DIY rugs photo.

The moment has come that all young parents are waiting for - the first child has appeared in the family. From now on, this tiny miracle is surrounded by love, attention and all the best. The baby grows and develops, and a great variety of modern techniques and expensive toys have been invented to help parents, so that the child grows every day and makes everyone happy. Among the variety of educational toys, it is worth paying attention to educational rugs for toddlers; the modern industry offers them for every taste and budget.

But is it worth spending a lot of money on something that every loving mother can do on her own? A little imagination and simple manipulations with a needle and thread (unless, of course, you are the owner of a sewing machine) - and in front of your baby is a homemade educational mat for children.

Purpose of the rug

Touch mat is a didactic toy for children of different ages for the development of motor activity and sensorimotor skills, as well as hearing. With the help of a rug for children with different surfaces, while playing, a child learns to crawl, then sit, and distinguish shapes and colors. The base is a colorful material on which educational elements are placed in the shape of a sun, a road, an orchard, etc. In addition, rodents and rattles are attached to them.

Firstly, it is worth remembering that the material must be of high quality and natural. This is a requirement not only for the fabric, but also for all components, in order to avoid allergic reactions and all kinds of irritation in the baby.

Secondly, the integrity of the material used is required, meaning the absence of poor-quality seams, cracks and chips in the corners, and decorative elements and fittings must be firmly sewn.

Third, babies grow quickly, and there will be a need to constantly improve the rug, that is, to add or replace toys (parts). Models with folding soft corners and hinged arches are ideal, which, if necessary, makes it possible to modernize the canvas and increase the playing area.

The more rustling, sensorimotor, ringing, luminous elements that differ in texture, shape and size, the faster the child will become interested in the game and the longer he will be captivated while the parents finish their chores. It is convenient if the mat is mobile, so that you can transport it if necessary. All elements must be removed, because the canvas will periodically need to be washed.

As a result, the search for a rug that meets all the requirements can cost a pretty penny. But there is a way out - sew a developmental mat with your own hands. There are a great many ideas on the Internet, and the benefits for the baby from such a product are obvious and clear. If the choice has already been made towards making a children's educational rug with your own hands, you should think about what your toy will look like, as well as the fact that there is a list of prohibitions.

Possible mistakes

You decided to sew a sensory mat for children with your own hands, giving free rein to your imagination. Let us note that the creative process is a fun and exciting thing, but there are step by step instructions, so that the master class does not drag on and turn into a burden.

Step-by-step work plan

We hope that parents have cast aside doubts that it is better to make a developmental mat on their own. After all, who better than parents knows the preferences of their baby. We hope that the time and effort spent will be rewarded with the smiles of little toddlers.

DIY educational mat for a child

Loving parents, trying to develop their child from birth, use modern techniques and all kinds of expensive toys. Recently, developmental mats have been invented specifically for these purposes. You can buy such a rug in a store, but many women prefer to make it with their own hands, because it is not at all difficult to do. In this article we will tell you how to make DIY educational mat for children from 0 to 3 years old, and we'll show photo the most original ideas.

Educational mat for a small child

An educational mat is a textile or knitted cloth, decorated with bright appliqués, with movable elements for play placed on it. It is sometimes supplemented with a frame for hanging toys. This rug gives children the opportunity to develop from the first days of life, and is designed for use up to 3 years of age.

Developmental mat for newborns

Playing with an educational mat will help:

Did you know: a child’s brain is not fully developed at the time of birth. In the first months and years of life, the most active growth and development of nerve connections in the brain occurs. This process, and the number of connections created, is influenced by the environment in which the child grows up and how he is dealt with.

Developmental mat for babies

For a child, a developmental mat will become the largest and most useful toy that never gets boring, and for a mother, it will be the main visual aid for activities with the baby. When the child grows up and begins to sit independently, he will be able to play with it and develop without outside help. Bright applications and a large number of various elements will occupy the child’s attention for a long time, and you will have the opportunity to relax a little or do household chores. During joint activities, it is necessary to show the child what actions can be performed with objects placed on the mat, and to get him to complete the assigned tasks.

