Road Rug Rage! (Roads Play Rug)

Member Name: mreyre

Product:	Roads Play Rug
Date:	02/12/02 (3825 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easy to clean, durable, great for boys and girls

Disadvantages: limited individual play potential, need the right size cars to fit

These play rugs retail in the shops for anything from £10-£20, depending on the size and quality. However, we were lucky enough to pick ours up from a boot sale for £2, which was a total bargain.

Basically, it’s a small roll of carpet, very durable, with a plastic backing. It’s easily cleaned with 1001 / Vanish carpet cleaner if drinks, etc. are spilled on it. The design on the front consists of a simple road layout, with roundabouts, corners and T-junctions, complete with dotted white lines down the centre. Around the outside of the road, there are various buildings in 2-D, eg. School, post office, bank, etc. These provide excellent role-play scenarios for the child as they manoeuvre their car to and from each destination.

We found that on its own, the play mat has limited potential; obviously you need to purchase some cars to go with it!! Again, boot sales provide an ideal cheap source of toy transport! The most useful toy cars for this particular road layout are the wooden type from Early Learning Centre stores – you can buy all sorts of trucks and lorries also. Brio and Tescos also sell some excellent durable wooden alternatives. Also, the cars which come as part of the Fisher Price series are about the right size and are more chunky for small hands. They also have little holes in which to put plastic people in and drive them around.

We put Lucy’s Fisher Price “sounds” garage to one side of the play rug, this adds play potential straight away. With a little imagination, other scenes could also be added, I’m sure, such as Playmobil or Lego sets.

After use, the rug can be simply rolled up and stored in a cupboard, or even stored flat on top of a wardrobe, taking up very little space. If you have the luxury of having a playroom, the rug could be left out all the time, eg. To cover part of a wooden floor.

I would recommend buying one of these for any child between the age of 3-6,
whether boy or girl. Yes, Lucy likes Barbies and Polly Pocket just like the next 4 year old girl, but she plays with this garage and play rug just as much. However, I would shop around for bargains as they do vary in price and quality – the best bet is to scour the boot sales.

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