Rolling and Unrolling a Mat
This will be one of the first activities which we teach 3-6 year old children coming to the Montessori classroom. Rolling and unrolling a mat teaches children patience and how they should be doing stuff for themselves, and not relying on mum and dad to roll and unroll a mat for them.
How do children roll and unroll the mat?
Children are taught to use two hands to roll and unroll their mat and to keep the mat straight as they roll it up. As children roll out their mat, they are also taught to flatten out any ripples in their floor mat so that it is nice and flat.
When the children carry around their floor mat, they are taught in Montessori preliminary rolling and unrolling to carry their mat upright and close to their body with both hands. After the child has been taught how to properly roll and unroll their mat, they will be able to use this skill long-term with all the other Montessori tasks which use a mat.
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Looking for more Montessori activities?
Here is the full list of the Montessori tasks, including preliminary, elementary, applied exercises, and grace and courtesy. Just click on the activity you want to learn about to go there.