DIY massage mat for children

A massage mat for children will not only improve the health of the baby, but also serve as an interesting accessory for games. With the help of such an object, the baby will fully develop, and making it yourself is as easy as shelling pears. Read our article and you will understand that it is really simple.

What does it look like

A massage mat usually looks like a surface with protruding parts. In stores, you can find such a rug in most cases made of rubber with pimples. The height of these very pimples is different: this will change the sensations when walking on the rug.

Of the cheap models, those are distinguished on the surface of which pimples are applied using glue or another method. They are stiff and fragile.

Benefits

You should not neglect your baby's health: even if everything is fine with him, then such a rug should be at home as a preventive way to maintain health in excellent shape. After all, everyone knows that a person has several points on the foot, regularly acting on which you can improve not only your well-being, but even cure a number of diseases.

So, a lesson with such a massage accessory gives a number of the following positive points:

Correct formation of the child's foot;
Prevention and treatment of flat feet;
Improving blood circulation;
Normalization of metabolism in the body of a little man;
Development of the vestibular apparatus;
Increased immunity;
Normalizes the child's mental process;
Removal of nerves;
Relaxation.

Since ancient times, people have been running barefoot on mown grass and grains - this strengthened not only health, but also the immune system. Now an alternative to such gymnastics is foot massage with the help of relief devices, in particular, such a massage mat.

Kinds

There are many varieties of such massage rugs. Let's highlight some of them.

Forms

In theory, the design of a massage accessory can be varied:

In the form of a square;
Circle;
Rectangle;
Oval.

However, in most cases, the design is square or rectangular. The accessory can be made large, which will cover a significant part of the playroom. Thus, the guys will be able to run on it without any restrictions on the number of people.

The size

Of course, a small massage accessory is faster and much easier to make. However, do not forget that it will be inconvenient for a child to perform exercises on such an "island". It is better to provide a medium-sized rug or several small ones.

Materials

Strong, rough fabric, jeans are fine:
An unnecessary blanket or bedspread, an old carpet;
Rubber;
Laminate.

Sewing elements

Small: buttons, beads.
Medium: bottle caps, pencils, curlers.
Large: washcloths, dish racks with holes, napkins for cutlery.

Elements that can be glued

Wooden elements: pencils, blocks.
Shell: from walnuts or hazelnuts.
Pebbles: pebbles or other equally beautiful specimens.
Large grains.
Chips for board games.

There are also home-made rugs with sewn-in elements. For example, massage models with sewn-in bags, which contain a variety of fillers: shells, grains, sand and other elements interesting for the baby, are especially popular.

Tactile models

This option is complemented by such elements as Velcro, zippers or pieces of fabric.

Developmental models

The difference between such products lies in the fact that various digital or letter elements are sewn onto the base. Geometric shapes can often be found as teaching material.

How to make

Let's consider several examples of how you can perform a simple attribute for children with your own hands.

With buttons

The materials that we need for the invention of this product are buttons, a thread with a needle and the fabric itself, which is our basis. Any fabric can be used, but only thick.

Prepare two pieces of material. Use one of them for sewing on buttons. Alternate large buttons with small ones, smooth ones and with a relief at some distance from each other. We recommend using strong thread to prevent the buttons from flying off during washing.

After the first part of the material is prepared, sew the second part to it on the sides. The corners need to be processed, you can use the edging from another material - it will be more beautiful this way. The rug is now ready to use.

Orthopedic

This category of rugs is diverse, we will consider several options that you can do yourself.

Sand

Preparation method:

Take a durable fabric: denim or linen. Sew several fabric pockets out of it - their number depends on the size of our massage accessory.
Decorate your crafts with a variety of nautical applique designs.
Fill them with a variety of cereals, leaving a little space.
Now they need to be sewn up. To be able to change the filler, you can sew zippers to them or make a closing fragment using Velcro.
Connect the bags with ribbons or pieces of fabric.

Railway

This version of the massage attribute for children will become not only a field for prevention and treatment, but also a favorite place for your boy. After all, here you can play enough of the railway. Manufacturing method:

Sew some square pieces cut from the material of your choice.
Sew 10 rubber bands on each resulting element. For this case, both elastic bands for curls and silicone are suitable. They need to be placed on top of each other.
Now you need to sew all the components of the large rug to get one playing field.
And the final step: insert pencils or straws for drinks into the rubber bands - your railway is ready.

From pebbles

Preparation method:

Take solid matter - this will be our foundation. The rubber option works best.
Stick pebbles on it, which should be smooth and safe for the baby's feet.
The orthopedic mat is ready.

You can clearly see the process of making a pebble rug below.

How to use

Doctors advise that children should not be left alone with a massage tool at the first lesson, because for young children who have just learned to walk, it is traumatic: they can get hurt just by tripping, and older children will probably leave an uncomfortable and prickly place for walking as soon as the parents are out of sight. You need to work with the guys together, encouraging and coming up with various games.

Every day, twice a day, you need to work with your child on a massage mat. Lesson time should not exceed 10-15 minutes - this is quite enough.

The exercises should be as follows:

Normal walking;
Walking in place;
Walking slowly.

When carrying out such exercises, the baby's legs should not get tired. If this condition is observed, then it is necessary to stop the lesson and wait a while for the child's legs to recover.

Reviews

Moms recommend not buying massage mats, but making them yourself, because it is:

Cost savings;
Using only natural materials;
The products are of high quality, in contrast to the purchased options, on which in a month and a half you can miss any element;
You choose the material for crafts yourself: it should be easily brought to a clean state and be pleasant to the touch;
Easy to operate;
It brings a healing and preventive effect.

So, thanks to the recommendations and reviews of parents, you can safely rate this massage accessory as "excellent".