Children and young people live in a world that is constantly changing. In order to master their lives successfully, they will need many skills and competences. These include mathematical competences, which they should build up from primary school age. This article deals with the question of how mathematics lessons should be designed in order to enable sustainable learning and what action-oriented role, material-supported lessons, and the development of inner images play in this. This study investigated characteristics beneficial for the development of mathematical competences and what they meant for teaching in distance learning settings. The results indicate that the development of inner images support sustainable learning in mathematics.