THESE ABORIGINAL DESIGN EDUCATIONAL MATS FEATURE LIVELY ANIMALS AND BRIGHT COLOURS THAT KIDS WILL LOVE.

Individual seating mats make it easy to bring diversity education into your home or classroom every day. The vibrant, eye-catching designs depict symbols with a connection to Indigenous culture and beliefs, helping children learn more about their own and other cultures while they read, eat or play.

Designed by respected Australian Aboriginal artist De Greer Yindimincarlie, of the Wiradjuri Nation in central New South Wales, this pack features Indigenous motifs representing animals and nature. Children are invited to admire the colours, copy the drawings or share stories about rain, rainbows, stars, emu tracks, kangaroo tracks and snakes.

Young children will admire the illustrations, whilst older children can extend their learning to look for other representations of symbols in Indigenous art or stories. Symbolism is integral to self-expression in Australian Indigenous storytelling through art. Symbols can be used to share creative stories, create rules or give directions. Helping children interpret the language of symbolic communication brings benefits for general cognitive development as well as cultural understanding.

Each mat in the set of 6 is round, 30cm in diameter and made from recycled car tyres and PET bottles. This makes them easy to clean, lightweight for storage and transport and robust for a long life in your home or classroom. Use them on their own, mix and match with other individual seating sets or make them part of a collection of Aboriginal mats for use in every room of your school or kindy.

These mats are a great way to teach the meaning of Aboriginal symbols in daily class and can be used as extension activities to many other key learning outcomes.