These rugs are everywhere in the Montessori classroom.  I bought them because I thought I would get Lou in the habit of unrolling one and doing her work on it then rolling it back up and putting it back. Ahh, good intentions. However, now that Ero is getting older I am going to give it another go.

In the classroom the kids roll out their carpet and put their activity or toy on the carpet. (Montessori would never have a “toy” but in your house you would.) The object/items on the carpet means the child has claimed that activity. If another child wants it they have to wait their turn. They can have one activity at a time on their carpet.

I will ask my uber Montessori neighbor what the exact etiquette is for this, but that’s the basic idea. 

You can use a small towel too or you can get them from Montessori Services.

Edit: More on the rugs in this post.