DIY educational rugs for children: how to sew a rug with arcs and sides, a play rug, a double-sided rug, and a puzzle rug. DIY educational rug: elements, principles, ideas Basic requirements for hand-sewn rugs

Despite the great variety of educational rugs for children in stores, very often we cannot choose a specific model. And this is not surprising, all babies are special. But it is difficult to determine exactly what is special about them in the first weeks of life. Therefore, usually the choice either falls on all the rugs at once, or none of them suits our needs.

If you still can’t decide on the choice of rug, then know that you can create it yourself! Desire and knowledge of the basic principles of their design are enough. That's what we'll talk about next.

Basic requirements for hand-sewn rugs

Even if you already know exactly what type of rug you need, don't rush to grab a needle and fabric. It is very important not to forget that educational rugs become your baby’s main toy for a long time, a faithful companion and assistant in exploring the world. Therefore, first you should study the basic requirements for such rugs, and only then start sewing them.

Attention to detail

The best child psychologists work on the development of modern rugs and use high-tech equipment, but handmade rugs have their own number of advantages:

you choose the materials for the rug yourself and are confident in their safety,
you decide how many games and game elements will be on the mat,
you yourself determine the size of the playing field of the future rug, and it may differ greatly from the standard ones offered by global manufacturers,
your rug will be created exclusively for your baby, it will provide and take into account his characteristics and preferences, his love for certain games, as well as colors.

That is why most mothers still prefer to sew educational rugs for children with their own hands.

But before you start sewing such a rug, you need to remember several important requirements for the work, so as not to be disappointed with the result.

1) If you are going to develop your baby’s fine motor skills, then choose different objects that will perform this function.

The child will quickly get bored with the monotony, and he will lose interest in the game.

2) If you want the rug to last you a long time, leave some free space to add new games.

In the first days of life, the baby will play more and more interestingly with large details, images and beads, but the older he gets, the smaller and more detailed the subsequent sectors will be.

3) For the base of the rug, choose bright colors, but not flashy or glossy, so that the baby’s eyes do not get tired and the passion for playing does not disappear.

4) Consider the arrangement of sectors and game elements on the canvas so that they not only include maximum benefit as an educational game, but also fit harmoniously into the overall idea.

The field must be logically structured, otherwise the child will not see the final goal and soon his interest in the game will disappear.

Do not forget that the main purpose of the rug is the development of your baby in a playful way. And therefore it is very important that he finds it interesting, fun and educational.

To create an educational rug for children with your own hands, you will need a lot of different materials. But this does not mean that it should be full of beads, laces and chaotically stuck Velcro, which will only disturb and confuse the baby.

First, you need to think about the main theme of the rug, decide on its main tasks and functions, and then start stocking up on materials.

The first thing you need to sew a developmental rug is fabric.

It is needed both to create the base and for most of the applications that will decorate the playing field. Therefore, when selecting it, pay attention to the following:

For the wrong side, a non-slip fabric is suitable so that the rug does not slide on the floor,
For the base, a plain, dense fabric is more suitable so that it can withstand frequent use of the rug,
for decoration and appliqués, thin fabrics are suitable - chintz, calico, cotton,
for rustling elements, choose raincoat fabric, artificial silk,
for games aimed at developing tactile sensations, velvet, suede, corduroy, etc. are more suitable.

As you can see, you will need a lot of fabric to create a developmental mat.

Don’t forget about the fittings, which play an important role here:

, zippers and teach children how to fasten parts;
Rubber bands will help you hide and take out individual game elements, as well as depict natural phenomena. For example, rain or the sun peeking out from behind the clouds;
beads, sequins and colorful stones will attract attention and develop the baby’s color perception.

Look around, not only sewing accessories can help you create an educational rug. Everything will come into play:

peas, beans, millet and buckwheat - as a filler and to create rustling toys;
woolen threads - as an imitation of grass or animal hair;
bright candy wrappers - as inserts and sound effect.

And this is not the entire list of materials that may be useful to you. Each rug is unique, just like its owner. Therefore, you decide for yourself what suits you to create it.

Just don’t forget that all materials must be natural and not hazardous to the baby’s health.

Sew small details firmly, and choose the fabric wisely so that it does not fade or stain children’s palms.

We create an educational mat for children with our own hands

As we have already said, educational mats for children come in different varieties. They differ not only in size and content, but also in purpose, since they are created for the specific age of the baby. So first decide how long you want the mat to last, and only what suits you best. And we will try to figure out how to create the basis and how to complement the playing field of the most common types of children's rugs.

DIY rug with arcs

Since rugs with arches and sides are best suited for infants, it is worth making them bright.

In addition to the previously mentioned materials in the form of fabric and accessories, we will also need arcs. A gymnastic hoop or metal-plastic pipes will help us with this.

Therefore, to create a developmental rug with arcs we will need:

plain fabrics of bright colors - calico, chintz, cotton;
non-slip fabric for the back of the mat;
padding polyester;
a gymnastic hoop with an approximate diameter of 65 cm or 3-4 meters of metal-plastic pipe.

First, decide on the size of the rug itself.

The most common size of a developmental mat with arcs is considered to be 90x90 cm, but you can decide for yourself what area your baby’s playing field will be.

Mat base

Cut out a square of the required size from the main fabric for the front side of the rug and exactly the same from non-slip fabric, which will become the back side. Sew them together and turn them right side out, but leave enough opening for stuffing.

To make it soft to lie on and turn over on the rug, insert several layers of padding polyester into the resulting blank and then sew everything up.

