"We built this city..."

Yes, I now have that song in my head. But here's the deal...we have one of those roll out mats for matchbox cars. Don't get me wrong, it's great. But my 18 month old will walk over to my 4 year old and pull the mat out like a tablecloth with dishes on it. Picture it...my 4 year old is playing quietly with his matchbox cars on his mat with a city printed on it and WHAM - little man comes over and rips it off the floor and runs his little diaper booty away cracking up. My 4 year old looks at me with his mouth wide open and says "MOMMA!". And then the next 10 minutes is a vicious cycle of tickling and giggling trying to get the mat away from the baby. Sounds easy right? Um, no. So, we invented this...the painters tape city. I printed out pictures of trees, houses, stores, apartment buildings and a gas station all by the request of my 4 year old. Yes, he indeed requested an apartment building and I have no idea why. I guess he's just keepin' it real and keepin' it fair. I taught him that :) But anyways, as you can see below we made a road way and taped down our pictures with painters tape. You can use masking tape or any tape that won't ruin your floors. You don't even need to print out pictures. Your little one(s) can draw their own or even design them out of the tape. If you don't have hard wood or tile, I imagine that a low pile carpet would work well too. Enjoy! Let us know of any variations! Enjoy!
D