This is not only a good mat, but it is also educational. It can be used to learn the alphabet, and to fit shapes into their appropriate spaces.

Think I should buy two sets so that I can spell out Woot on my floor. Yes, I have a problem.;)

FYI: .375" = 3/8 inches.

Most kids foam mats on the market come in the smaller (less desirable) 1/4 inch thickness. This one gives you an extra 1/8 inch = more durability and more padding for the kiddies' feet.

Woot adding TAX to orders now?? What the heck??? I was in for one till this. When did WOOT start adding tax on purchases???

conanthelibrarian wrote:Think I should buy two sets so that I can spell out Woot on my floor. Yes, I have a problem.;)

brownnoser.

$17.99 tonight

Wayfair $32.68
http://www.wayfair.com/Trademark-Global-Foam-Floor-Alphabet-Puzzles-Mat-80-31515-TMK5059.html

Amazon 3rd party seller $36.95
http://www.amazon.com/Trademark-Global-Floor-Alphabet-Puzzles/dp/B008BS6XZO

$28.99 Walmart
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Trademark-Global-Foam-Floor-Alphabet-Puzzles-Mat/23222506

Alphabet mats seem neat on the surface, but my experience was with grime collecting at the seams (alphabet = a lot more places for grim to collect).

And, when your kid learns to pull out the letters, it's all the more trouble for you to put the letters back, assuming you want the mats to perform their chief purpose (providing floor padding).

We bought these to make a play area on our tile floor. Our daughter is one and likes to deconstruct the mat. She even pops the smaller pieces out of the inside holes in the letters. It's a pain in the neck to clean up because the letters don't stay in the mat very well after being popped out a few times. My husband and I have had quite a few laughs about trying to find the piece that belongs in the A hole.

She does love this set, but my cats do, too. Something about the texture screams scratching post to them. We've left the mat out for a day or so and come home to scratched off bits of mat strewn about the living room.

This is a great playmat, but for us it's been more trouble than it's worth. Maybe we'll break it out again when our daughter is older and is learning letters.

$13 costco, no shipping charge.

rinverso wrote:$13 costco, no shipping charge.

Link?

Buyer beware!! We got mats very similar to this for our son. We eventually had to get rid of them because he kept pulling the letters out and, when he started teething, chewing on them. We ended up getting plain 2 foot foam squares which he didn't seem as interested in because he would have to pull up a much larger piece of foam.

Don't get this if you have cats. Me and any other parent I've talked to that owns cats says these are an absolute scratching (and eating the scratched off pieces, if your cat is into that) magnet. We had our similar non-alphabet version for about two weeks and even though we tried to keep it covered so it wasn't tempting, it was a mess and we threw the whole thing out.

We had one similar to this (also included numbers 0-9) when my now 5 year old was a baby. We used it on the hardwood floor in her bedroom. She loved taking it apart, putting it back together and just rolling around on it. Easy to clean when the unavoidable poop explosion happened. (We just threw the 'affected' tiles in the tub with hot water and bleach and a good scrubbing) No cats, just a 120 pound dog who LOVED to lay on it. We just used a lightweight vacuum (like a Stick-Vac) to clean it, which seemed to do a good job getting stuff out of all the grooves and cracks.

Plus, the kid knew all her letters by 2, and reading by 4. I'm just saying....

rinverso wrote:$13 costco, no shipping charge.

Yeah I can't find anything like that on their site...

Toys R Us offers a set of 36 (A-Z, 0-9) for $24.99. We got 2 sets on sale (25% off) and covered our dining room (turned playroom). We love the mats! DD is learning to walk and has crashed to the floor several times (sometimes head first) and her fall is always cushioned. At 10 months she really has little interest in pulling it up to chew - she'd much rather play with all her other toys.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11773791

I don't think I'd spend $18 for this set when you can get 20% off TRU coupons everywhere bringing the 36 square set down to $20.

Does anyone know if these are the safe foam squares without carcinogens, including Formamide, Acetaphenone, 2 Phenyl 2 Propanol?

I've read both the negative and positive comments about the mat for indoor use. Has anyone used it outside?

I love this mat. Yes, my 2 year old pulls it up and it's a pain, but it's fine really. You can build little boxes too. I have lots the middle of the pieces but whatever. This is a great price. I have some similar foam for outside and it just fades. I wouldn't want water to get underneath it, but it would just be mucky and a bit slippery.

slaglet wrote:Does anyone know if these are the safe foam squares without carcinogens, including Formamide, Acetaphenone, 2 Phenyl 2 Propanol?

From the extensive research I've done, there are no safe EVA foam mats. Here's a site that has tested many different brands of mats. We decided to just use a thick wool rug with blankets for more padding. It's a bit more messy but we know we aren't exposing ourselves to unknown toxins.

Anyone by chance get an extra I and J square in their order? We were missing them out of one of our sets and we weren't sure if if was some sort of packages mistake or if woot is trying to simplify the English language.

Still haven't received the item yet. Shipment has been 'initiated' for days now.