Educational mat for little ones

Advantages of a homemade rug

Advice: make a rug with a spare size so that as the child grows up, you can add new developmental elements that are appropriate for his age. It will “grow” with the child and will always be new and interesting.

Making a developmental mat

We make a developmental mat with our own hands

First, you need to decide what exactly you want to see on your rug and draw a rough sketch on a piece of paper. Then choose a material suitable in size and texture for the base of the rug and for its lining. To make the rug soft and warm, you will need padding polyester or warm coat fabric. The latter will help the mat better keep its shape and not wrinkle during play.

Ideas for an educational square rug

Tip: choose natural or half-synthetic fabrics for the face covering. They must have a stable color and not accumulate static electricity. Chintz, linen, gabardine, and suiting fabrics with natural wool fibers are suitable. For lining, use a non-slip material. Do not use satin or satin. It is better to take chintz, cotton jersey, linen or corduroy, and woolen suiting fabrics.

Bright and colorful educational mat for children

Preparation of accessories

Collect all the scraps and unnecessary things that you don’t mind cutting up. Try to choose different textures, bright fabrics, with interesting patterns. Wash and iron everything. Look around your house for threads, buttons and locks. Find different colored laces, buttons and beads. Gather small toys and boxes together. All this will be useful to you in your work and this will be enough to get started.

Photo of a model educational rug for children

Then, as needed, you can search for and select the necessary materials. You may need ribbons, elastic bands, and Velcro. Metal and plastic rings, Kinder surprise boxes and broken rattles will come in handy. You can use multi-colored wool threads of different thicknesses.

Important! Do not use toys with small parts that cannot be secured to the mat; small children put everything in their mouth and can swallow them! Do not use materials that crumble, break or come off!

Preparing the base

DIY educational mat for a baby

Cut panels of the same size from the main fabric, from the lining fabric and from the padding polyester. Lay them out in three layers so that the padding polyester is inside, and connect them together. Finish the edges with an overlocker, edging, or a simple hem. The base for the rug is ready.

Photo of an educational mat with overlays

Creating a playing field

On the prepared basis we create a playing field according to the sketch. It could be a forest, a lake, or a flower bed, a road for cars and a river for ships. You can make a green meadow and a blue sky with clouds. We cut the parts of the required size and color, fold the edges and sew them onto the rug, first by hand and then by sewing machine.

Educational mat with small details for a small child

Tip: place the parts on a soft adhesive base (non-woven fabric), it will be easier to work with them and they will look better.

Making game elements

This is the main and most labor-intensive part of the work. You can make flowers, butterflies or mushrooms, and come up with fairy-tale houses and castles. Make cars, airplanes or boats, sew any small animals or birds. Show your imagination. They can be sewn or fixed movably, on cords or ribbons, or attached to the rug using Velcro or buttons.

Educational mat in bright colors

Tip: to make the game elements voluminous, use padding polyester to fill them.

Interesting ideas

Tip: To make a lake, use a piece of clear polyethylene or organza and place the fish underneath. For grass, a fleecy fabric of a matching color is suitable.

Educational mat with houses, butterflies and toys

Securing elements to the mat

According to the sketch you came up with, place the finished elements on the rug. Sew buttons, laces and Velcro, secure toys, place game characters in places. Close the clasps and lace up the pockets. Complete each developmental composition according to the sketch you created.

Important! Check the reliability of fastening of small parts, the strength of cords and threads with beads, the integrity of loops and boxes!

An original idea for a developmental mat for a baby

Developmental activities with a mat

Did you know: children who are regularly tutored are, by the age of two, ahead of their peers in development, and their vocabulary is 300 words higher.

The idea of ​​a beautiful educational mat

Having spent a little time making a developmental mat, you will use it for your child's development for several years. You will always find something to keep your baby busy and something to play with him. A bright and colorful rug will decorate a child's room and become a favorite place to play. Made with love by your hands, it will bring your son or daughter a lot of joy and leave warm memories for a lifetime.

Developmental mat for babies

DIY educational mat for children from 0 to 3 years old 39 photo ideas:

Material (bright cotton fabric in several colors),
- foam rubber,
- threads,
- sewing machine,
- applications,
- filler for hanging toys,
- safety mirror for the baby,
- foam rope,
- finishing materials (braid, bells, bells, rattles, rings for cutting, Velcro, zippers).

