The Season's Mat - Montessori Learning Material Tapestry

The Seasons Mat is one of the classic and celebrated Montessori Materials. It is used as a core tool in allowing children to visualize the relationship of Earth to the Sun and to experience how the seasons change as the Earth makes its orbital dance around the Sun. This allows the child to gain a better understanding of themselves, as citizens of Earth, in relation to time and the Sun as it sits in the center of our galaxy. This is a great activity to explore before learning about the Solar System. The Seasons Mat may be used in a variety of ways: … as an art print … as a tool for learning the seasons and the months of the year by having a child move their Earth clockwise around the sun and noting the season and month of the year names as you move past each label. As the Earth makes its clockwise trip, an adult may additionally sing the “Months of the Year” song. See below. … as a tool to celebrate children’s birthdays by having them hold a globe and walk around the “Celebration Sun” once for each year they have been on Earth. As they make their “trips around the sun,” an adult can narrate a story of their growth and important events from each year of their life.