An infant sensory mat is a fun way for babies to stay focused during tummy time to build core, neck, and arm muscles while also making neural connections through stimulating visual and tactile experiences.
The joy of sewing for my grandsons is that it doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be fun and functional. NO STRESS, only joy! I love that these projects allow me to be creative. There was no pattern or directions for this mat. I saw something similar on Pinterest and I wanted to take it up a notch. Based on how much Mini Man loves this mat, I think I nailed it…and you can too!
I decided to set my mat up in sections to look similar to a quilt pattern. But you could set yours up any way you want. A round mat may be just as functional as a rectangular mat!
Now comes the fun part! When creating an infant sensory mat, think about a wide variety of fabric textures and colors: soft, rough, bumpy, smooth, stretchy, beaded, etc. Be sure to incorporate different shapes to provide visual stimulation, but also vocabulary development as baby grows!
Next, I planned out the other sections of the mat. This is a great time to dig into your trims and accessories drawer(s), and of course, button boxes (yes, I have multiple boxes/containers of buttons 🙂 ).
Remember those old patches we used to put on our jeans? OK maybe you are not as old as I am! I had a cute sequin heart patch and a dinosaur patch that I just had to include.
I also found some soccer ball beads that I had from another project. Placed under some clear vinyl with enough room that a patting hand would make the beads move is tons of fun!
I also have an eyelet kit. So I put a line of metal eyelets on a piece of teal cotton fabric for a colorful, textured strip. The idea is to be creative!
Finally, I just had to have the sequin flip fabric on one section. This is so much fun! If you rub the sequins in one direction, they are colorful. But if you rub them in the other direction, they change to a solid color. This piece was rainbow and silver. What great visual and tactile stimulation! It just had to be included!!
As I was finding all of these fun things to include, I was laying them out on my mat. I’ll be honest, my layout changed several times and that is OK! I pinned things on and moved them around until I liked the way it looked and it fit with the binding that I was putting on at the end. There is no pattern for this project because the idea is to release your own creativity. But the infographic below shows the steps to create a fun sensory mat for your little one.
For more information on sensory play ideas, visit the yoyoclub page on our site. Click here.