Review: Tippitoes Alphabet Park Playmat

This new playmat from Tippitoes certainly makes a change to laying out a blanket in the front room in an effort to protect the carpet, or to give babies somewhere a little softer to play instead of a wooden floor.

The Alphabet Park Playmat is a very generously sized mat measuring approximately 200cm x 130 cm – spacious enough for several children to play on it at any one time.  The cushioned mat is very spongy and soft meaning the twins were happy to hone their sitting-up-alone-skills without us worrying that they’d hurt themselves if they toppled over.  Libby who has started crawling in the last couple of days, particularly seemed to favour practising on the mat as it was understandably a lot softer on her little knees than the floor was.

The mat can be used outdoors as well as indoors but thanks to its water resistant material it is easy to sponge clean so removing any spills or smudges quickly and easily.

The top side of the mat has a colourful alphabet (although not in alphabetical order) with pictures of phonetic sounds of each letter whilst the underside has a wooden floor effect.  We found the alphabet great for doing phonics ‘work’ in the form of games with the younger children and pre-schoolers, playing find the letter or practising sounds making a change from doing it from the usual books or computer screens.

This mat can grow with your child from using it as a soft and comfortable kicking mat for nappy time from birth, to playtime as they grow and then later as an educational tool too.  It is easy to care for and simply rolled up when it’s time to put away.  It is also the perfect size for two or more children to play on.

Larger Family Life has one Alphabet Park Playmat (rrp. £29.99) from Tippitoes to give away to a lucky winner.  Click over to our Tippitoes competition to enter.