To prevent the padding polyester inside the mat from shifting or crumpling, quilt the future mat (all layers of padding polyester and fabric), either by hand or on a sewing machine.

This is how we have created the basis for an educational rug, which can be decorated immediately or over time with toys and appliqués for your fidget.

Arcs

Now let's move on to the arcs.

If you choose a gymnastic hoop, then you first need to cut it in half to get a frame. Then the arches need to be made safer and softer. Therefore, we again take out the padding polyester and wrap it around the blanks.

When the arc is not visible under the padding polyester layer, and you consider it as soft and safe as possible for the baby, take the fabric, sew a long tube from it, turn it inside out and insert the resulting arc into it.

Connecting the arches and the base of the mat

Don't forget that the arcs up must be connected together, for this you can:

sew two laces into one of the fabric tubes, with which you will then intercept both arcs;
cut a ribbon from the main fabric with which you will tie the arcs;
take any braid or ready-made tape.

Once the base and arcs are ready, the main question remains: how to connect the two main elements together?

If you do not plan to assemble and disassemble the rug, you can sew the fabric that wraps the arcs to the corners of the rug. Your developmental mat will now be ready and ready to use.

If you plan to make it more transportable, then at the stage of sewing the base you should think about options for attaching the arches.

You can cut small pockets in the form of pipes with a diameter a couple of centimeters larger than the arc, and sew them to the corners of the base of the rug.

Olga Volkova clearly demonstrates the process of such a connection in her master class:

You can cut through the base of the rug at the cutting stage, overcast the resulting loops and sew Velcro on the back side. Attach its second part to the finished arc and insert it into the loop. This is exactly what Lyubov Lozinskaya suggests doing, sharing the tricks of creating a mobile and bright educational rug in her master class on creating a children's rug.

If you plan to use the developmental mat after the baby learns to walk, then the arcs can be assembled separately from the playing field.

To do this, you just need to cut them to the required length, wrap them with padding polyester and cover them with fabric, and then form an arc by pulling the ends of one pipe between each other with tape. You will get a strong frame of two arcs, on which you can lay any rug of suitable size.

Calculation of pipe length for arcs

To do this, simply multiply the diagonal of the rug by the number π, equal to 3.14, and then divide the resulting result in half.

For example, you want to assemble arcs from a pipe for a rug measuring 90x90 cm. They will be installed in the corners of the field, therefore, the base of our semicircle will be the starting point.

So, the diagonal of our rug will be 126 cm (90 cm x 1.4). Now we need to multiply the resulting number by 3.14 - 126cmx3.14 - to get the circumference of the intended circle, which will be equal to 395.65 cm. But since this is the length of a full circle, we need to divide it in half - 395.65 cm/2 = 197.82 cm. In total, we will need two cuts of a metal-plastic pipe with an approximate length of 198 cm. If the arc turns out to be too high, simply reduce the length of the pipe until you get a satisfactory result.

Please note that one pipe should be several centimeters longer than the other for greater stability of the structure.

DIY rug with arcs and sides

Another distinctive feature of educational mats for younger children is the presence of not only arches, but also sides so that fidgets remain in place.

As we have already said, such rugs come in several types:

with attached sides;
with sides that are part of a large rug.

Pillows, bolsters or other soft restraints can become additional sides.

If you want the rug to become your assistant for a long time, then your choice is a rug with lifting sides. After all, it has two sizes - assembled and disassembled.

To sew such a rug, you first need to create the correct pattern. To do this, decide on the size of the initial, small rug. Draw this square or rectangle on paper, and now add a rectangle on each side, the height of which will be the height of the wall. This is exactly what your foundation will be.

In places where the sides will fold, you can sew laces or ribbons. Then to assemble the rug you will only need to tie them tightly together. If you prefer Velcro or buttons, then sew them along the entire height of the side.

The process of creating such a rug can be seen more clearly in a small master class by a young mother.

DIY themed or play mat

And yet, the most popular among educational rugs for children are play mats. After all, they have so many interesting and fun things to do!

The base of such a rug can be sewn in different ways:

a single piece of fabric, to which appliqués and educational toys will then be sewn;
separate sections that will be connected, increasing the rug in size over time.

But in any case you will need:

several large pieces of fabric;
synthetic winterizer or foam rubber as a sealant;
scraps of bright fabric of different textures;
buttons, beads and other accessories;
locks, Velcro and elastic, etc.

First, decide on a sketch of your future rug:

consider the size of the finished product and whether you will sew it from scraps or from a solid cut;
think over the location of the games and the logical transition between them;
come up with a plot for the rug.

It is very important that everything that happens on the mat has meaning and pattern. Do not try to place games with bees and hedgehogs in the middle of the sea - this will only confuse the child.

The choice of rug type can also be an excellent clue. You can sew:

In any case, you will need a base sewn from two pieces of fabric and layered with filler to make the mat as safe as possible for playing.

Afterwards you can sew game elements to it in the order you require.

If you have chosen a map of the area as your subject - a forest, a highway or a park - then you can divide the field into sky and earth. At the bottom place trees, a road, small animals or houses, at the top you will have room for clouds, sun, birds and airplanes.

Don’t limit your imagination, you can always add a new object to the rug by simply sewing it on or swapping it with another one.

Use Velcro, buttons and zippers to connect toys. So an airplane can fly in the sky, attached to a zipper slider, in a house, windows can open and close with a button, and a hedgehog hiding under a bush can pick apples or berries, which are attached to it with Velcro.

