How an OT Uses an IVI Rug at Home to Support Play and Development

As parents, we often talk about imaginative play, independent play and screen-free play but how do we to encourage it in a way that actually works in everyday family life.

I reached out to Justine from Super Grom OT,  a local OT a stone throw away from our warehouse.

Justine is an Occupational Therapist and a mum of two children under five. She uses ivi Rugs both in her clinic and in her own home  which gives her a really unique perspective. She sees how children respond to the rugs in structured therapy sessions, and she also sees how they play with them naturally at home, during those everyday play moments.

Because her insights were so helpful (and detailed!), I’ve split this into a two part posts:

Part One: How Justine uses ivi Rugs at home with her own children: for imaginative play, sensory-motor development and calm, connected family play.

Part Two: How she uses the rugs in an OT practice setting to support sensory processing, motor skills, attention, social play and emotional regulation.

Below is Justine’s response in her own words.

How do you use the rug at home with your children and the benefit

• Imaginative play setup: the kids mainly use the mat for their cars and farm toys/ animals. They set up little homes for them and their imaginary play comes to life.
• Sensory-motor play: the mat encouraged crawling (when they were little), walking or driving cars along textured paths to build body awareness and balance.
• Learning through play: particularly when they are young (my son is the perfect age now at 2 years) it helps to teach counting, colours and shapes. It also helps give directions (“turn left at the park” or "go straight down the road") to build cognitive and language skills.
• Family playtime: as a family we are all able to join in, share and take turns and from this model play to build social and emotional connection.

Benefits at Home:

• Promotes creative, screen-free play and independent exploration.
• Builds fine and gross motor coordination through tactile movement and manipulation.
• Supports language development and sequencing by narrating play scenarios.
• Encourages social skills and cooperation during shared play.
• Provides sensory input and structure, helping children who benefit from routine and clear play boundaries.

The rug turns everyday play into a therapeutic, skill-building experience that feels fun and natural at home as well as being aesthetically pleasing and a great addition to the kids playroom!

As you can see, the rug is part of everyday play. There’s no agenda, no structure, just fun, open-ended moments where learning happens along the way.

In the next post of this series, Justine shares how she uses the same rug in her OT practice to support children with focus, regulation, motor development and social play.