Mat Man

At our parent conferences everyone had the opportunity to meet Mat Man. We enjoyed hearing how your child is talking about Mat Man at home.
Mat Man is a strategy from our Handwriting Without Tears curriculum that is used to help young learners develop strong drawing and cognitive skills. Two- and three-year-olds will often draw "tadpole" style people with arms emerging from a head. It is exciting to see students start to include a body and more realistic features in their work. 

"Mat Man has one nose, so that he can smell."

"Mat Man has one mouth, so that he can eat."

Mat Man was introduced during rhyme time on the nest. The children sat in a circle while Ms Buckley built Mat Man on the floor, singing the Mat Man song. Here is a link to the song. We shared lots of ideas of activities for how Mat Man can use his mouth: singing, eating, speaking, whispering, and his feet: jumping, climbing, walking, running. 

"Mat Man has one body, to hold what is inside:
his heart, his tummy, his lungs."

"Mat Man has two arms, so that he can reach."

"Mat Man has two hands, so that he can clap."

We took the song to the hexagon table during activity time. We sang the song and added each body part in turn. Then it was time to draw Mat Man. The children began to add hair or clothes.

Mat Man teaches important readiness skills:

•    Body awareness
•    Drawing & pre-writing
•    Counting
•    Building
•    Socializing & sharing

Have you noticed a change in your child's drawings at home?