Nowadays, the legs of a little person walk exclusively on a flat floor or a soft carpet. Only a couple of weeks a year, the baby enjoys walking barefoot on the sandy beach. But experts have long known the benefits of stimulating the feet with various materials. The cost of some orthopedic mats is daunting. It is very easy to create a high-quality and interesting orthopedic path with your own hands.
It is on our feet that there are many nerve endings, the impact on which stimulates the work of internal organs. In children, a rich sensory experience leads to better development of the nervous system and speech. Kids suffer less flat feet if they regularly walk on uneven surfaces, stones, grass. Therefore, it is extremely beneficial to enrich the feelings of the child. A homemade orthopedic rug will help you in a fun way to prevent children's flat feet, as well as study the properties of objects.
This article describes various methods and materials from which you can make an orthopedic mat with your own hands. Having understood the principle, you will create your own unique path that no one else will have. What it will turn out depends only on your imagination and the availability of materials at home and in the nearest store.
The simplest thing that can be taken as a basis for a future orthopedic path is a foam tourist mat. Thin foam is cheaper, but tears easily. Buy a mat that suits you both in thickness and cost. A more complex option is a fabric base. If you know how to sew and have loose scraps of fabric, use them.
With minimal skill in handling a needle and thread, you can easily sew not only a base for an orthopedic mat, but also bags that are filled with various contents. To give the child a rich sensory experience, put peas, buckwheat, buttons, sand, balls inside the fabric envelopes. With these examples, you will introduce your child to the concepts of "hard", "soft", "big", "small", as well as flowers. Your baby will be able not only to walk on them, but also to feel with his hands. Use a variety of fabrics: cotton, soft fur, prickly wool, smooth and cold leather.
It is possible to fix the elements of the orthopedic path on the base in several ways. It is easy to sew something onto the fabric, and universal glue or plastic clamps are more suitable for foam. Buy the latest at a hardware store. It is undesirable to use glue. But if otherwise you cannot bond the sensor mat, take a glue with minimal odor and dry the track thoroughly outdoors for several days (for example, on the balcony) before using with your child.
Take and attach whatever you like on a homemade orthopedic mat. Embossed silicone coasters, washcloths of varying hardness, soft brushes, artificial turf - anything that your eye falls on in the industrial goods department. Pay attention to material safety. When stepping on them, the child should not split or injure them. The sensory track is sometimes quite intense, but it shouldn't be painful for your baby to walk on it. You can also glue buttons or pebbles, ropes or laces to the base of the rug.
Another easy way to create an element of the orthopedic path is to weave a thick braid from rags. Lay it out in a straight line or with turns and invite the baby to walk along the pigtail in different ways: "with a club-toed bear" (leaning on the outer edge of the foot), sideways, etc. A rope or a rope made of twisted fabric can be easily fixed to the foam with clamps. Pay attention that the clasp and the tail of the clamp are on the back of the track. Thin smooth sticks or pencils can also be a link in the orthopedic path. Glue them across the foam close to each other to create a ribbed surface.
Get your child involved in making a do-it-yourself orthopedic mat. So you will increase the value of such a craft in his eyes. The kid who helped make the sensory track will once again remind parents himself that it's time to work out and do the exercises. And the next time you go to the store, it is your child who will find and bring you interesting material with which you will perfectly complement your homemade sensory track.
