Alphabet Playmat

I just bought the Imaginarium 36-Piece Alphabet & Number Foam Playmat. I planned on using it outside on the porch so the kids won't get brush-burned knees from crawling around. Today it has been extremely windy and well, half the letters blew away & I had to go chasing them. This might be a long shot but, is their any kind of special double stick tape/adhesive or something of that nature I can put under the mat so it won't blow away? I still want the letters & numbers to be able to pop out. Oh & our porch is concrete. Any suggestions greatly appreciated!


ETA : We also tried putting heavier objects on it like a slide & lawn chairs, but still falls apart.

 

You could use carpet tape. It's double sided and very very sticky so it will keep the mats from pulling up. However, you'll run into two problems if you do that. First, you will probably never be able to get the residue from the tape off of our concrete patio. We used carpet tape on tile inside our previous house and had to replace the tile when we sold the house because the tiles looked just awful even after multiple cleanings and scrapings. The second problem you'll have is that if the playmat is permanently stuck to the patio, you'll get all sorts of little stuff and gunk under the mat and won't be ale to clean it. We have one of those playmats and it's great to move it to the side and sweep under it every once in a while.

I grew up in Rochester and know what you mean about the annoying wind... but since it's only windy every once in a while, I'd probably just bring the playmat inside or stack it up when it gets windy. Good luck!

 

I don't have any suggestions (sorry!). But, I did want to mention that you should consider bringing the playmats in or dry them off if they get wet from the rain. They can mold quickly.

 

I don't think there is much you can do about that. BJ's sells the play mats that are 2 ft X 2ft squares but I don't think that would be any better for you. I just went to Home Depot last week and they are selling the indoor/outdoor carpeting. Why don't you just buy that and cut it to the size you need. It wasn't all that expensive. If that blows away which I doubt it will you could put Tide bottles filled with water to keep it down.