Cute soft hedgehog

When creating educational rugs for children with your own hands, be sure to pay attention to the variety of types of toys:

sew or knit noisy objects - pour buckwheat or beads into a chocolate egg capsule, tie it or cover it with fabric, giving the toy the image of a bee, butterfly or rabbit;
use felt for flat appliqués that will move across the playing field and be attached with Velcro, snaps or buttons;
provide pockets with zippers in which there will be;
Sew appliqués with a candy wrapper inside into separate sections of the rug; such rustling noise will not go unnoticed by the little fidget.

Collection of toys for the rug

If you have not yet decided on the plot or are not confident in your abilities, then take a look at the video master class by Handmade Tailor. Here you will be inspired to create a simple play mat with different elements and principles for attaching toys.

If you doubt your seamstress skills, then you can use the excellent idea of Svetlana Rost, who suggests creating an educational rug based on pillows for stools. This way you can increase or decrease the size of the playing field, swap games and tasks, or even temporarily remove those that your baby is already tired of.

Double-sided developmental mat

Practical parents prefer double-sided rugs that contain two playing fields. This way they will provide their baby with something to do for a long time and save the family budget.

But when creating such educational rugs with your own hands, keep in mind that the baby will move around on it and nothing should interfere with him. Therefore, you should avoid bulky and hard objects that can cause unnecessary abrasions and bruises.

As with play mats, first you need:

come up with a plot;
draw a sketch and map;
prepare materials.

Afterwards, you sew all the game objects and Velcro onto the prepared playing fields and sew them together using the quilting sandwich principle - fold the playing field, apply the padding polyester to the wrong side and place the second playing field, the wrong side to the filler. Sew the resulting sandwich together, sewing tape along the edge.

For playing on such a developmental mat, the most suitable toys are made of felt, which can be rearranged, shifted or used for both sides.

Puzzle mat or puzzle mat

If your baby is already old enough and independent, then he will like the idea of assembling his own rug. The process of folding itself will become an excellent game for him and a test of logic, spatial thinking, as well as the relationship of shapes to each other. This is exactly why puzzle mats or puzzle mats were invented.

Big puzzle for a little man

Most often, such mats are made of PVC, i.e. It will be difficult to reproduce their production at home. But handicraft mothers found a way out and began sewing puzzle rugs in the form of many soft pillows that can be easily connected to each other.

To create these educational mats with your own hands you will need:

fabric - felt, fleece or cotton are best;
filler;
pattern.

First, think about how many pillows you want to sew and what shape they will be. Draw the assembled puzzle and cut out each piece separately - this will be your pattern. Then simply transfer it to the fabric - each detail should be cut out in duplicate, which will then be sewn into pillows.

Fill the pillows tightly with padding polyester or any other filling, sew up the hole and you can give the finished rug to your child to play with. He will decide for himself how to collect it and what to do with it next.

To add another element of play and test the child's logic, you can sew an applique to the pillows in the form of a labyrinth or a road, which will need to be connected in the correct order.

Eclerka and her detailed master class will help you understand the process of creating a puzzle rug in more detail, in which she shares the intricacies of cutting and sewing pillows.

As you can see, in order to give your child full development and help him understand the world, you don’t have to run to the store and buy everything from its shelves. Sometimes it is enough to show imagination and ingenuity, and also to give him your love by creating a comfortable, useful and interesting educational rug. And what it will be like and what it will teach your baby is up to you to decide.

Many mothers (and you, I think, too) are concerned about the question: how to fully develop a child? After all, everyone is talking about the importance of developing fine motor skills; you can read about it in any book and on any forum about children. And this is not surprising, because it has been established that the development of fine motor skills directly affects the overall development of the child’s brain.

In this article I want to talk about a wonderful toy that will provide invaluable assistance in developing the motor skills of children's fingers - this is a developmental mat. There is a whole expanse on the baby rug: you can touch, wrinkle, pull, unfasten, twist. Fingers are constantly at work, constantly gaining new tactile experiences. There are zippers and Velcro and everything that is so interesting for kids.

I propose to make a developmental mat with your own hands and below I will give several reasons why this is worth doing. Well, if you have already decided to sew this educational toy and are now looking for interesting ideas for making it, then this article is definitely for you. Here you will find various design ideas, and also find out what developmental elements can be used to make it interesting for your child to learn new motor skills. I will tell you about all the elements using the example of an educational rug that I sewed for my daughter.

What are the advantages of a homemade educational mat?

In this case, it will meet all your wishes and will take into account all the interests and needs of your child.
You save money. You will most likely sew most of the parts for the rug from scraps of fabric you have, old buttons and other accessories. But, of course, you will have to buy something in addition, mainly appliqués for decoration and missing small details. In any case, such a children's educational mat will cost you less than one purchased in a store.
The process of making a rug will probably seem very exciting to you; it will use all your imagination.

What will you need?

First you need to choose the fabric for the base. It should be thick fabric, preferably plain. Fleece, thin drape, quilted lining material with synthetic padding, and even a children's flannel blanket are good options. Try to choose a natural fabric for the base, because the child will be on the mat for a long time. The size of the product will depend on the ideas that you plan to implement on it. For my daughter, I sewed a rug measuring 1x1 meter.

For the wrong side, for reasons of economy, you can take a simpler fabric, it could even be chintz.

It will be great if you use filler (sintepon), it will give the rug some rigidity, and when the child pulls the lace that interests him, the rug will keep its shape and will not bunch up.

The following elements can be sewn onto an educational mat for children:

buttons of different colors and sizes;
lightning;
Velcro;
hooks;
caps from plastic bottles (along with necks);
belt with buckle;
pockets with and without fasteners (buttons or Velcro);
ribbons, laces, ribbons, large buttons can be attached to them;
pillows with different fillings (cereals, beans, rustling plastic bags, candy wrappers);
rattling and musical elements from old toys.

