does anyone use outside play mats?

[SillyMillysMummy]

I am considering putting some kind of play surface down and wanted some advice. I already have a woodchipped (soil underneath) area that houses my climbing frame, and I currently have a stone filled area approx 9ft x 16ft, some of which is earth underneath a little concrete. I had thought about putting down some of that interlocking matting, you know the stuff you can use inside or outside as i saw some cheapish in b and q the other day, it also looks easy to lay. Does anybody use this? It wouldnt be for any fall heights, just instead of the stones etc. my question is, if you do have it, is it terrible in uneven areas? also, with it being water resistant where does the water go? Any advice from those with other stuff is also appreciated

I have the interlocking mats and they really are rubbish! The water pools on them and they don't lay flat. Worst of all, unless you stick them down to plastic sheeting, they blow all over the place. I'll watch this post with interest to see what alternatives there are. At the moment I'm thinking sand. A friend of mine has tiny pieces of shredded tyres. They work but don't like the idea of DD eating them (she wouldn't be able to resist!)

I have some mats from B&Q with holes in them that kind of lock in together which are OK - not ideal but quite good

I can't find them thou'

anyone else?

I use the interlocking mats.
I have them at the end of the slide, outside my backdoor (incase the toddlers slip getting up and down my backdoor step) and I have a large area of mats for under the gazebo for them to sit on.

My garden is small, so we have paved the lot.
I have been using them for 3yrs now and have not had a problem with them.

i use the mats from ELC indoors as i have wooden floors then after bout 18mths i buy new ones and use the old ones outdoors

Tas1, which do you have? can you find an example of them for me? are they the rubber ones or just the pva type? have you laid them on the paving, so area is flat? sorry for all the questions lol

The first batch I bought were from Ebay but the others are from ELC. They are a sort of foam material.
The paving is a york stone type slab with slight ridges in it, so fairly flat anyway.
It is more for making a soft landing rather than making the area flat.
At the end of the day I just stand them up againt the wall so that if it rains the water runs off and I take them in over winter as they can rot.

Hope that helps.