We were hoping to avoid buying any type of activity mat or gym for our first child because of space and financial constraints.  In fact, for a while I rigged up our own play area by putting my daughter on her changing mat underneath our clothes drying rack and hung different toys with clothespins.  That worked pretty well for kicking practice as long as she didn't have the motor control to grab things with her hands or move around, so as she got older I knew I needed to find something safer for her to play with. 

Now, there are some cute play mats/activity centers for babies, but they...