I think by now my love for felt has become pretty evident. I use it often in my materials and I find it incredibly versatile. The fact that I can often find it at my local dollar stores makes it even more appealing to me. Besides the low price tag and versatility it is also extremely easy to store! The felt mat I have pictured in this post was an activity that I made to accompany our land, air and water impressionistic lesson. After my children and I had sat down and discussed what was land, what was water, and what was air I realized that they were still very interested in exploring the concepts but the impressionistic lesson did not leave much for them to work on independently. So I spent twenty minutes with my sewing machine creating a simple mat that depicts some land, some water and a little dash of the sky. I did not include any trees or bushes purposely to extend the usefulness of the material, I had in mind already an extension I could use it for when we started exploring animal habitats. The mat has since been used with our original jars that show land, air and water. It has been used with small animal figurines, and vehicle figurines. It has been used with our colour tablets for identifying and matching colours. It has joined our blocks as a simple invitation to play. It has been hung behind a simple dinosaur invitation to play as a back drop. This quick little DIY is a reminder that sometimes simple is the most beneficial. If I had added much more complexity to the mat then I would have lost so much versatility. The reason it is so useful is because it is so plain.
Whenever I am planning on purchasing or creating a material I try to keep in mind the saying my Dad used to tell me on occassion, the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid). Its a funny little saying but it honestly holds a lot of truth in four words. Keeping it simple, keeps it open. I actually forgot this principle when I made my second felt mat for my children after this one was such a hit. I made an underwater scene complete with coral and vibrant colours. I noticed my children were not using it much at all and then I realized something. It was way too specific. It did not work as anything more than a play mat for toy animals because it was so zoomed in to a specific scene. That coupled with the fact that the sea creature figures we have would not live in such a habitat made the mat basically useless. I forgot to keep it simple and the result was a waste of my time, and my felt. For now that felt scene is kept on my desk while I try to brainstorm a way to use it. I may end up adding some more details and adding it to my continent boxes, further minimizing its utility but at least giving it a function.
I think sometimes when looking at homeschooling, Montessor at home, or parenting in general we have a tendency to overcomplicate things. I often see posts on my facebook groups asking how to extend a child’s interest in door knobs, or replicate an opening and closing activity because the child loves to open and close cupboards. As much as I love to create DIYs and extend activities I think this is another area to consider how you can KISS. If a child is fascinated by door knobs then you do not have to do a thing. Sit back and watch them examine the doorknobs that are conviently installed all around your house. Maybe point out some other kinds of door knobs while on an outting. You do not need to replicate it in the form of an activity especially since this would not be an activity that would last very long at all. If a child has a skill or an interest and they have found a safe way to satisfy the desire to explore it on their own, then in most cases it is more valuable to let them do that, than it is to create your own way to do the same thing. Unless there is a safety concern, let the child explore what they have found works to satisfy that curiousity!
