2 Comments

  1. Dave Delebreau

    Would you please update me on this game floor? Has it held up well? Did it present any problems as it aged and acquired some use on it? We may be purchssing one in the near future for our AWANA game time.
    Thanks.

    • Since I wrote this post, I have left that church. I was there and used the tarp for about 2 years. I checked with the current Commander and they are still using it on a weekly basis. They said that it is still in great shape except for a few small holes at a fold line. They put duct tape on the back and it is fine.

      Here is my experience and the experience of the current commander:

      Negatives:

      1) It does not always lay flat. If you need to fold it in order to store it, the places where the fold is does not always settle to the floor and can remain a “bump” in the tarp. When I was there, I tried to lay out the tarp on Sunday after service so it had until Wednesday to settle. In their current situation, I believe they put it down on Wednesday before club begins which would make the “bumps” more pronounced.

      2) It can be difficult to fold and roll because of the weight of the tarp. We also stored it in an adjacent hallway which was not easy to maneuver through the doors to get it there.

      3) There was some unexpected wear (as noted above), but from my perspective, it was minimal and you expect some wear. It also depends on how it is treated when it is unrolled. Because I had it unrolled after services on Sunday, there were times when parents allowed their children, wearing boots, dress shoes, etc to run and play on it which I’m guessing added to some of the added wear.

      Positives:

      1) You can quickly have an Awana circle and it is much better than having to lay the temporary floor tape or Velcro lines.

      2) The lines are consistent. When using Velcro before, people would play with, move, etc the Velcro lines

      3) It protects the flooring. In our case, the carpet

      Summary:

      It my case there, the church was moving from meeting in a theater to their own facility. There was much discussion about the Awana circle and how to accommodate it. Many not involved with Awana gave their views and offered uneducated solutions. My preference would have been to use Velcro tape and keep it down, but people were concerned with the appearance of the floor during Sunday morning services and other events. Their solution was to get the tarp. In that situation, with the experience I had, and they still have, I would make the purchase. The cost would still make me look at it hard, but in the end, it is worth it – from my perspective.

      The one thing that I would recommend is to get the tarp with space on the sides for the clubbers to stand (if you have the room). I saw one club where the tarp ended with the team lines (exactly 40’ x 40’) and then they had to step onto the tarp to play the games. I believe it has worked well for them, but my personal preference would be to have the clubbers sanding on the tarp. It also can help keep them organized as they could be instructed to stand on the tarp during gametime which may keep kids form “wandering”.

      The dollies I used were standard dollies that I purchased form Home Depot (or similar). You just want to try to make sure that the dollies can handle the distributed weight of the tarp. The dollies help greatly in moving the tarp and making the tight turns we had to make to store it in the hallway.

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