By Amanda Morgan – Not Just Cute
Do you have a favorite child-friendly service project?
My kids love their blankets. They drag them around the house, burrowing under piles of them. So when I wanted to engage them in a service project they could connect with, making blankets seemed to be an obvious choice.
Whether the blanket warms a child at the local homeless shelter, or provides comfort and cheer for a child at the children’s hospital near our home, it’s a cause my kids can relate to — and it’s one they can really take an active part in.
Making fleece blankets is surprisingly easy and, depending on the age of your children, it’s one they can help with every step of the way. Here’s how to get started.
Before you begin, decide where your blanket is headed. Some donation sites may have requested sizes. The children’s hospital in our area, for example, suggests donated blankets be between 36″ x 58″ and 72″ x 58″. With those guidelines you’d need to purchase one to two yards of fleece. My favorite size for a child’s blanket happens to be right in the middle, 1 1/2 yards.
Whatever size you determine, purchasing your fleece is the first step. This is a great step to involve your kids in, asking them to choose fabric they think would cheer up another child. Thinking about others and their wants and needs is an extremely valuable exercise for kids!
Next, prepare your fabric by trimming off the salvage edges. (These are the side margins that don’t contain the overall pattern of the fabric. Generally they’re white with some printing.) If you’re child’s scissor skills are developed enough to cut a fairly straight line, you can invite them to help out with this step as well.
Once your fabric is prepared, you’ll finish the edges by creating a fringe. Start by cutting squares out of each corner. The size of the square’s sides will be equal to the length of the fringe. I usually cut out a 2-3 inch square.
Once the squares are cut out, continue around all the sides, cutting fringe pieces that are about 1 inch across and 2 1/2 inches long. Create a button-hole sized cut at the top of each fringe piece by folding it slightly and snipping with the tip of your scissors.
Depending on the the children I’m doing this project with, I may prepare the blankets up to this point myself, particularly for young children or a large group. If you’re working with older children or in a more one-on-one project situation, you can have children do most of the cutting, using cardboard patterns or chalk lines as guides.
Now for the fun part! Each fringe piece needs to be fed through its own hole and pulled out the other side. This is the step that truly finishes the blanket and it can be done even by preschoolers. (For a consistent finish, decide whether the pieces will go through the hole from the front or the back and continue in that manner all the way around.)
You can work around the blanket together, pulling the fringe through the holes, as you talk about how much your child enjoys his/her own blankets and what the recipient of this special blanket might think about it and how he/she might use it.
Once you’ve made it all the way around, you’ll have a fancy fringe that was easy to make. Roll up your blanket and tie on a bow with a little note from your family (avoid using last names on your note if you’re concerned about privacy), and you’re ready to donate your blanket!
I really do enjoy doing this project with children because it teaches them that service is a hands-on activity, something they can personally take part in and connect to. I fully support food drives and donation drop-offs, but there’s something about being involved in the creative process, putting in the time and effort, that makes this project more personal and meaningful for the little hands that contribute. Do you have a favorite child-friendly service project?
  Amanda MorganAmanda Morgan is a full time mom to three busy boys and a part-time trainer and consultant for a non-profit children’s organization. She also writes at Not Just Cute, a blog focused on intentional whole child development. It’s full of ideas that are more than just cute, for preschoolers who are much more than cute too. |
