The Fidget Chicks donated over 90 Fidget Mats this week. Our best week ever! Rosie and I went to a Fabulous Event last night in Ft Worth, Texas. The Courtyards at River Park had “Painting with a Twist” and “Free Massage” for guests. Those guests were from Harbor Hospice, Encompass Home Health, Compassionate Healthcare, Renaissance Park, Comfort Keepers and Senior Living Specialists. This week the Fidget Chicks donated more than 90 fidget mats and we established great connections for the future.

Follow us on Facebook and let us know about your experience with these wonderful Sensory Mats. The purpose of posting our Fidget Chick Mission is to create groups of people making these Sensory Mats all across the Nation and get Feedback. To date I am aware of the “Fidget Friends” of Ft Worth. A new group started in Iowa, Washington State, Upper New York, Michigan and Oregon. Please meet with your local churches and clubs. Share our Mission by simply sharing it on Facebook and help us help those in need. These Fidget Mats change lives. Be a part of something wonderful. Join us.

Love and Peace to you.

Li Cross 

The Fidget Chicks make sensory mats for Dementia Patients. We call them Fidget Mats. First we purchase cloth place mats and supplies. Some of the supplies are donated by neighbors and the community.

Next – We gather up these supplies and fill tote bags with goodies. We take these supplies home and sew the objects onto the mats. Then we sew a tag on the mat that reads: “Made with Love by a Fidget Chick”. 

Every Tuesday we meet and share our ideas. We laugh and marvel at the designs each Fidget Chick created. Then we do a Quality Control check on each mat, and bag them in packages of 10. We load them in our cars and deliver them to local Nursing Homes throughout North Texas. We also mail these Fidget Mats to individuals who want them. We ask that the recipient pay postage as it gets expensive to mail them. A 10 pack can cost $13 to $18 to mail.

These photos are approved by the families and much appreciated also. The smile on their face when they see a Fidget Mat is priceless. Sometimes the patient will speak (even after being silent for months). Sensory Mats similar to these are sold elsewhere for upwards of $40 each. The Fidget Chicks donate ours. We know the family is already suffering. We cannot charge a fee for the love we put into them. We do accept cash donations to help purchase supplies. We also accept donations of cloth place mats, zippers, beanie babies, doll clothes and gadgets of all sorts. We don’t put keys on the mats because they make the patient want to go home. We never place sharp objects on them and give each mat a stress test before bagging them.

Visit our facebook page: (Fidget Chicks) for comments and updates. Read more about Fidget Mats in this eMagazine. It is my mission for women all across America to see this idea and share it. Let’s fill every Nursing Home with Fidget Mats for the patients who just sit in a wheelchair and stare into space. Let’s bring them a smile and a memory. Donations to help our Mission are much appreciated. 

The Fidget Mat Mission is growing and God is all over it. This week some of us Fidget Chicks were able to meet with the Christian Women’s Connection in Arlington Texas. As we arrived, I noticed a table full of “Fidget Mats.”  Looking closely, I realized that our group didn’t make these. They were hand made by a sister group called “Fidget Friends.” Linda Dunson was visiting Granbury and happened to see my Presentation on my Fidget Mat Mission. She went home and contacted ladies in her area and started a sister Fidget Mat Group. This is what God intended when we started this mission. I hope that pods of Fidget Mat Makers pop up all over the Country.

Do you want to change lives? Clean out your craft closet, your junk drawer, and make some of these wonderful mats. Contact men or women you know that have a sewing machine and form Fidget Groups in your town. We meet once a week to exchange ideas, gadgets and socialize. Then a couple times a month we go to Goodwill or other Thrift Stores, Garage Sales and neighbors’ Craft Rooms. This Hobby is very rewarding for the creator of the Mats and the recipients. Once you have 10 or 20 mats made up, take them to your local Nursing Homes or Assisted Living. Give them to the Activity Director or Speech Therapist. They will fall in love with the mats and then give them to the residents (patients.) The blessing I receive is beyond anything I’ve ever done in charity work. These mats bring back memories, give a sense of touch, and bring a smile to a loved one who probably hasn’t smiled in months. I don’t charge for these mats. I donate them. If I need to ship them across the state or country I ask for a monitary donation to help with costs of shipping. We use a “Nextdoor” social media site to encourage neighbors to donate gadgets and cloth place mats and more than half of our supplies come from these donations. Your local YMCA or Community Center may allow you to place a bin in their lobby to collect gadgets for the mission. 

