Life in Stepping Stones

All Four of my 4×5 ft Child’s Play Rugs with Roads are now available in my Life in Stepping Stones Etsy Shop! Get one for your playroom, kid’s bedroom, or nursery today! Subscribe to my blog for a 10% off discount code!

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely despise the average, run of the mill, play rugs sold in stores for kids bedrooms and playrooms. The roads are way too narrow, it’s covered in 2D buildings and cars that, in my opinion, hinder creative play, and not to mention, they are so thin that they provide zero padding to the floor and they move all over the place when you so much as move an inch.

About a year ago, I decided it was time to design a rug that my kids could actually use during their playtime!

The first play rug I created was what I always envisioned wanting for my own toys as a child: a small town neighborhood landscape that I could build my own world around.

I designed the roads to be 5” wide, specifically to fit all of my son’s toy cars, whether it was Lego, Playmobil, PJ Masks, Paw Patrol, or Hot Wheel/Matchbox. I soon discovered these roads also perfectly fit my daughter’s Little People cars and trains, and through research, found they also fit Calico Critter cars. They are just two inches shy of fitting a Barbie car, so I suspect that making some other designs with a slightly wider road may be in my future!

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A Small Town Neighborhood

For this first rug, I wanted a landscape that could be used for any basic play, from sidewalks and roads surrounded by luscious green grass, to a sandy playground with a lake to swim or sail on. I included two parking spaces, because my son loves nothing more than to drive his toys somewhere and have them park like Mommy and Daddy do in real life!

When I first gave this to my son, he was thrilled to head upstairs and set it up straight away as a town! Out came his Playmobil Modern House and playground, the PJ Masks headquarters, and the Paw Patrol gang ready to help some poor Legos in trouble.

Not only was I ecstatic to see how much fun he had with it, but I also noticed his toys began to congregate only around his play rug instead of all over the room and house (HUGE BONUS POINTS for Mommy and Daddy, am I right??).

The Life in Stepping Stones Small Town Play Rug is now available in my Etsy Shop.

Adventures in the City

After a few months went by, my son started asking for another one – a city that his toys could go to!

I wanted to make sure that a city rug wasn’t just a bland slab of gray concrete, and I wanted to ensure it was different enough from his first play rug, and that he’d be able to use them together!

I first measured out some different Playmobil buildings, including the hospital, police station, school, and more, that way whichever toys he got in the future would fit! The size of Playmobil objects has proven to be a great guide to use for these rugs, as everything else from other brands like Lego is pretty much ensured to fit nicely too.

No city is complete without a sports field or arena, so for this play rug map, I decided to add a football track with a running track that could also be used as a Hot Wheel race track. After all, what Playmobil toys don’t enjoy going to a Hot Wheel race for an evening out? For this rug, I decided to have a few Hot Wheel parking spaces available at the arena. After all, the racers should have somewhere to park before the big race! The visitors can just park along the street like we all do in the city!

The Life in Stepping Stones Cityscape Play Rug is now available in my Etsy Shop.

A Day at the Beach

After creating this design for my son, I started to feel really inspired! Soon enough, I came up with two more rug concepts: a beach retreat and a snowy mountain escape.

For the beach retreat, I was inspired by the Santa Monica Pier. With no need for another neighborhood type space, I instead focused on including a large sandy beach, an ocean with a boat dock/fishing pier, and a pier for shops or a carnival to come through town.

My son was eager to set up his toys for a getaway to the beach. He placed the Lego Friends Central Perk Cafe on the pier, the Playmobil Ice Cream Cart on the board walk, and some sand toys on the beach. His Playmobil toys had a blast jet skiing and surfing in the ocean, although they had to watch out for a shark attack! He recently got the Lego Submarine for his birthday and his legos are now going on scuba diving adventures in the ocean.

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The Life in Stepping Stones Beach Retreat Play Rug is now available in my Etsy Shop.

Escape to the Snowy Mountains

For the snowy mountains, I reminisced about my family’s getaways to Keystone in Colorado growing up: staying in a lodge, hiking along the river, and skating on the frozen lake were some of our favorite things to do…not to mention driving through the rock covered tunnels on the way there! For the initial set up, my son had a blast putting his Playmobil Castle on the snow. The drawbridge perfectly opened over the water, connecting it to the rocks. Luna Girl’s PJ Mask Super Moon Adventure Fortress also fit right in. My son sometimes likes to pretend that the mountain area is foggy and spooky and has also been known to set up his Playmobil Haunted House there for a mysterious adventure in a spooky mountain village.

The Life in Stepping Stones Snowy Mountain Play Rug is now available in my Etsy Shop.

Connect, Mix-and-Match, or Fold, Store and Switch

My favorite part about the designs is that I designed them to each connect to each other. Whether you have the space to place all four together, or mix-and-match two of them, it’s up to your child to design their play world! Currently, my son has connected the mountain village and the city in his room, while my daughter has the small town neighborhood for her Little People toys, and the beach sits in our office for vacationing toys.

The great thing about these rugs is that not only are they thick enough to stay in place, they are still light enough that my 6 year old son can drag it across to another room and switch them out!

The Perfect Addition to Your Child’s Playroom or Bedroom

I am ecstatic to announce that I am now offering these play rugs in my Life in Stepping Stones Etsy Shop!

These 4×5 ft rugs are:

• made with a soft, shiny fabric (I LOVE sitting on them!)
• hypo allergenic
• non-slip sole to keep the rug in place
• and most importantly, they are easy to clean! I should know…my son had a nosebleed soon after we got the first one and I had a near heart attack when I saw it was on the rug. Luckily, this was a great way to discover just how easy it is to clean! With a little cold soapy water, I gently patted the spots that got hit and the stains came out of the play rug instantly.

I hope that with enough traction, I can expand the collection and offer even more creative play rugs for kids. I am excited to see the adventures my kids take their toys on! When we moved the Small Town Rug into my daughter’s room, at only 15 months old, she was immediately down to it. She has already had her Little People toys walk along the sidewalk and her Little People train drive down the road.

More Playroom Rug Designs to Come!

What kind of designs would you like to see? My son is already telling me I need to make one for my daughter that’s a fantasy rainbow world, like her favorite show, Shimmer and Shine. Please share your thoughts in the comments about what type of rugs you’d like to see and which of these designs was your favorite!