Ideas for decorating a rug

It will be interesting for your baby to play with the rug, even if you just sew all these accessories in a chaotic order. But if you still decorate it in an interesting way, stitch on a lot of appliques, add surprises waiting for the baby under the locks and in numerous pockets, the child will simply not be able to tear him away.

It would be good if the appliqués were not just chaotically sewn onto the fabric, but somehow connected with each other, united by a single design. Here are some design ideas:

Design idea No. 1. The most commonplace plot (which is represented on my rug) is a small landscape with the image of the sun and clouds in the upper part, and in the lower part - houses, trees, roads, cars, etc.

Design idea No. 2. You can make a rug in the form of a roadway, where there will be houses, cars, traffic lights, gas stations, garages; such a rug will also be interesting to drive cars on.

Design idea No. 3. You can make a rug on the theme “Seasons”; for this, the base fabric will need to be roughly divided into 4 parts and appropriate appliqués made in each of them.

Design idea No. 4. Similarly, you can expand on the theme “Weather”: in one part it’s cloudy and raining, in another the sun is shining and the grass is green, in the third everything is white with snow.

Design idea No. 5. The rug can also represent one large house or a castle with many windows and doors.

So, what developmental elements can you sew onto a rug:

Sun. Buttons are sewn onto the sun as eyes and nose. The rays are made of ribbons that are attached to only one edge. Some ribbons have buttons on them. Looking at the sun and feeling the buttons, the baby will remember where his eyes, nose, mouth, and rays are.

Cloud #1. There is a rustling plastic bag sewn inside the cloud. When Taisiya and I rustle a cloud, we say that since it is making noise, it means it will rain soon.

Cloud No. 2. In this cloud, rain can not only gather, but also begin for real. In order to see the rain, the baby will have to unzip the zipper and take out the ribbons from the cloud. If you want sunny weather, fold the ribbons back and fasten the clasp.

Little house. A window and a door open in the house. The window is locked with a button, the door with a hook. If the baby manages the locks, he will see who is hiding inside. Such surprises are very attractive to kids and motivate them to play around with the tricky clasps.

Tree.“Apples” are attached to the tree using Velcro. Each “apple” has its own filling: beans, rice, paper candy wrappers, etc. “Apples” can not only be picked from the tree and hung again. You can also put them somewhere. For this purpose, you can sew a basket-shaped pocket nearby. We put our “apples” in the train trailers.

Car, road and mountain. Children also really like moving elements. We have a car moving on the rug. There is a thin black ribbon stretched from the house to the mountain along which the car can be moved. Thus, it turns out that our car drives away from the house, passes along the road behind a tree, then drives over the mountain and disappears there.

Steam locomotive carriages. The trailers are pockets. Each pocket hides a character. To prevent the inserted toy from getting lost, it is advisable to attach it to the mat with a ribbon.

Steam locomotive. Caps from plastic bottles along with necks are sewn in as locomotive wheels. If you use lids of different sizes, it will be more interesting, and you can also reinforce the concepts of “big-small”. Under each lid there is a surprise - a small applique with the image of an animal.

Bridge and river. The bridge over the river is made from part of a belt with a buckle on it. Thanks to this bridge, the child will develop another useful skill - unfastening and fastening seat belts. And, as usual, to the delight of the baby, a surprise awaits him under the bridge - a fish.

Christmas tree. If your child wants to decorate the Christmas tree with garlands, he will need to handle the lacing. And if you bend the branches of the Christmas tree, you can see a hedgehog hiding there.

After the main part of the work on the rug is completed, sew the fabric on the wrong side.

Always remember that the baby will not spare your creation, he will use it to its full potential. Therefore, try to sew all the elements of the rug as tightly as possible to avoid tearing off small parts. It is advisable to finish the edges of the appliqués with an overcast stitch to prevent them from crumbling.

In my experience, a developmental mat becomes truly interesting for a child from about 1 year of age and does not lose its relevance for a very long time. The baby will gradually master the elements of the rug. At first, he will only feel and examine, watching with curiosity how you unbutton and fasten the clasps before his eyes, but he will soon understand that he himself can unscrew and unfasten something. Already at the age of 1 year 3 months, a child will most likely learn to cope with Velcro and zippers. In our house, an educational rug is one of the most “long-lasting” games; it is clearly not a toy that is played for at most 2 evenings. My daughter takes out the rug from time to time and enthusiastically plays on it to this day.

I wish you success and interesting ideas in making your own educational mat! And be sure to tell us about your ideas! I think they will be useful to many mothers.

Sewing a developmental mat with your own hands can be a very pleasant and exciting activity for a mother during pregnancy or in the first months after the birth of the baby.

Of course, you can simply buy a rug, but by making it yourself, you not only save, but also invest your soul in the development of your baby.

It can be very simple, but contain different elements for understanding the world around you, or you will put a lot of effort and imagination into creating it - it all depends on your desire.

In this article, we have collected the basic principles for creating elements of a developmental mat and ideas for using improvised means for the development of a child.

As a rule, such a mat is used for babies from 1-2 months. The child is placed there on his back (if the mat has curves) or on his tummy. The main requirement for a rug is that it should be warm and cozy and have many different textured elements that the baby can touch, kick, catch, press, and put in his mouth.

The woven material and elements should be varied to the touch - smooth, rough, fur, fleecy, cold, with pimples, etc.

