Don't think you can make a weighted bear? Think again.

Making a weighted bear is easy. All you need to do is find a stuffed animal your child will like. Make sure it is a good quality product as it will be holding some weight. Using poly-pellets will give any stuffed animal a new look and feel. The bear on the left is stuffed with polyester fiberfill and the bear on the right with poly-pellets.

For a demonstration model I am using one of our awareness bears (just look at the difference this makes in the bears appearance). I simply found the seam and cut the bear open. I removed as much of the stuffing as possible. I then filled the bear with 4 pounds (2 bags) of poly-pellets (which can be found in the craft section of Wal-mart). After the bear was stuffed I carefully and tightly stitched the bear closed (tight stitching is a must to prevent leakage of the small pellets).

This is the fifth weighted bear I have made for my son. In stressful situations it immediately calms him down. I use it as a regular part of his therapy and have had amazing success with it. Now please note that if you alter a bear sold by another company that company is no longer responsible for that product (but I think most folks know that). The bears pictured to the left work great as weighted bears, Gund and Russ also work great but stay away from the Wal-mart stuffed animals. The ones I tried were made of very thin material and could not hold the weight, constantly springing leaks in all the seams.

Currently I am working on a bear design from scratch that will be weighted and be offered for sale. Unfortunately I am unable to stuff the bears I am selling on the web for you but will provide you will any additional technical support if needed. We will be carrying Gund products starting in April so if you see any particular stuffed animal you want to buy ask me and will get it ordered. 

In our next "how to" article I will be taking you step by step on how to make a weighted blanket. Almost everything I make and sell on this site will have a "how to" article so you can do it yourself. I know this is not a smart idea from a business standpoint, however, to me it is about the CHILDREN!