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What is a Nap Mat?
Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen
Pre-schools, daycares and kindergartens may have that wonderful break in the day called naptime. Many of us wish we still had a naptime, especially if we could get cozy with a special nap mat. A lot of schools and day care facilities do have cushioned mats, much like gymnastic mats that they simply spread on the floor during naptime, but these have to be cleaned regularly, which is work for the teachers or day care workers.
An alternative is to have each child bring his or her own nap mat to school or day care. There are several reasons why this may prove a better option. First most mats are washable or have washable covers. This allows parents to clean off the grime and dirt associated with little kids, as often as they would like. Each child having their own mat may also prevent spread of illnesses, which are so common in care settings for young children.
Many nap mat varieties have great patterns, colors, and are ideally suited for lots of little kid tastes. It can be very comforting when you’re away from mom and dad to have something that you love, and that smells like home. If the goal really is to get kids to nap a bit, each child having a nap mat may accomplish this better.
There are a lot of nap mat varieties and they come in many different prices. Most have light fill or foam that given a little cushioning to hard ground. Some can be washed, or have washable covers, and many come with convenient carrying handles so they can be ported back and forth to school as needed. A few nap mats have extra things like attached blankets or pillows to make a quick rest time that much more comfortable.
As mentioned, price is pretty variable. You can buy a nap mat for a little more than $10 US Dollars (USD), but most cost at least $20 USD. Due to demand for these mats, many of them have high quality features like hypoallergenic fill and all cotton material. Price can easily go up significantly for higher quality mats, especially those made in the US. It’s not unusual to see mats that cost between $50-75 USD, but it isn’t necessary to pay this much.
In addition to having a nap mat for preschool, these mats can be terrific for other settings. They can be taken on trips or used at home when kids want to have a rest, but don’t want to go to bed. Long play dates for little kids may be more comfortable if there’s a rest time, complete with nap mats. Also, very young children attending slumber parties can use these mats to make sleeping on the floor easier.
Tricia Christensen
Tricia has a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and has been a frequent WiseGEEK contributor for many years. She is especially passionate about reading and writing, although her other interests include medicine, art, film, history, politics, ethics, and religion. Tricia lives in Northern California and is currently working on her first novel.
Learn more...
Tricia Christensen
Tricia has a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and has been a frequent WiseGEEK contributor for many years. She is especially passionate about reading and writing, although her other interests include medicine, art, film, history, politics, ethics, and religion. Tricia lives in Northern California and is currently working on her first novel.
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![A good alternative is to have the child bring his or her own nap mat to school or day care.]()
By: Oksana KuzminaA good alternative is to have the child bring his or her own nap mat to school or day care. -
![Young children attending sleepovers can use nap mats to make sleeping on the floor easier.]()
By: Vojtech VlkYoung children attending sleepovers can use nap mats to make sleeping on the floor easier.
Discussion Comments
Schools providing nap mats is a good thing, I guess. Having that option is always good, but I would rather send a nap mat, blanket or some other type of cushion from home. As this article says, this might make the child feel more comfortable, and that is important, especially for children who are going to school for the first time.
My daughter, like many young children, had a favorite blanket. She went everywhere with the little green security blanket, and she insisted on carrying it to school for her naps when I told her about school nap time.
Also, I prefer having the responsibility of keeping my child's mat or blanket in good condition. This way, I know it will be clean and I can replace it with a new one when I need to.
Parents have to spend a lot of money now when kids go back to school. And the more children you have the more supplies you need and the more money you need. Unless you have children, you don't know all of the school supplies they need and how much they cost.
The least the schools can do is provide the nap mats for the children to lie on for nap time. If the school can't provide the mats then the mats shouldn't be required. When I was in school, we just put our heads down on our tables at nap time, and we all slept just fine.
Years ago when my niece was in kindergarten, the teachers at the school asked parents to have their kids bring something to class that the kids could use to nap on. My sister was visiting my parents' house and she had forgotten to buy anything for my niece to take for nap time, so she took one of the new beach towels I had just bought.
I never saw that beach towel again, so I think it must have worked pretty well for my niece.
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