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Sensory rugs are so great for children’s learning and very beneficial for their development. Children are usually very attracted to sensory rugs that stimulate their senses with different textures and colors. The great news is that DIY sensory (massage) rugs are easy to make at home and are very affordable. They make the child’s playtime fun and exciting. These are great for baby and toddler room setup.
Maria Montessori was one of the first educators who noticed a connection between sensory stimulation and brain development. One of the main attributes of Maria’s success to help children reach their potential and achieved great results is her emphasis on sensory stimulation. She utilized children’s senses to teach concepts of mathematics, language, and science.
DIY sensory rugs have great advantages, they:
- stimulate senses
- children LOVE them
- no to a minimum cost
- benefit brain development
- have a calming effect
- beneficial for their general well-being
- great for children with sensory processing issues
- easy to store
- great for exploring different textures
The exciting news is that you already probably have everything you need to create a beautiful sensory rug for your child.
Here are some ideas for materials you can use to create sensory rugs at home:
- sponges
- beans, seeds, peas
- pebbles
- rocks
- plastic lids
- pencils
- straws
- сurtain rings
- bamboo mats
- pegs
- corks
- marbles
- beads
- buttons
- fabrics
I found these gorgeous examples of sensory rugs made by creative Russian mamas:
Handmade Massage Rug BabyBlog.Ru by Liza Source
Massage Rug – Forest Meadow – Strana Mam Source
Handmade Massage Rug – Baby.ru source
Our Massage Rug – BabyBlog.Ru – Albina source
Handmade Massage Rug – Deti.mail.ru – Evgenija source
Massage Rug – Strana Masterov source
Massage rug – “Magic forest” – Karapuzka.blogspot.com source
Pebble massage rug – Nauka Remonta source
Handmade crafts – Baby.Ru source
Handmade developmental rug – Yarmama.Ru source
An idea for a developmental rug – “Road” – Live Internet.Ru source
Sensory Playmat by Popeline Co. Choose the fabric that feels best for you on touch.
Use a glue gun to glue hard objects or sew soft parts to create your sensory rug. Please note that these rugs are not recommended to use with children who are still in the mouthing stage of their development in case any of the elements get loose.
I hope you were inspired! I invite you to check out these great sensory toys and materials!
You Might Enjoy These resources
No Prep Preschool Tracing, Pre-Writing and Math Practice Busy Book
A busy book with 130 pages for preschool-aged children that requires no preparation. Print, laminate, or insert in the durable plastic sleeves and they are ready to go. Your students will exercise fine motor skills, tracing, logical thinking, counting, practice working on letters, and number formation. These exercise worksheets are engaging and fun even for most stubborn children who normally refuse to pick up a pencil.
This printable contains pages with:
- Line tracing
- Shape and picture tracing
- Matching shadows
- Matching halves and colors
- Mazes
- Numeral tracing
- Dot-to-dot
- Counting objects
- Alphabet tracing
- Find the difference
- Instructions
- Age: 2.5 – 5 years old
To save on the use of paper, laminating sheets and effort, I recommend checking the following options in the Adobe Reader settings before printing the file: “Printing on both sides of paper” > “Flip on short edge”, “Save ink/tonner” and “Print as image”.
Purchase this resource here or
find this resource on Teachers Pay Teachers
Love the look of the pebble rug for me! Bet the kids would love it too 🙂
🙂 sounds good to me too!
Oh wow, these are gorgeous! My kids would love one! Getting the creative itch….
Thank you, Danya! 🙂
What a wonderful collection of rugs. My daughter would love the road one.
Thanks, Melissa!!
did i miss how these were made? what holds them together to prevent then from coming apart? 🙂 i am very interested in making these and am excited to start. 😀 I just don't know what is needed to prevent the items from being removed by little curious hands. this is for a sensory room. Thank you.
Sorry for delayed response!Some choose to sew materials, some use glue guns. I hope it helped!
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