Question:
Hiya,
I'm after some of the mats like the children use for PE at school. We don't have carpet upstairs & i'd like the children to be able to do forward rolls or cartwheels without worrying that they will get hurt. Any idea where I can get them from & the cheapest price please.
Thanks. hugs
Helen
Answers:
I take it no-one else can find them at a reasonable price either then Ebay has a aseller for £75 a mat but thats way too expensive for me.
I'll keep hoping. Thanks.
Helen
Answers:
I remember looking for something similar a few years age and found them to be really expensive. In the end I bought a smaller mat (it was for the end of a slide) at Toys R Us. It was about £10 and was about 1 metre X 50 cm. I don't think it would be big enough for what you want though. They don't seem to have them on their website but I'm sure I've seen them near to the hula hoops and outdoor toy bit
Since then I've bought something similar to for outside. I used them on concrete under a slide/climbing thing and although they won't necessarily stop them hurting themselves if they had a bad fall, it does reduce the impact and so far (touch wood) we've had no injuries. The ones I bought were off ebay and were a bit cheaper than these and I think were a bit more durable, you could also use them in garages and in gyms etc, but they were only in grey.
From my experience, if you want the proper gym safety mats I think it will cost. The only other thing I could suggest is asking at sport centres etc if they have any old ones you could buy
Good luck.
Answers:
Thanks finc, I did look at the elc ones but when I read just foam I was a bit put off. It's not as though its from any great height so I might have to give them a go if the others will be too expensive, got a birthday for one coming up so maybe I can get people to pay towards a proper one instead of yet more toys.
hugs
Helen
Answers:
Gym mats are expensive. I had a couple when I was a kid that my Dad half-inched out of a skip at the college he works at. They were uncovered with webbing round the edges to stop them crumbling. You might be able to get some second hand ones from a school or gymnastics club that are unwanted due to damage. You can recover them with PVC like you get for upholstery provided it's not the shiny patent stuff which would be too slippy. Copydex would hold it OK but you'd need a BIG bottle. You could gaffer tape the edges down to stop them peeling. If you do get any they'll probably be quite badly damaged though because gyms keep repairing mats themselves. They're really heavy too.
People always seem surprised how expensive gymnastics equipment is. Someone has taken one of our small push in mats from the trampoline store. Whoever took it probably saw it as no big deal and the Sports Centre are not as helpful as we would like but it's really impacting on our ability to coach and it was a brand new mat costing £100, so not easily replaced.
Having said that here are a couple of links to suppliers of gymnastics mats. The prices vary according to the size and type of mat. There are some lightweight mats which are considerably cheaper than your ebay supplier(from £31) and even the heavy duty mats are not more expensive (excet for the larger sizes). The thicker heavier mats are better but the lightweight ones should be quite sufficient for your needs. If you want more info ring one of these suppliers. Both are manufacturers so should know their stuff. Continental is held in higher regard than Ceetex. This is not to say that Ceetex is bad however as much as to say that Continental is excellent.
look under Gymnastics;Products;Mats or PE;Products;Mats
Answers:
haven't Aldi or Lidl got an offer on with these ATM?
Answers:
Very much doubt it. They might have yoga mats or similar but they're not at all the same thing.
Answers:
Great Little Trading do One for £34.99 plus 4.95 p&p
HTH
Also some on ebay
Or are these too small - what size are you looking for??
Answers:
Great Little Trading do One for £34.99 plus 4.95 p&p
HTH
Also some on ebay
Or are these too small - what size are you looking for??
These are brilliant thanks, It's either a few of that size or a couple of bigger ones but these definitely seem to be the cheapest. well spotted.
hugs
Helen