Benefits of owning a Baby Play Mat or Gym

There’s no shortage of benefits to be gained from owning a baby play mat or activity gym mat – they are a great source of fun and enjoyment for your baby, infant or toddler and also useful aids when it comes to your child’s mental and physical development.

Once you buy a baby play mat you’ll immediately begin to enjoy the many benefits this versatile and practical play thing can bring.

The fun side of things really shouldn’t be underestimated – when your baby is happy and content, there’s a fair chance your little one’s happiness will be making you happy too – play mats are not just about keeping your child happy.

Mum and dad have a right to some happiness too! After all, it’s parents who have to go the extra mile every day to ensure their baby boy or girl is getting plenty of love, care and attention.

Caring for a young baby or infant is by no means an easy job, as any dedicated parent will confirm – there are several times in the day when looking after your little one can leave you completely exhausted.

That’s when it makes sense to get the baby play mat out on the floor so mum or dad can take a hard-earned breather while the baby is kept entertained by the little fun features on the mat or all the hanging toys on a gym mat.

Another great benefit of a play mat is it provides an opportunity for parents to interact and bond with their baby or infant – if your little one is old enough to sit upright, there are all sorts of activities mum and dad can get involved in, such as rolling a ball the mat to your baby, pushing cars, trains and other vehicles around the mat or creating a little play scenes on the mat with your child’s favourite cuddly toys.

Multi-sensory play mats are all the rage these days and feature images of little animals or character with areas with different textures that can be touched or pushed to make sounds, to the benefit of your child’s development. These are suitable for very young babies but really come into their own when a baby is a bit older and can sit up.

Play mats adorned with colourful images and shapes have the benefit of encouraging babies, infants and even toddlers to use their feet and hands to explore every area of the mat, thereby assisting their physical development.

Let’s take a look at some of the significant benefits these mats bring when it comes to the mental development of a child.

Cognitive Skills Benefits

A play mat helps a baby to understand the basic concept of cause and effect. This is particularly evident when a young baby is placed on a play mat gym. A little boy or girl will reach out to touch the hanging toys, rattles and rings and the pleasure they get upon touching these play things – sometimes by accident – stimulates their little minds into trying to repeat the action.

This is called a primary circular reaction. A secondary circular reaction is when a baby intentionally touches, pushes or pulls at a hanging toy. This process of babies remembering that they have the ability to ‘make things happen’ is a key part of their cognitive development.

Babies really do learn by doing things over and over again, so the repetition of actions on a baby mat or gym brings obvious benefits.

Visual Perceptual Skills Benefits

Baby mats are often multi-coloured and feature a range of eye-catching design and brightly-coloured themes. This is just what your baby need to see to encourage visual development – a multitude of bright and contrasting colours. Far away objects normally appear fuzzy and blurry to a newborn or very young baby because they are near-sighted in their early days.

Play mats and gyms are perfect for improving their visual skills as it nurtures their ability to focus on objects at varying distances, thereby improving their perception of depth. As babies reach out for hanging toys on a play gym or novelties attached to a play mat their eyes will be trained to focus so they can see clearly what they are enthusiastically trying to touch.

There’s plenty of evidence that babies prefer highly contrasting colours, so bear this in mind when choosing a mat for your child. Toddlers, on the other hand, are more likely to be interested in the various toys available to play with on a mat, although they are still partial to a bit of colour!

Gross Motor Skills Benefits

Another great benefits of owning a play mat comes in the form of gross motor skills development – the skills necessary for the ability to crawl, walk and roll. Gross motor skills relate to coordination and movement of the arms and legs and other large parts of the body.

An increase in muscular strength, balance, postural control and body awareness are all essential to help your baby develop his or her gross motor skills. So clearly a play mats or gym can play a key part in this area of your child’s development. Tummy time on a play mat is clearly beneficial as it will in baby develop its neck, back, stomach and arm muscles.

A novel idea which helps develop balancing skills is the ‘Learn To Balance’ Mat which has a trail of footprints on it to assist an infant in the early stages of learning to walk.

Self Awareness Benefits

Many play mat gyms feature a little shatter proof mirror which encourages babies to look at themselves, which can play a big part in developing a sense of self-awareness.

A newborn will probably be oblivious to a mirror, but it will definitely grab the attention of a baby aged three or four months. And a couple of months down the line most baby boys and girls will happily laughing and smiling at the mirror, as they enjoy the thrill of watching their face movements.

Most play mats and gyms feature a multitude of colours, sounds and textures, making them ideal playthings to encourage sensory stimulation, including oral stimulation.

Hanging teethers are particularly useful when your little one reaches the teething stage – babies just love to reach out for a teether and bring it to the mouth to sooth sore gums.

As you can see, there’s plenty to be gained from owning a play mat or baby gym so it’s not surprising they rank very highly on the ‘must-have’ lists of many parents of babies throughout the UK.