Affordable weighted therapy dolls for autistic children

Hi Everyone,

I’ve been trying to figure out a way to create a weighted therapy doll(or dolls) for my classroom for my student’s who have autism. It has to be safe and affordable where it will probably be treated fairly rough and get very dirty. I had someone give me some older style cabbage patch kids in which I took apart and I think the body will make a good cuddle baby body. I just have to figure out an idea for a head. I was thinking maybe I could get a few of the twin “Lots to Cuddle” babies and use the heads from these. I was planning to use clean play sand to weigh the body (but just in the torso). Has anyone ever created a weighted therapy doll for this purpose? If so any ideas to add to mine above would be most welcome.

Thanks!

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That sounds like a good idea! You could also use spare reborn heads lightly painted on cuddle bodies
I haven’t made any babies like this before, but I would like to in the future.

Good luck! I’m sure the kids will appreciate them no matter what :slight_smile:

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Sounds like a good idea. You could try reborn heads, but the vinyl does tend to be softer than on play dolls. Maybe it won’t hold up that well?
If you use play doll heads, cuddle bodies and sand it will be very cheap. Just check for leaks every now and then. :stuck_out_tongue:

If you check ebay and type in “berenger lot” you can sometime get really good deal on a bundle of dolls.

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Thanks for the ideas I want to go to the thrift store and see what I can find.

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If you can catch them, the seconds regular BB heads would work great.

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