Mat Man Comes to School

The preschoolers in Ms. Stout's early childhood classroom spent a week learning about body parts.  As an occupational therapist, I am very invested in children developing a good understanding of their bodies.  Without a good sense of what their bodies look like, how they move, and where their bodies are positioned in space, children may struggle with motor coordination.

During group this week, the children visited with Mat Man.

Mat Man is a character and learning activity that we use from the Get Set For School curriculum.  The purpose of Mat Man is to provide an engaging learning experience with music and hands on manipulatives to support body awareness, communication, motor planning, and pre-writing skills.

The students help sing a song about all of the different parts of Mat Man and build him with lines, curves, and a large rectangle.

   

The song that we sing not only names the part and how many of those parts Mat Man has (two ears, one body), but also tells us what that part is for: Mat Man has two hands so that he can clap.

After we completed Mat Man, the children each tried drawing him.  This was a great opportunity for them to project their perception of how the body is assembled in a 2-dimensional way.

We had discussions about how our arms are attached to our bodies (not our heads!) and our feet are at the end of our legs (not our bodies!).

Click here to meet Mat Man and explore how to use this activity at home with your preschooler!