General idea and materials

First, come up with a general idea– color scheme, mood. Will the rug depict a whole story, or represent various phenomena (elements, seasons), or will it simply be sewn from squares or triangles of different fabrics? Draw a sketch.

The colors should not be very flashy, but also not too pale. A small child can only distinguish contrasting colors well, so sewing the entire rug in different shades of pink is a bad idea. And fabrics and various elements should not pose a danger to the baby.

Think about what you have- scraps of fabric, buttons, ribbons, fringe, braid, zippers, Velcro, appliques, images of animals on fabric, something instead of an arc. Everything can become elements of a developmental rug, the main thing is to sew it securely.

And do not forget that the rug will need to be washed, so the fabrics and all elements must withstand washing, or be attached in such a way that they can be removed before washing.

To sew a developmental mat with your own hands, we suggest using an old blanket or padding polyester as a base to make the baby warm and soft. The blanket can be square 1x1 m or 1.5x1.5 m, or any other shape and size.

You will cover the blanket with the main material with already sewn elements in the form of some kind of pattern, or sew the outer surface of the rug using the patchwork technique from pieces of fabric of various textures and colors.

Arcs for a developmental mat can be made from a hoop, which is cut to length depending on the size of the mat. How to attach them is clearly shown in the video at the end of the article. The arcs are covered with fabric, then you can hang toys on them - store-bought or homemade (for example,).

There is another option than replacing the arcs for the rug:

Design themes and elements of the educational rug

The design of the rug can be dedicated to the theme of animals, flowers, fruits, fairy tales. It could be some kind of story or a town with houses, cars, a river and trees. Try dividing the playing surface of the rug into sectors dedicated to the seasons, time of day or elements - water, earth, air, etc.

If you just sew a rug from different fabrics, then take a variety of colors and textures, polka dot and striped prints. Fabrics with patterns are also available, you can choose a suitable theme and sew everything from one fabric, the main thing is that it washes well.

Sew rustling polyethylene or candy wrappers into some game elements. Use satin, tulle, faux fur to develop your baby's sensory skills.

Let some elements be convex and soft; fill them with padding polyester or holofiber. Sew different buttons tightly, you can make a pattern out of them, use buttons of different shapes.

Rain or rays of the sun can be depicted using fringe, or sew on multi-colored ribbons in the shape of a rainbow. Somewhere you can sew in lacing and a zipper so that the child can practice his fine motor skills and learn how to use them when he grows up.

Let some elements of the rug be attached with Velcro - for example, this is how doors in a house can open and close. Hide some surprises in your pockets; your baby will be interested in how they are hidden and found again. Sew some toys with elastic bands into the pocket.

Come up with sound effects. In addition to the rustling candy wrappers sewn into the elements of the rug, you can hang a bell or musical toys on the arcs. Try taking out a music block from old toys and sewing it into a rug.

And now a video that will clearly show how, from a technical point of view, to make a developmental mat with arcs with your own hands, how to make and attach toys:

An educational mat has come into use relatively recently and has already gained wide popularity: in caring for a child and raising him at an early age, he can replace a whole set of things and at the same time practically does not take up the usable space of the home. Accordingly, the prices for these items are clearly inflated, so there are more than enough people who want to make a developmental mat from scratch with their own hands, especially since at home this is quite possible and does not require any significant costs.

However, if you look at the well-known manuals for making educational rugs, they boil down mainly to instructions on what material to use, how to cut, stitch, stuff, etc. As for the rest, it’s something like “parents can show their imagination and express their individuality.” My? But a rug should help a child develop a personality, and for adults it is what it is. Then, mom, most likely, already knows how to sew, since she looks at sites for needlewomen, and not shopping catalogues. In this publication, we will try, first of all, to give readers an idea of which educational mat for children will be better in which case and how to make it based on the characteristics of child psychology. Although cutting and sewing will not be left aside either.

Technologically, most developmental rugs are equivalent to a quilted blanket, although other design options are possible, see below. The actual developing elements in it are various kinds of applications, pockets, flaps, voluminous soft linings. How to combine all this into a single product, see for example. Master Class:

Video master class: DIY educational mat

And we will try to figure out how to come up with a composition that is useful for the baby and entertaining for him. More precisely, what framework should be followed when fantasizing about a future homemade educational mat.

Note: When reading further about the composition of the rug in the master class, questions may arise, which we will talk about later.

From 0 to 7

Let us briefly recall the main stages of development of young children. Just keep in mind that the age limits indicated are arbitrary; individually they can vary significantly. So:

0-6 months- foolish. The sensations are almost completely organic (“internal”, dictated by the state of the body). The basics of vision are formed: clear vision (the gaze becomes meaningful), adaptation to lighting. Feedback from the outside world is instinctive: screaming, smiling, undirected movements.
0.5-1 year- a slider, learns to recognize information from the senses and manage it, making still uncertain movements. From about a year old, he will already benefit from educational toys and objects, incl. mat, giving tactile and visual sensations. Color vision is still imperfect, the blue range is perceived as dark and with poorly distinguishable subtle shades, and red and yellow tones are perceived as overly bright, “blazing.”
1-3 years– a walker, the child learns to control his limbs and make purposeful movements. In vision, blue tones gradually gain “juice” and warm tones fade. The “rangefinder” of binocular vision is gaining accuracy, but its geometry is still distorted: objects seem huge and plump. At the age of 2-3 years, a child needs a developmental mat with play elements. The first accurate feedback with the world appears - speech.
3-5 years– the most important “evolutionary leap”: a person begins to think, compare causes with consequences, draw basic conclusions about the causes of what is happening and forecasts for the future based on an analysis of the current situation. Motor skills, sensory organs and speech are improving, but there is no abstract thinking yet: the baby’s world is his things and the immediate surroundings, and his center is his mother. Cause-and-effect relationships are recognized as simple and immediate.
5-7 years– imaginative thinking develops. A normally developed child is already able to track 2-4 stages of cause-and-effect relationships and, accordingly, make purposeful movements from the same number of phases. Color vision is almost adult, and in all other respects the child is no longer a toddler. Following the rule of ontogenesis, this is a transition from primitive savagery to civilization: the child already understands that the world is not only what he directly perceives, but something huge, but completely knowable, transformable and usable. The rug may still be useful, but for some other purpose: it has done its job in development, it’s time to go to school.

