I recently made a sensory blanket for my 7 year old daughter (Keira) who struggles with some sensory and focusing issues. I can also use it with my speech kiddos that need this sensory input.
DIY weighted sensory blanket. I wanted to share it with you guys because it can be an inexpensive way to give your kiddos some much needed sensory input. When Keira is working on homework/work at school, she will lay it on her lap to give her that sensory input she craves. Besides her oral sensory issues, she also struggles to keep her feet still/taps her toes under the table until the toes of her shoes are torn up/stands up a lot in class when she's supposed to be working/plays with her hair a lot...Oh and in the last year, she has made it very clear that she hates wearing jeans. She loves to wear leggings or any other pants that fit perfectly against her legs instead or else she throws a "7 going on 17" tantrum. Brushing her teeth is also a struggle. She does not want to wet her toothbrush when brushing her teeth. She would rather brush her teeth with a dry toothbrush and gets "grossed out" when she watches her 5 year old sister brush her teeth correctly. I could go on about other things, but I won't. God love her...we are trying our best to help her and so most days she wears leggings, chews gum in school to help with the oral sensory issues, and is on a low dose of Adderall for her recently diagnosed ADHD. It's helping. We didn't wan to give her meds initially, but it's working for now until she can do well in school and be able to focus without it. Let's just say..her teacher knows when we forget to give her the meds. She is a well behaved child...it's not to correct behavior. We give it to her so she can focus only while at school Monday-Friday. Whew! Anyway...so this turned into a story about Keira instead of a post about how to create a sensory blanket. So here ya go! :)
The proper weight should be 10% of body weight, plus 1lb. Oral children may chew on the blanket, which could be dangerous for the child, so you must decide if this is a good option for your child.
Here's what you'll need:
a bag of pinto beans or rice (I used pinto beans, but the pics I attached are one that was made w/rice)
duck tape (I used a pretty design so it would be "kid approved")
zip lock bags
Step 1: measure out your filling. I used 1 cup of pinto beans in each bag (rice is pictured below)
Step 2: lay everything out to make construction easier (I used 9 bags so it was a 3x3 formation)
Step 3: Fold over top of ziplock bag, press down on top strip of tape then space bags across to create the first row.
Step 4: Affix the bottom of the bags to the next strip of tape.
Step 5: Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have the desired number of rows, then place a final strip of tape along the bottom of the last row.
Step 6: Cover the rows of duck tape to seal the seams.
Step 7: Finish the border with vertical strips.
Step 8: use long strips of tape to cover the bags.
Step 9: Flip blanket over and repeat step 8 until completely covered.
Step 10: Fold tape over each side to seal and smooth out the edges, and your weighted blanket or lap pad is done! This one below is different from the one I made (different color duck tape, and I used pinto beans instead of rice). I think mine is prettier, and it's Keira and patient approved. ;)