Instructions for sewing a developmental mat

1. Decide on the size of the rug. It will depend on the available space (not every mother will be able to allocate an area of ​​2x2 m in an ordinary apartment) and content. Basically, the sizes of developmental mats vary from 1x1 m to 1.5x1.5 m.


2. Draw a sketch of the rug. It’s better to immediately think about the color scheme and complementary details. Maybe your developmental mat will be divided into developmental zones or will be a transforming mat.


3. Calculate how much fabric you will need for the main fabric and additional parts (sewn on, attached with Velcro, buttons, snaps, etc.). The underside of the rug can be made of smooth, non-staining fabric or even oilcloth. In the latter case, it will be easy to wipe with a damp sponge. The main part of the rug should be made of natural, safe, bright fabrics of different textures. It can be flannel, velvet, fleece, silk fabrics. It is important that the fabrics do not fade, otherwise your rug will look pale after the first wash))


4. Select accessories. All accessories for a developmental mat must meet safety requirements. It is better to take beads unpainted; they should not be fragile, because a child can try them “by tooth.” Look for plastic tractor zippers, not metal ones. Choose larger pull tabs on the zippers (it will be easier for small fingers to remove them). It is possible that you will have to purchase some additional details: rattles, a mirror separately. All finished appliqués (even those with adhesive) will need to be sewn on.


5. Rug filler. You can use padding polyester as a filler for a rug, but then you will have to quilt it with the main fabric (when washed, non-quilted padding polyester tends to bunch up). It’s easier to choose thin foam rubber for the filler. It will keep its shape better.


6. Cut out the fabric. Baste and stitch the main pieces of the top of the rug. Sew all the additional details into the right places. Sew securely, kids manage to tear off even what an adult can’t do, so don’t skimp on threads.


7. Assemble the top and bottom parts of the development mat and place the padding polyester (foam rubber) inside.


8. Sew up the edge. Your mat is ready.

Addition:

If you can later hang the rug on the wall or want to attach it to the crib frame, then at the assembly stage, think about and sew loops to one side of the rug. If you want to make soft arcs on the rug for hanging toys, then you can use either halves of a children's plastic hoop or pipe insulation made of Porylex (a material similar to foam rubber in the form of a hose).

Ideas for educational elements on the mat

Clouds. It can be white or dark fabrics of any texture (fur, chintz, satin, shaggy fabric, etc.) Clouds can be attached with Velcro and block the sun. The clouds may have a pocket from which rain streams (strings with beads or sparkles) can be removed. You can sew rustling plastic bags inside the clouds.

Sun. Made from any bright fabric, trimmed with fringe or satin ribbons. The rays can be with Velcro, sewn on or equipped with buttons.

Rainbow.It is easy to organize a rainbow by sewing multi-colored satin ribbons in a row.

House.Door with lace. Inside there is a pocket where you can place character figures (Masha, bear, bunny, fox, cockerel, etc.).

Engine(ship, etc.). It is attached on a loop to the braid and moves along it. It can also accommodate passengers.

Trees(palm trees, apple trees, fir trees, etc.). There may be removable leaves or fruits (apples, cones, nuts). You can make several different trees and teach the child to relate the tree to the fruit. Mushrooms, forest dwellers, gnomes or woodland creatures can hide under the trees (what you like, it all depends on your imagination).

Flower.The stem is usually sewn on, but the petals are attached at one end (like a chamomile). The center of the flower can be a pocket in which a bee (butterfly, caterpillar, beetle, etc.) “lives” on an elastic band.

Garden(beds). The beds can be made from braid on which you can attach vegetables (a bed with carrots, a bed with cabbage, onions, etc.) or in the form of pockets.

Lake(any body of water).

For very young children, you can sew a thick transparent film, behind which flat parts (fish, pebbles, snails) will be placed. Small flat pieces are not so easy to move, and this is the basis of the game - to move the fish or the snail or the seahorse.

You can come up with any themes for your rug and use your creative imagination to create something truly original and unique.
This rug will not only be remembered by you, but will also be your child’s favorite toy.

