Today I wanted to share with you a little about activity mats. Many years ago I followed a lady on Instagram (she has since left and I can't remember her exact handle) who inspired me so much. She was always posting so many beautiful hand made activities and had the absolute best vintage book and toy collection I have ever seen. If you know me in real life, you know how much old antiques bring me joy. But I digress. She put together some of the absolute best hands on, play based learning activities for her kids, including these fun themed mats that they would spend their day playing and learning with. She inspired me to start putting together activity mats for my own kids and we have absolutely loved using them for the last 5-6 years.
What Is An Activity Mat?
Activity Mats To Play, Learn, & Grow
Activity mats are simply a mat that contains hands-on activities themed around a given theme or idea. There are no set rules on how to put together an activity mat, besides to have fun with it and make it hands on and play based. I often include activities for both of my children on one mat, while sometimes I make them their own separate mat with activities for their own level. You can include a craft, activities that include manipulatives, activities that you print out from online, books…you are free to include anything you want with what you have available to you. I have done numerous activity mats over the years and each time I include different activities. I love adding premade activities from my Preschool Curriculum to the mats for easy and quick prep!
What Do I Need To Put An Activity Mat Together?
Besides some basic art supplies and any manipulatives or extras you want to include, all you need is a large paper roll. We have used both brown and white kraft paper over the years. Both work great, but I much prefer the aesthetic of white. The rolls come in many different widths. I have used a variety of different sizes over the years.
When Can I Use Activity Mats?
There is no limit to when you can put together an activity mat and use it with your kids. We love to use them on our Fun Fridays and often review skills we were learning that week. I love to pull them out and do them at the start of holiday learning and love to just randomly create one for us to use as our actual school that day. The best part is the kids love them and I absolutely love getting to be creative and put them together.
Be Inspired to Play & Learn
I have numerous activity mats that we have done over the years and have been working to add them to my blog. You can check out the ones we currently have posted on our Activity mats page. You can also see more at the hashtag #letsplayandlearnmats on Instagram. Be sure to follow along on Instagram and mark @letsplaylearngrow as a favorite so you don't miss out on posts.
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