of our stuff — our mats have been folded up countless times in the past four years for all of our moves and still look fine without creases," she says. Julie Kim also has a dog that walks over her mat daily and says "it has held up with that, too." Available in a handful of patterns, the mats are waterproof, non-toxic, and free of phthalates, BPA, lead, latex, and formaldehyde.
Gathre's play mat, which this writer owns, also comes recommended by Claude Viard, the owner of Chalet de la Lune and a member of mater mea, a community for Black moms. The mini is one of three sizes that it comes in; others include the smaller micro and the larger maxi. While this specific style isn't padded (making it better for toddlers), the brand does sell padded versions more suitable for the youngest of kids. Whether you go for padded or not, all the mats are made of durable leather or vegan leather and can be used for just about everything in addition to playtime. (This writer, for instance, keeps hers under her son's high-chair.) Viard, who owns a large maxi Gathre mat, notes that even its biggest size is portable: "I can take the mat up to the lake or even just have a picnic on the deck or yard, and it's comfy," she says. In addition to a range of sizes, the waterproof mats come in lots of beautiful colors, plus they're free of toxins, PVC, phthalates, and lead.
While all of the play mats on this list are nice-looking, Little Bot's reversible mats, in our opinion, stand above the rest — at least when it comes to the sides that are meant to look more like rugs. They come recommended by Neuman, who says the "super-chic foam mats feature high-contrast geometric patterns in neutral tones." If you want something with a little more color than the black-and-white pattern shown, the mats are also available in a bold swan design (that has and spare lines on the other) and a style with abstract "candy" bar shapes (that has a country road design on the back). Little Bot sells a circular mat, too, should you prefer something round. The fire-retardant mats are non-toxic (a.k.a. free of heavy metals, BPA, lead, formaldehyde, phthalates, and PVC), easy to wipe clean, and vacuum-safe.
In telling us about this reversible foam play mat, Danielle Borr, a graduate student and mater mea member, mentioned how "there is a little bit of a sensory aspect to it because it is textured," and that its padding felt especially nice. Aside from the textural element, Borr says Skip Hop's play mat shares a lot of details with other mats on this list, including a rug-style gray-and-white triangle pattern on one side and a "vibrant village" scene for kids on the other. "I love it because it is subtle even though it's on the colorful side," she says. "My kids like the cityscape design and would roll cars and toys over it." She adds that the mat "rolls easily for storing" and has a "light rubberized effect that made it stay in place without needing to be held down at the corners." Made of PVC-free and phthalate-free foam, it's waterproof and wipes clean.
For another jigsaw-style mat with non-square pieces, consider this mat from Coco Village that Emily Buhr, an account manager at Vox Media, recommends. She likes it because it's subtle. "A lot of mats we looked at were bright, primary colors," she says. "Since we live in an apartment, the mat is in our living room, so it goes much better with our decor." She notes that it doesn't stand out too much, "but also does what we need it to do, which is provide cushion for our child when playing," adding that it's "fun to mix around the colors." Made from premium foam, it's also free of lead, BPA, and phthalates.
For older kids, a tumbling mat — which resembles the folding mats found at gymnastics studios — can be a safe alternative to traditional play mats, according to Otto. She says "they are much more durable and a kid can do a somersault or cartwheel on them pretty easily, whereas a floor mat is much more tailored for kids 2 and under." While many of them come in primary colors, this one by Design Skin that Berical recommends features a soothing pastel palette.
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