Well, rug options

Every caring parent should know how to help their child improve. For example, he can make a developmental mat for him with his own hands. This children's carpet is not only playful, but also useful in terms of improving the child's intellectual abilities. You can sew many such rugs. The best ideas for such work are described in this article.

The developmental mat can be used even for newborns. From 0 to one year, it can be a lying-crawling mat; it can be assembled from bright scraps, colored appliqués, tactile paths for fingers can be made to develop fine motor skills. For older kids, you can place figures of animals and insects, leaves and flowers, and letters on it. Such a rug will become not only a useful toy, but also a decoration for a child’s room and a convenient accessory for walking. You can easily find patterns on the Internet.

A developmental mat is useful in improving a child’s intellectual abilities

Child psychologists believe that such a product must be present in the house where the baby lives. There are many reasons for this, the main one is that such a carpet helps a small child develop tactile sensations.

You can find an educational rug in a children's store or make it yourself for your children. In addition, there are quite a lot of ideas for such works. Here are some of them:

• Didactic children's carpet.
• Sensory children's carpet.
• Pompom flooring.
• Puzzle mat.
• Mosaic rug, etc.

One of the components of a happy child is his development. Well, who, other than parents, is most interested in their child growing and developing? The key to parental love is care. It is the caring parent who must ensure that his child develops harmoniously.

By making a developmental mat for a child, a parent will help him with this.

Gallery: DIY educational mat (25 photos)

How to make an educational mat with your own hands (video)

Why is it needed?

Specialists such as pediatricians and child psychologists have not yet agreed on the single functional purpose of such children's carpets. However, they all believe that their use at home has a beneficial effect on both the cognitive and mental properties of the baby’s personality.

In order for such a product to really help the baby develop, it is important that he devotes quite a lot of the time he allocates for play activities to the mat. However, parents should make sure that their child does not give preference exclusively to the carpet among all his toys. It is important to follow this rule, because otherwise, the child may grow up to be a pronounced introvert. This means that he will be fixated exclusively on his own inner world.

In order for such a product to really help the baby develop, it is important that he devotes quite a lot of the time he allocates for play activities to the mat

There is no need to hope that such a rug will replace the baby’s parents. However, it can make their task much easier. For example, while the baby’s mother is preparing food, her child will be busy playing with a developmental mat. It is especially useful for kindergarten teachers.

Therefore, answering the question: “Is it necessary to use such a rug?”, one can answer unequivocally, yes, it is necessary.

How to sew a developmental mat with your own hands for kindergarten?

Such a rug will not only bring practical benefits to children, but will also decorate the nursery.

You need to do it like this:

1. For this work you will need cotton fabric. It is better to use fabric of different colors. Small pieces are cut out and sewn together. It is recommended to use a sewing machine. The shape of the carpet should resemble a cover.
2. Then pieces of drape are cut out. The drape is inserted into a sewn cover.
3. This method of creating a rug must use many buttons of different colors and different sizes. Button “islands” will be created. For example, on the bottom left side of the product you need to embroider a butterfly with buttons. To do this, you need to draw its silhouette on the fabric with a pencil in advance.
4. A little to the right you can embroider a hedgehog, and below - a house.
5. Make each item a different size and color to help young children identify it more easily.

Such a rug will not only bring practical benefits to children, but will also decorate the nursery.

Advice: all objects on such a product should be depicted as positive, for example, a hedgehog needs to embroider a smile with red thread.

Sensory developmental mat for baby

A child’s sensory perception is formed at the moment of his contact with sensory objects. Therefore, creating such a carpet will be of great practical value for a small child.

Master Class:

1. You will need a lot of fabric scraps to sew individual elements. It is also worth considering the fabric surface, which will become the basis of the product. Cotton fabric is perfect.
2. You need to prepare two square pieces of fabric of the same color and sew them. The seam should be on the wrong side.
3. Then you should think about what elements will be on the rug. It could be a Christmas tree, a hedgehog, a strawberry, a lion, a penguin, etc. To sew each of these elements you need to select a fabric of the appropriate color. Each of the parts should be large enough so that the baby can see it well.