I encourage you to give this some serious thought. Share this story with friends, meet with friends and give your group a name. Then start making a difference in your town. My mom and I started this mission one fidget mat at a time. We’ve now donated over 2,000 Fidget Mats in Texas, Washington and Michigan.

Feel free to contact me for more information. li@licross.com.

Follow us on Facebook. “Fidget Chicks” Granbury, Texas. 

Left photo is the Fidget Friends of Fort Worth, Texas.

Right photo is the Fidget Chicks of Granbury, Texas.

These wonderful “Fidget Mats” are in high demand. I made some and took them to the local Nursing Homes and the patients are loving them! I sent a community email out to announce that I have them available and was inundated with requests for the mats for their loved ones. Who knew we had such a need for an “Activity mat for dementia patients”? They are also great for Alzheimer’s, Stroke and Heart Attack Patients. 

The objects on my mats are durable, with no sharp edges, and they have soft fabric to touch. Each mat has a zipper, snaps or buttons to give hand-eye coordination, and a Cross to help remind them of their faith.  I attach custom labels so the care-givers can easily contact me for more. Feel free to copy my idea and share them in your community. I do not charge for these mats. They are my personal  outreach to dementia patients. 

Fidget Mats for Dementia Patients (Instructions)

(Also good for stroke patients and children with disabilities)

I encourage you to copy my ideas and make these mats for dementia patients. There is a great need for them and it’s not about making money, it’s about changing lives. I never charge for these mats.

Use plain colored cloth placemats. Busy prints can be confusing.

Select mats thin enough to sew through. Use a sewing machine for everything you attach. (Buttons can be hand sewn). Tacking by hand may not be strong enough for continuous pulling and tugging.

Zippers, Keychains, Tiny Socks, Patches, Buttons, Small Cloth Dolls and Baby Shirts work well on these mats.

Flat Cloth “Shoe laces” make great cording for attaching items.

Attach a “Cross” to each mat to remind them of their faith.

Don’t put “keys” on the mats….it makes them want to go home.

Be careful not to use anything that may break and injure the patient.

You can take fabric and make a “pocket” to sew on the mat and place a keychain in the pocket for fun. Be sure to attach the keychain so it doesn’t   get lost.

You can also make a tent from fabric and sew the zipper on top of the tent to appear to open the tent. Zipper will work freely too.

Alzheimer’s patients don’t just lose their memory, they lose touch with the world and it’s so hard on both the patient and the family. My mother told me about this Fidget Mat she made for the Nursing Home where my dad was. I took the idea and gave it some thought, then I dug out my sewing machine and purchased some quilted placemats and started making them. Some are specifically for a woman’s memory and some are for men. I was careful not to put anything sharp or pointed on them (for the patient’s safety) and nothing they could put in their mouth and choke on. I wanted to use items that would spark a memory, like a whistle, a wooden thread spool, a car key, a ruler or a baby bootie. Then I wanted something to give them manual dexterity like a zipper, buttons or a shoelace to tie. I attached the ruler with Velcro so they could re-attach it and keep it with the mat. I also added several swatches of bright cotton fabric sewn together at one end, so they could flip through them and see the pretty fabric swatches. Anything to help them think and remember. My trademark is placing a Cross or miniature bible on each mat to remind them of their Lord and Savior.  

If you would like one of these wonderful mats, contact me at www.licross.com and I will get one to you. I am charging $15 each with FREE Shipping. Li Cross.