Note: The rule, or principle, of ontogenesis in biology states that any living organism in its individual development (ontogenesis) to some extent repeats the biological history of its evolutionary ancestors (phylogeny). This rule is also true for humans. For example, in the initial stages of pregnancy, a human embryo appears... gills for some time. Then, while still in the womb, they disappear and are replaced by lungs.

Is it needed at all?

Teachers, pediatricians and child psychologists have not yet come to a consensus on whether a developmental mat is definitely beneficial for a child. There is only one thing in agreement: a developmental mat for babies is beneficial only if the mother regularly and as much of the time as possible during the child’s play activities engages with it or at least closely supervises it. Otherwise, the child’s whole world can become enclosed on the rug, and he can grow up to be an introvert, or, even worse, an autist who cannot fit organically into human society and adequately respond to life’s circumstances. Simply put: a rug will not replace a mother, although it can significantly ease her worries. If mother leaves her on the rug to develop as best she can, and she herself gets lost somewhere, then it will only get worse.

What type of mat do you need?

“They tore off the bear’s paw/Dropped the bear on the floor/I still won’t leave him/Because he’s good!” Everyone knows how tightly children become attached to their favorite toys. The basis of this effect is impenetrable: the instinct of self-preservation. The loss or damage of a familiar thing, the safety, reliability and benefits of which, from the point of view of the little one, have been verified, is a signal of some kind of danger. All the more terrible because it is unknown. That is why, and not because it will have to be altered, it is extremely advisable to make a children's developmental rug so that it becomes loved from the moment the need for it arises until its retirement - turning it into a bedside rug or just a play rug. Reincarnation is also possible for future new family members. Then it should be interesting to play on the educational mat with the youngest and for the child who is no longer small.

Successful examples of this kind of amateur creativity are presented in the photo. We’ll talk about the materials for them below, but for now let’s pay attention to:

The detailing is varied, but not too small and not very large: the little things cannot be seen properly by the slider, and the very large, uniform fields of the walker, if they do not seem clearly threatening, will not arouse sympathy;
The color scheme is not flashy, the bright details are small, so that even the smallest ones do not seem big in comparison. Elements of blue colors do not dominate the composition;
For the slider stage, there are many details with various textures - there is every opportunity to hone your sense of touch;
They also give walkers the opportunity to practice counting. Not yet consciously, but then it will be easier to understand that 1 is not 2 or 3 and that “many” can be counted as much as you like;
Pockets, flaps, ties, fasteners - we learn to move our fingers accurately;
For mental stages - zoning, implicit on the left and explicit on the right. By organizing order in our little world, we ourselves become accustomed to it.

Note: Even before the stage of objective thinking, it is possible (perhaps with the help of a child psychologist) to determine what the child’s temperament will be. In some cases this is also possible for newborns, for example. using the rules of inheritance of temperament. For choleric and melancholic people, implicit zoning is preferable, and for sanguine and phlegmatic people, explicit zoning is preferable.

About materials

It is best to make a developmental mat from natural fabrics, The hypoallergenicity of which (inability to cause allergies) has been verified: satin (for a smooth but not slippery base), felt, calico, flannel, denim. Wool is not suitable, it is an allergen. Weak, safe for adults, but children's skin is much more sensitive. For the same reason (delicate skin), silk is not suitable; it is very easily electrified and shines with highly polarized light, see below.

Modern synthetic fabrics for children's things are not inferior to natural ones, but only and only in accordance with the requirements. certificate from trusted manufacturers. If synthetics of unknown origin seem to be no worse than cotton, this does not mean anything: it can be made from cheap plastic obtained using toxic catalysts. Residues of the catalyst from fabric fibers can be released in quantities that cannot be detected by conventional laboratory analysis, but with prolonged exposure are harmful to children.

It is better to use synthetic padding as a filler, it is hypoallergenic and practically does not accumulate static electricity. Furniture foam rubber grade 35 and above is not so good; in a dry room it becomes noticeably electrified. The most ordinary batting would be perfect - but, alas, until the first wash. As for threads, the best option is propylene. They are durable, resistant, and non-allergenic. They themselves are slightly electrified, but if the entire mat is antistatic, no charge accumulation is detected.

What not to do

The above rules for constructing the composition of a children's rug give wide scope to the imagination of parents, so it is necessary to outline the boundaries that cannot be crossed. A mirror on a development mat, pos. 1 in Fig., which, by the way, is the problem with many expensive products promoted in the trade. The point is not that a child can be afraid of his reflection, far from it. The fact is that the direct light reflected from the mirror (and how to avoid it for sure?) is polarized up to 100%. This is very harmful for a fragile visual system; It is strongly not recommended to place a mirror in a nursery for large children.

Note: the volumetric details in this sample are simply an accident. No harm will come from them.

