Sunday's Toy (Space Blanket)

Todays toy comes to us from Ali & Brayden. Be sure to visit their blog Small Portion of a Life's Journey to learn more about this little miracle man and his family.


Who would think that an item that costs less than $3 would be such a HUGE hit! We discovered the wonderful power of the Space Blanket from our friend Ethan & his mommy Holly, who in turn discovered it from another friend Bella & her mommy Charlotte.
We knew that Brayden loved the crinkly sound that some of his infant toys made, and had a small piece of mylar paper from his OT that slowly became see-through and fell apart. I thought it could be the end of the world for him, since he clearly missed it when we had to finally throw it away when it started turning him pink since it was red. :) Thank goodness for amazing friends and their ideas...

The sound in itself calms him when he is extra upset and immediately makes him happy, usually the most during therapies...so we use it to encourage him to do his leg kicks, stretch and reach for toys or other objects, on tummy time since the noise distracts from the fact that he HATES being on his tummy, and really for everything! I make loops to use for his leg and arm stretches, put it into the bottom of a sheet to use for swing therapy. He tolerates everything better with his "crinkly".

We currently keep two Space Blankets on hand, one we keep whole and another I cut pieces off to use in other ways. The pieces I cut off we attach to the handles of toys, tuck in to stuffed animals, and our new discovery is rubber banding to the handle of his spoon to encourage him to self-feed more. I also make "arches" with links to reach up for to encourage reaching during back play. We even just lie him on the huge blanket just to encourage movement...he moves nonstop just to hear his beloved crinkle sound :)

Aside from all of the costly toys we have purchased ourselves and received from our loved ones, this simple blanket that is typically used for emergency situations in the wilderness, etc., has definitely been our own life-saver on many occasions!

Here is a link to purchase a space blanket on ebay.
Space Blanket

Thank you so much to Ali and Brayden for sharing this wonderful toy with us.