A child’s sensory perception is formed at the moment of his contact with sensory objects

How to make a teaching mat?

From childhood, young children should be able to establish simple cause-and-effect relationships. A teaching mat is the best assistant in this matter. It is important to do it in such a way that the child can follow the logical chain.

So, the way to create such a product:

1. You need to prepare a base carpet. A fabric folded in half and stitched in this way is suitable as a base. It is important that the seam is on the wrong side.
2. Now we need to do some didactic design to turn an ordinary rug into a developmental one.
3. You need to sew a house from several pieces of fabric. It should be as simple as possible, consisting of a square base, a triangular roof, two rectangular windows and a door.
4. All elements are sewn into the rug by hand. It is recommended to use thread that matches the fabric. The stitches should not be too large.
5. Now you need to sew a road going from the house somewhere, for example, to the kindergarten. The road should be curved.
6. Next, another road is made, leading to another object, for example, to a store. You need to make the elements in such a way that the baby understands exactly what they mean. For example, if a hospital is depicted, then a house with a red cross in the center is made.

Young children should be able to establish simple cause-and-effect relationships from childhood

Tip: It will be difficult for a child to independently identify all the objects on such a developmental mat, so it is important that parents explain to him all the symbols.

• The detailing should be not too large, but not too small. Each element must be clear so that the baby can clearly see what exactly is depicted in front of him.
• Bright details should be smaller than dark or dull ones. A flashy color scheme will not please your baby. Therefore, if the rug is too bright, the child will quickly get tired of playing with it. It's all about the excessive strain on his eyes.
• If a child walks around the house on stilts, it is better to remove the rug from the floor, since if he runs over it, he can tear off some parts, for example, buttons. Also, the baby may fall, catching on the edge of the carpet.

If there are many elements on the rug, they are bright and musical, then the child will not get bored with playing with them for a long time. You can make such a useful toy for your baby with your own hands. On the one hand, this will help you save money, but on the other hand, who, if not a mother, knows what will be interesting and exciting for her child? A homemade educational mat for children has several advantages over a purchased one:

• you know exactly what materials the toy is made of;
• the number of game elements is limited only by your imagination;
• the size of the hand-made rug will be as convenient for you;
• The developmental mat will be maximally adapted to your baby.

For a child up to nine months old, it will be interesting fun to study various details by touch. With an older child, you can play “travel”, while the toys will walk around the houses and clearings that are depicted on the rug. They can “swim” in the lake, hide in a train, and lie down in a crib.

A children's educational mat should contain elements that will help the child master the world around him. It could be different vegetables and fruits, trees and flowers, sun and clouds, a lake with a boat or a railway with a train. A handmade rug can also have a musical element: a bell needs to be sewn into one of the details for this.

Where to start making a developmental mat for a child

Even if you have never sewn anything, try making an educational rug for children with your own hands. You'll see, you'll like the process. And the result will definitely interest your baby.

Let's take a closer look at creating an educational rug for children using the appliqué technique. Almost all materials can be found at home. The only thing you will need to go to the store for is the base for the rug, onto which we will sew all the appliqué elements. So, to create a developmental mat for a baby with our own hands, we need:

1. two large pieces of dense natural fabric;
2. a piece of filler of the same size (you can use padding polyester or foam rubber);
3. beads of different sizes, preferably wooden ones;
4. scraps of fabric of different textures, small pieces of leather;
5. buttons of different colors and sizes;
6. pieces of elastic thread;
7. Velcro tape;
8. zippers;
9. and everything else that your imagination tells you.

You can use small soft toys, crocheted beads, and applique toys. By the way, if you know how to crochet, make flower petals, a cute bee, a fish or a mushroom cap out of threads.

How to make a developmental mat useful for your baby

First of all, we need the mat itself. To do this, we sew together two large flaps and insert padding polyester or foam rubber inside (depending on what you bought). The base is ready. Now let's choose a plot for the rug. For example, it could be a “map of the area” with various elements - a house, a lake with a sailboat, flowers, trees, a train. Above this whole picture you can place the sky with clouds and the sun at the top.

Here are some examples of wonderful DIY educational rugs.