The next big mistake is using monotonous objects to feel, pos. 2. The tactile sense should develop comprehensively, like others. And at pos. 3 – too large shiny field of saturated blue. Why it’s bad – see above.

Next in Fig. There are examples of mistakes that are more or less forgivable. At pos. 4 the blue field is muted, at pos. 5 its area is relatively small. At pos. 6, the location of the cold color is actually unsuccessful, as it affects the so-called. the effect of dominance of the top, but the pale blue color significantly neutralizes it. The main mistake here is that the composition is too detailed and complex, designed for fairly developed imaginative thinking.

Note: completely abandoning the blue color scheme of a developmental rug is, of course, also bad. The child must learn to distinguish between them. Here it makes sense, in addition to choosing soft shades, to drive the blue to the center of the rug, where it will be psychologically neutral, see for example. video below.

Video: educational mat “Underwater World”

The error of the mat on pos. 7, presumably, is clear in the light of the above: this is too small and devoid of clear meaning in the detailing of the zones. How can a person who thinks in terms of “whack – hurt”, “wet – thump” understand these patterns? Also on pos. 8: The rug is clearly for a girl, but what’s what in each sector? If children, due to their still undeveloped imaginative thinking, are pragmatists, then girls are doubly pragmatic. And for the most part they remain so throughout their lives. The same flaw, of unclear meaning, is in position 8: zones of suitable size are clearly expressed, but, a purely childish question: why is there anything here? Can you explain it to yours?

The right rugs

Rugs for girls

The detailing of a developmental rug for a girl can be quite detailed, such as, for example. in the master class at the beginning. But provided that the entire composition is semantically transparent and oriented in a certain direction. If the circle of interests of the daughter is still unclear, then the zones need to be made larger, clearly defined, and the details in them should not be too small, on the left in Fig. Girls generally prefer round rugs; The range of interests for the future housewife is not an abstract concept. Successful farming requires many different interests, and in this case the round rug needs to be zoned into sectors, in the center. If the rug is rectangular, then in the middle there must be free space for the mistress of this little world, on the right; In women, the desire for autarky remains for life.

Other special rugs

For a fidgety child who is always pulled where he shouldn’t go, a rug with a soft barrier is well suited, on the left in Fig. A large children's rug can be supplemented with a separate barrier in the center. It doesn’t have to be filled with filling; a very low barrier made of pompoms will do. How to sew a children's rug from pompoms, see the video at the bottom of the section, but in the same way you can make a border on any educational rug.

Children's educational rugs with special features

A soft barrier is also psychologically gentle, unlike a playpen fence, and keeps the child in his rightful operating zone unobtrusively. Suddenly, a beloved child intends to do mischief on the side, something like this flashes in his head: “Uh-uh... Mmm-mm... Based on the analysis of the totality of operating factors, through trivial conclusions, we come to the conclusion that, in principle, unauthorized activity objectively possible, but only very likely - mom will scold you.”

For girls who are very, very economical, in the good sense of the word, a rug with large deep pockets and flaps, on the right in Fig. Being a hoarder for the same future housewife and housekeeper is not such a sin; can be as useful in life as courage is for a boy.

Video: DIY pompom rug for a child

About car mats

Educational car mats are predominantly for boys, although in modern life knowledge of traffic rules and the ability to drive vehicles are necessary for everyone. Therefore, the narrow specialization of the mat on road traffic cannot be considered its disadvantage. After all, where does it say that your favorite toy should only be one? Or that it’s impossible to sew another one, a general developmental one, for a car mat?

If a child plays with cars on a rug alone since childhood, it is advisable to make it somewhat stylized, detailed and textured, as described above, on the left in Fig. If his driving discipline is controlled by a traffic police inspector in the form of an older brother, the details are allowed to be more detailed and closer to reality, in the center. But in any case, there is no need to install a traffic light at every zebra crossing, or to leave all zebra crossings without traffic lights. It is best to depict traffic lights at 1-2 crossings, on the right there, so that you understand: a zebra is a zebra in Africa, with or without a traffic light.

Rugs with arcs

Educational rugs with arcs more than replace a playpen, without at the same time presenting obvious prohibitions in the form of its fencing:

Virtually, but unambiguously, they define the child’s own space, without at the same time creating physically insurmountable obstacles; this promotes the development of self-discipline from a very early age.
It is much easier to grasp the arches and toys suspended from them when learning to walk than the barrier of the playpen.
On a rug with arches for a child, the likelihood of flopping down on his back (which, by the way, the playpen does not prevent) is minimal.
Being already a fully qualified walker, with the help of the same toys it is convenient to do stretching exercises, poses. 1 in Fig.

Arcs for a homemade children's educational mat can be made in different ways. The most durable and inexpensive ones are made from a plastic gymnastics hoop covered with padding polyester and lined with fabric. You just need to decide how to make them foldable, so that when the need is over, you can put them away and hide them.

In industrial products of this kind, arcs are often placed crosswise and equipped with a hidden hinge, pos. 2. It is difficult to make it yourself, given the soft covering of the arches, and tying the crosshairs with a cord (item 3) or a bow is unreliable.

The easiest way would be to make the arcs tangential and tighten the joint tightly with braid or elastic, pos. 4 and 5. If the legs of the arcs are connected with a strip of plywood 3-4 mm thick, then the tent from them will be no less durable and convenient for assembly and disassembly than a hinged one. Connecting the legs of the arcs with plywood is also easy: wooden plugs are driven into their ends, and a screed strip is attached to them from the bottom with self-tapping screws. Next, visible wooden parts are sanded and painted.

