Sleeping Mats for Kids at Day Care & Kindergarten

Sleep Mats for Kids at Day Care & Kindergartens Some reasons in choosing kindergarten mats are for its hygiene and comfort. It is important as many activities of learning are done on the mats. The hygiene is important as kindergarten kids’ immune system is not as good as adults. So that it is important for school to maintain and caring the mats. The comfort is also important because children will stay for long while doing their learning activities. Most playgroups and day care services will need Kindergarten Nap Mats which probably will not be provided by them. Kindergarten nap mats would give a comfortable bed to sleep or nap, especially during napping.  However, there are a few things needs to be considered before choosing one, because each child has different needs for having nap mat. Some children won’t go to bed without their favourite cartoon character on their nap mats. Prevent the nap mat from germs and bacteria as well that might exist from kids wetting by keeping it clean and hygienic all the time. Personal use is the best way to keep your baby’s health during stay in kindergarten and day care. Here are three things needs to be considered in choosing kindergarten nap mats: washable, comfortable, and anti bacterial material Washable. Choose the mat that is washable; See if we take the mat out from washing machine the condition still good or not. Is the colour changing, being torn, or coarse material, something that looks bad. Make sure your mat will be long lasting even has been washed or spin for many times. Anti bacterial Make sure that your mat is made from anti-bacterial material, because germs and bacteria can stay in your mat, they can stay inside the mat or even on the mat cover. The high qualified mat is usually made from anti-bacterial/ germs material with label in it. So, check the label. Comfortable The most important thing is comfortable because it will help to make better sleeping quality. Therefore choose nap mat with 2 inches thickness, it will provide maximum comfort for your kids, as we know that mat is the only sheet between floor and kids. Some parents might need handy mat that is portable, easy to roll up and has extra string to make it easier in carrying it.  For kids who still doing toilet trainee sometimes will make the mat got wet, therefore choose mat with waterproof vinyl material. The function is to keep the urine out of mat. Kindergarten Nap Mats Make sure you label the mat with your child’s name. If the child has similar name to his friend, then write his nick name to avoid the use of kindergarten nap mats by his friends or being exchanged with his friends. While I know that all kids get used to the new sleeping arrangement in time, it’s still a bit unsettling to think of my former baby no longer needing the comforts of a crib mattress to drift off to sleep. We all want our kids to be comfortable and safe, which is why some parents prefer to bring their own nap mats or use these to cover any provided mats.   Give your little one a special, personalized place to nap with the Haggus and Stookles luxury sleep mats. These sleep mats are not only beautifully soft, Australian made quality, they also have some extras that just aren’t there with other brands. Like the sheet, you just don’t get that on other brands, and, the removeable blanket, which is so snuggly in colder weather but can be taken of when the weather gets hot. And the waterproof base is also so nice. And, really easy to clean. The sleeping mats from Haggus and Stookles are very affordable too! Trust us, nap mats can easily climb above the $100 mark, which might seem a little excessive when you can usually just provide sheets and call it a day. Plus, the built-in pillow is reversible.   So while nap mats might all be the same size and shape, make your kid’s a more comfortable choice to give them the best chance to get the best chance in life.   Here’s an Interesting article about Kindergarten naps by Lisa Van Gemert on August 6, 2015… To sleep, perchance to dream learn. – Shakespeare (kind of)… When I went to kindergarten (shout out and apologies to my teacher, Mrs. Beasley), I needed crayons and a nap mat. Today’s kindergarteners need graphing calculators and pens. No nap map required. Or welcome. Fifteen years ago, the New York Times published an article about the lack of nap time in today’s kindergarten, and the situation has deteriorated since then. What happened to kindergarten nap time, and how can we get it back? Here’s what we know: Kindergarten-age children need a lot of sleep. Somewhere between 10 and 13 hours is the recommended amount. They’re not getting it, in case you were wondering. Sleep-deprived children are no laughing matter. They’re cranky. They often behave like the witch in the Wizard of Oz right after the water gets thrown on her (along with accompanying insults hurled). They can’t learn. They won’t eat well. It’s not pretty. Trust me. How can you tell if a child isn’t getting enough sleep? According to one of the leading sleep researchers in the country, Dr. William Dement of Stanford, here are some things to ask: Is your child hard to wake? Does your child have trouble concentrating? Does your child fall asleep spontaneously during the day? Does your child sleep in on weekends? Read his awesome book The Promise of Sleep to learn more about the amazing benefits of sleep for all of us. Just because your child has trouble falling asleep does not mean your child isn’t tired. In fact, the reverse is often true. Over-tired children frequently find it difficult to go to sleep. Trouble getting your little one to buy on the whole “sleep is crucial” thing? The Sleep for Kidswebsite created by the National Sleep Foundation is just for them! Sleep helps learning. We can’t learn if we don’t sleep, and it is backwards to say that we can’t give kids a rest time in kindergarten because they have too much to learn. If they don’t sleep, you might as well take all those worksheets and…well, I think you know what I’d say about worksheets in kindergarten. I’m a teacher. I’m a school administrator. I get it, and I say the people who are creating the learning objectives for kindergarten have lost track of what we know about brain development in young children. Young brains are sponges, yes, but we wet those sponges with play, not worksheets. Naps increase retention. This has been demonstrated in studies with adults and children. Resting helps behaviour. Let those kiddos rest, and they’ll spend less time in time out. One study I think was particularly well done appears to show that staying awake too long makes it harder to control your negative emotions (think “tangry” – you’re tired and angry). One of the study’s authors said, “Our results suggest that napping may be a beneficial intervention for individuals who may be required to remain awake for long periods of time by enhancing the ability to persevere through difficult or frustrating tasks.” For a five-year-old, the school day is a long period of time, especially when you take into account how early some children get up. When you hear that school age children no longer need naps, understand that to the traditional understanding, five-year-olds are preschool age children. School age is typically six. Just like GT kids can get misdiagnosed with other co-existing conditions, a lack of sleep can lead to misdiagnosis as ADHD because it can lead to defiance and hyperactivity. Who doesn’t know what that sleepy punchiness feels like? Going to the mat. Not that long ago, I saw a school bus go by with literally a dozen kids asleep, their heads propped awkwardly against the rattling windows, and I literally began to cry. Since when is exhausted children our educational imperative? So if you are in a position of power in a kindergarten, fight for naps. If you’re a parent, make the argument. Anyone who says that there is too much learning to be done to allow a rest time is ignoring the facts to the detriment of children and their brains. Here’s something that should not be news to anyone: play is the work of children, and force-feeding schoolishness in kindergarteners is counterproductive. Some kids won’t nap, sure. They can listen quietly to music, take a break from the sensory overload of school, look at books or read, breathe, the possibilities are wide and restful. I also wrote an article about sleep for the Mensa Bulletin, and you can read suggestions for getting young ones to sleep in that. Sleep on. Unless you’re in kindergarten. In that case, grab your graphing calculator and get working.