You can draw a sketch of the product on paper, and only then cut it out. You can knit or otherwise make parts that will be interesting to the child. Next, let's look at examples of applique elements for a rug.

Element for the rug “Ladybug”

For such a detail we need small patches of red, black and white, as well as a zipper. For the eyes and antennae you will need several beads. You can hide another toy inside such a ladybug. This is a great visual aid for your child to learn how to fasten and unzip a zipper.

"Ship"

Make the deck of such a ship in the form of pockets. Then you can “put” toys in the boat. For the applique you need: a piece of white fabric for the sail and a colored piece for the deck. Sew the sail only along the center line so that the baby can bend it back, look and find out what is behind it. And hide the image of a small fish behind the sail.

"Fly agaric mushroom"

You will need a few white buttons, a piece of red and white fabric, a piece of green fringe to imitate grass, and a piece of lace. The mushroom cap can be crocheted. Beads, beads or a rustling plastic bag are suitable as a filler for fly agaric.

"House"

For the house you need several scraps of fabric and Velcro (or buttons). You can accommodate a cheerful resident in it. The front wall of the house will open and the baby will be able to look inside. Make the resident with Velcro. Then it can be “relocated” to any place on the rug. And make the opening wall with buttons. This will be an additional “trainer” for the child.

"Teddy bear in the crib"

A resident of the house could also be this wonderful velcro bear. He can be put to sleep in his crib. It will be doubly interesting for a child if he can open the house and then “wake up” the bear by taking it out of the crib. Instead of a bear, you can use any other character, even some small soft toy.

"Garden with vegetables"

Using this application you can learn the names of vegetables. The elements are cut out from felt scraps. We will attach them to the dark base of the garden using Velcro. Then the child will be able to tear off the vegetables and change their places.

"Locomotive"

We make train wheels from buttons. It's better when they are different sizes and colors. Then it will be more interesting for the baby. The trailers are in the form of pockets so that toys can “travel” in them. You can put any character in the driver's cab; it is advisable to leave a slot at the top so that it is easy to change him.

"Berry"

This is a musical element. You need to sew a small container into the berry, for example, from an old Kinder Surprise toy. You can hide jewelry bells in this container. Or add beads. But the bells will sound brighter. You can secure the berry with a loop so that the baby can pull it in different directions and hear a musical sound. The berry itself can be crocheted or covered with pink fabric.

"The flower that dives into a cloud"

A flower is an element that is attached with braid. Thanks to its mobility, the flower can hide in a cloud and appear back. A cloud and a flower are easy to make from felt.

"Bee in a Tulip"

The Bee is also a musical element, just like “Berry”. It is made according to the same principle and is attached with a stretchy elastic band. The bee can be hidden in a tulip and taken out from there. In the photo, the toy is made using a crochet hook, but you can sew a striped worker from yellow and black scraps. And instead of a bee, a butterfly looks great in a flower.

What else interesting things can you do with a developmental mat?

The number of play elements for the rug is unlimited. Come up with a hedgehog that will carry apples and mushrooms using Velcro, attach the elements with buttons so that the child can independently change their places. You can sew beepers into some applications, and when you press them, interesting sounds will be heard. You can make several caterpillars from beads in different places on your homemade rug. Hide the rain in clouds with sewn lightning. And the rain is low blue beads that can be pulled out of the cloud at any time.

A musical rug for the youngest children (from 6 to 9 months) is made using arcs to which various rattles, rustles and squeaks are attached. You can also hang it on the arches using a long mount and your favorite teether. The child will lie on his back and reach for toys, hear interesting sounds and see bright colors. Also, the baby can hold on to the arches and try to rise, leaning on them. The basis for the toy is a small soft rug, because the baby cannot yet actively move.

For older children, larger rugs are needed. After all, the child grows, begins to crawl and more actively explore the world around him. The more different elements on the rug, the better for the baby. Parts that come loose or are removed can be replaced with new ones over time. If the applications are bright, then with their help the child will be able to learn colors. The main thing is not to forget that all elements must be safe for the baby.

Finally

Creating something new is always a pleasant and exciting process. And if this is a toy for children that you want to make with your own hands, then the result of such a process will delight your child for a long time. Therefore, we wish you good luck and inspiration!