Review from special needs school in UK

As soon as we got the Muffik floor tiles out of the boxes the children were drawn to them. The colours and textures sparked their curiosity. They wanted to explore and investigate them.

One of our children is multisensory impaired and she was really fascinated by the textures and selected her favourite textured floor tile and understood when we gave her another the same. We were able to use the floor to encourage her to use the Makton signs for ‘more’, ‘the same’ and start to learn the signs for the colours. This was so motivating to her. She was able to piece the puzzle together independently as the textures, size and colours all set her up to succeed in a task that she would usually find difficult and frustrating. As she pieced together the Muffik puzzle we could see how this success was building up her confidence and self-esteem. She was also fascinated when we used the little tile pieces for the fairies and made a little blanket for them. Wonderful!

Another child is still developing her balance and uses a walker to navigate the classroom. She loved walking on the floor and we took her shoes off so she could feel the textures under her feet. The textures encouraged her to try walking hold our hands rather than using the walker. She also loved sitting and lifting the pieces and exploring all the colours.

One of the children was quite possessive about the floor and wanted to use it to create a sensory path across the room. Having the floor has been a great way to develop skills for sharing. In time we can see all sorts of games we could play using the floor. We found that there were some great ideas for games on ‘youtube’ I particularly love the idea of using the floor to structure a relay. I know that our autistic children would understand the structure of using puzzle pieces and can see all sorts of ways the floor tiles could be used for PE and games. As a teacher I’m excited to have a new resource that motivates the children. I am bubbling with ideas for using it to teach so many things for example big and little, counting, colours, communication and physical development. It just ticks so many boxes, it is so motivating and it’s always great to find something new to enhance our environment and create a ‘wow’. 

Look at practicalities is great to know that the floor can be easily cleaned and stored away and could be transported if it was being used for therapy sessions. As suggested it does need to be stored flat to ensure it does not get bent out of shape.

This floor looks so motivating and everyone who sees it comments on what a lovely resource it is. We loved the colours and all the textures and can see this floor being used in so many ways in our Early years Department at Portesbery. I have already had other teachers borrow so that their classes can have a go too. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to others.

Adele Devine

Early Years Lead at Portesbery School for students with Severe Learning Difficulties and Autism in Surrey, UK

Author  - Colour Coding for Learners with Autism,  It’s Raining and I’m Okay, Literacy for Visual Learners and Flying Starts For Unique Children