In moderate and advanced stage dementia, people with dementia may often sit restlessly wringing their hands, rubbing their fingers, pulling their hair and fidgeting with clothes and bedcovers.
One way to bring calm and relaxation is through the use of a fidget blanket.
Also known as sensory mats or mind quilts, fidget blankets can help ease anxiety by offering calm, soothing and relaxing activity.
Therapeutic Fidget Quilts – What You Should Know?
Fidget quilts can incorporate various different textures that can help stimulate the senses as well as keep the mind and hands active. User-friendly and functional, fidget quilts can offer a solid sense of purpose by making the person feel engaged as they are “doing something”.
Fidget blankets are made on a fuzzy, warm base topped with a variety of accessories like zippers, ties, ribbon, strings, pom poms, beads, braids, marbles, snap closures, etc. You can build these items upon different textures like cotton, mesh, fleece or denim. For added stimulation, you can include buttons or shoelaces of various sizes which can be tied or manipulated in a number of ways, over and over again.
Fidget blankets do not necessarily have to be a quilt. It can be a simple piece of cloth too like an apron or a mat laid across the lap – as long as it can keep fingers busy and can be washed and reused.
AMAZING Fidget Blanket Ideas
Making a fidget blanket can bring out the creative side in you.
You could visit Pinterest and YouTube to unleash your inner creativity. Different types of cloth materials like cotton, silk, leather, satin, georgette and wool all make a good warm, fuzzy, fidget blanket. It’s just a case of getting the thinking cap on and letting your creative juices flow!
Alzheimer Fidget Quilt Patterns – A Guide
A DIY quilt can be easily designed at home. All you need to have are old pieces of clothes of different textures and a sewing kit. You are set to go!
Step 1: Gather All The Materials
There is no hard and fast rule to get a specific material. You just need to make sure that you take different textures – a shoelace, a necklace, socks, a piece from a handbag, velvet tops, headbands, handkerchief, cotton balls, a decorative plastic or velvet material from your old Christmas decoration.
Step 2: Create The Base of Your Blanket
For this, you will need a bigger piece of cloth, maybe a big cotton shirt or a T-shirt which could accommodate the other pieces of cloth on it, and could help you make a warm blanket.
Step 3: Cut Materials According To Desired Size & Shape
Cut all of the different pieces of material you have gathered into creative shapes.
Make sure you cut them big enough so that they can be easily sewed and large enough so that they can be easily felt and twisted.
Step 4: Sew The Materials On The Base of Your Blanket
You can sew all the pieces of cloth on the base, keeping in mind that you don’t repeat the same kind of material one above the other or adjacent to each other. The more variety you try to bring in, the more effective it is going to be.
Step 5: Secure The Stitches
You can try to secure the stitches by turning the blanket upside down and sewing the materials again.
Hope this guide is helpful to you and you leaves you feeling inspired to make a warm fidget blanket. This is a great way to let your loved one know that you care about them so do not shy away from grabbing this creative opportunity!
Alternatively, you can also find great options on Amazon such as this or this.
I hope this helps.