Which floors are suitable for single-family homes? What does the home-building elite recommend?

Do you really think laminate is worse for children than (click) vinyl? Is it that much harder? It cushions just as well. And vinyl on a carrier board is stiff too. I find vinyl too expensive; I would just opt for parquet.

There are also vinyl-like design floors that at least do not bring hazardous waste like vinyl into the house. However, they are also expensive.

It's not about the price for me, but rather that the elastic surface of vinyl is much more comfortable to sit on and play than I find with laminate or parquet. Similar to cork. Only that I don't like the look of cork and it is not as robust. When the children reach an age where they no longer use the floor areas as a play surface, vinyl still has the advantage in our eyes that it is very resistant to moisture. At a friend's place, their "pubertier" created nice circles on the parquet by placing beverage cans on it.

Design floors are similarly elastic to vinyl. However, they do not get pressure marks from furniture like vinyl and supposedly do not fade like vinyl.

For me, it's not about the price at all, but about the elastic surface of vinyl being much more comfortable to sit and play on than I find with laminate or parquet.

As a father of three, I can tell you that children couldn't care less about the floor surface, to put it bluntly. It's actually only the parents who care about how nice, soft, or cozy the floor is. Maybe it's also interesting how well it can be colored with crayons.
Children sit and play equally well on all surfaces and enjoy playing just as much there.
It's like the discussion about strollers – the children don't care, and for the parents, it's a real topic of dispute :rolleyes:

Design floors are similarly elastic to vinyl. However, unlike vinyl, they do not get pressure marks from furniture and supposedly do not fade like vinyl.

In my experience, most design floors are made of vinyl.
The term design floor doesn't actually indicate what material it is made of.
And even vinyl flooring is not the same as vinyl flooring.

The children sit and play equally well on all surfaces and play there with the same fun.

I agree with you. Kids really don’t care. But unfortunately, we parents do :D
My little one would have just as much fun on the dusty concrete floor as on the finest parquet.
That the floor is more elastic with vinyl spares my ears immensely when the building blocks once again crash through the children's room, & the fact that vinyl feels a bit warmer than a hard laminate floor is something my backside also thanks me for after hours of Lego sessions.