In cramped living conditions or, say, when the whole family goes to the country for a long time, a developmental mat-bed with one arc can be useful. In this case, her legs are placed in pockets sewn on the outside of the sides. For the child to sleep, so that the relief of the rug does not put pressure, a mattress is placed.

About the figures for the rug

Figures for the educational rug, as already mentioned, are sewn. Patterns of several types are given in Fig. Tree, top left - simple applique. These details are sewn onto a green flap in the form of a crown. But the hippopotamus, so beloved by little ones, is already something like a textile cameo: it is made of 3 layers of identically shaped scraps of different colors. In the subsequent flaps, from bottom to top, windows are cut through which the previous or lower layer is visible. The figures from the set on the right are made in one technique or another.

So let's get started.

The dimensions of the rug are 1m by 1m.
1. Required materials:
- base fabric with a children's pattern. Calico, 2 m
- plastic hoop, diameter 90cm
- plain fabric, 4 colors (let’s call it background), 30 cm each. The ideal option is a raincoat fabric with fleece.
- padding polyester 1.5 m
- Velcro tape (Velcro) white and black
- laces, elastic bands, ribbons, fabrics of different textures, etc.
- rustling candy wrappers :))))

2. Cut the fabric- base and plain fabrics.

Those. we get:

Two pieces of base fabric: 1m by 1m and 63cm by 63cm

Two pieces of plain fabrics 21.5 cm by 1 m
- two pieces of plain fabrics 21.5 cm by 63 cm

The remains of plain fabrics are used to sew developmental elements.
This cutting is the most convenient in terms of assembling the rug, so in this master class we will consider it. I make allowances with a good margin - as much as one and a half cm, just in case.

3. Sew developmental elements onto the background.
There are several rules here (we focus on ages from 3-5 months):
- large
- contrasting
- It's clear
- reliable and safe
- ban on small details
You shouldn’t puff and overload the mat with development tools; a child at this age will not appreciate it. It’s also better to save all sorts of locks, zippers, etc. for a later age.

We take into account that children love to fiddle with strings, pull rustling leaves, ears, wings, open and close, find something that is not immediately visible, and touch different textures. Don’t forget that what we are depicting will need to be named to the child and told something.
Here, for example: House. There are flowers on the window, clothes are drying on a line nearby (we call it with an older child).

We open the rustling door (fastening is Velcro)... And it turns out that a girl lives in the house! I like to make the eyes from black Velcro, the soft half. I just cut it out and sew it tightly by hand. I sewed the second half of Velcro onto the palms - with hooks, so you can play the favorite children's game "peek-a-boo" with your palms. The girl's arms are like one cord: you pull one arm, the other becomes shorter. The hair is tightly sewn yarn.

And a girl can giggle at a frog that catches butterflies with a net))))).

And so on. Other examples of developmental elements can be found in my posts about rugs: http://happynata.blogspot.ru/2014/03 and http://happynata.blogspot.ru/2014/02

4. We assemble the front part of the rug from pieces.

First we sew the short pieces to the central part. It is imperative to maintain an allowance of exactly 1.5 cm! Now we sew on the long pieces. Same with allowance.

All developmental elements should be directed towards the center so that the child can, after twisting and turning, choose for himself what interests him or crawl from one element to another. The central part, in fact, is needed for this, to lie down and crawl comfortably, so we don’t attach anything here!

This is roughly what you should get at the end of this stage:

5. Making arcs.

We saw off two arcs from the hoop, 125 cm and 132 cm long.

We cut the padding polyester - two cuts of 1.5 m in length and approximately along the circumference of the arc (with a margin) in width, i.e. about 10-15 cm. Accuracy is not important here.

Now we need to wrap the arcs with this padding polyester. We wrap and strengthen well with threads:

This is what you should end up with:

Now we cover the arcs with fabric.

Hoops can be thin or thick, so I can’t give the exact dimensions of the parts. We wrap a measuring tape around the resulting arc (not tightly) and add allowances. This will be the width of the fabric cut, take the length to be 1.5 m - we will cut off the excess on the spot. Naturally, we cut off two of these))).

Fold the fabric with the right side inward, stitch it, sewing on loops and ties along the way, if necessary. Below I’ll write how to sew a clever thing that makes these ties unnecessary. We turn it inside out and insert the arcs there. And for now we put it aside.

6. Sew the rug and quilt it with padding polyester.

Don't turn it out yet. We cut the padding polyester 1m by 1m and put it on top. We grab it in the corners and in the middle of the sides to the rug. Now he won’t move or get lost anywhere.

Turn it inside out. Sew it up.

We quilt along the connecting lines of the fabrics and somewhere else, if we are not too lazy))). The main thing is to baste it first, because when sewing, the padding polyester will absolutely pull the fabric to the side.

7. Attaching the arches to the mat.

Of all the options I considered, I liked this one. The arcs are threaded through the holes and attached from the inside with wide Velcro. Firstly, it is fast (and when a child cries, minutes count), and secondly, it is reliable - tested over several months of daily use.

So. we make four slits (through and through) in the four corners - not far from the junctions of the background and the central part. And we sheathe it as best we can))). I used bias tape.

We sew the Velcro on the back side - near the cut, closer to the outer corner.

We sew the second halves of the Velcro to the arches, having first cut off the excess and folded it in. Velcro should be located on the front surface, i.e. the center seam of the arc will be at the back. In general, try it on seven times before you start sewing.

Insert the arcs crosswise. We sew fasteners for the arcs to the bottom arc (the one that is shorter) in the middle. I like to use thick webbing and Velcro. Here's what happens: