I decided to use a frog since there are so many stuffed animals that are more girly and I wanted to give an option for boys. I found my Webkinz frog at Dollarama for $3 and there were some other stuffed animals available for lower prices. I like the Webkinz ones because the stitching is strong enough to handle the weight and extra stuffing.
I used a seam ripper to open the stitching at the frog's rear and pulled some of the stuffing out. I set the stuffing aside to be used later.
For filling, I used some pool sand that I had laying around. You can use anything with weight like rice or dried beans or peas, play sand, grain, or anything else nontoxic that you can find. I put the sand in small "snack size" zippered baggies so that it would be contained.
I stuffed the little baggies of sand into the middle of the frog, leaving some stuffing all the way around to keep it feeling soft. I then stuffed in the stuffing that I had set aside, just to make sure the frog would still be cuddly. I sewed the frog shut.
I chose to remove the tags while I had the seam undone as I know that tags can really bother some people on the spectrum, and some people in general!
The frog works quite well as a weighted lap buddy and is much neater looking, in my opinion. Anyway, it is another option for people looking for weighted products and it really is easy to make.
