DIY Sensory Blankets

A few of us Help Me Grow folks were at the West  Jordan Library last week during their Preschool Power Play. When Mindy Whipple, Youth Services Librarian, pulled out  her home-made sensory blanket, the kids loved it! They enjoyed walking across the squishy, blue surface and couldn't help poking at the little, soft toys inside.

We were so impressed, we asked her for the instructions and decided to share them with you.

Materials:

•             Clear heavy-duty vinyl covering (see what Mindy used below) 
•       Cheap hair gel (see what Mindy used below)
•       Water
•        Duck Tape or Duct Tape
•       Glitter
•        Soft add-ins

How to:

1.  Lay two same size sheets of vinyl, of the desired size, on a clean, flat surface; one on top of one
    another.

2.  Carefully seal the edges of the vinyl together with the tape by placing one strip of tape on the
     bottom about 1 ½ inch onto the vinyl edge.  Add another tape strip exactly over the top of the first
     one, and press together to seal.  Depending upon the size of your project you may need a couple
     of extra hands!

3.   Seal all four edges leaving a gap to add the inside materials.

4.  Dump the hair gel, glitter and add-ins into the gap in the vinyl sheets, pushing it down as you go
     and distributing it throughout.

5.  Depending on how thick the gel is, you can add water to make it easier for little hands to explore
     the add-ins and squish the gel (and make the gel go farther).  Elevate the blanket slightly and
     slowly pour water in.  Alternately, you could mix the gel and water beforehand.

6.   Seal the gap with Duck Tape as before.

If you decide to try this project yourself, let us know what you think! What kind of add-ins would you use? Did it make a huge mess or was it completely manageable?