— November 5, 2024

Winter is almost here and what better activity to do with our preschooler than to create something useful. My eldest, 5, loves crafts and has even tried his hand at cross stitch. So when I proposed making a blanket as a family he and Mick, 3 years old, were completely on board.

Now we have a beautiful and useful item for reading books together early in the crisp mornings. You can too! Read on for instructions to make a tie blanket and tips to make this accessible for a young preschooler.

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More winter activities for preschool. 

Tying a fleece blanket is the perfect end to a week of lessons about quilts. Those cozy and comforting blankets may be beyond the skill level of a preschooler but a tie blanket is not! With some help from you their little fingers can tie simple square knots. 

Check out Qq is for Quilt if you want to turn this into a complete week of learning about quilts and sewing. Included is a simple sewing activity, a math printable for working with pattern blocks, coloring pages, book suggestions, and more! Click the button below to learn more.

Why should you create a tie blanket with your family?

We read countless hours together so creating a useful item that we can then cuddle under as a family seems pretty perfect to me. There are other benefits that include fine-motor skill development, learning to tie knots, and if doing this with siblings then practicing teamwork. 

This is also an excellent way for a parent who may not enjoy crafts to compromise with a child who does. I like crafts if there is a very specific purpose behind it, so that it produces something useful or pretty. And if it’s simply to be pretty, there had better be a great learning experience behind it. 

For instance, when I was brainstorming activities for Cc is for Caterpillar I remembered making butterflies out of coffee filters in school. A fun craft but there had been no “purpose” behind it other than to make a craft to go with the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. After some brainstorming, I developed the coffee filter butterfly craft to make it more educational. In Cc is for Caterpillar I pair the craft with butterfly books about migration. Then once we have read these books and made our butterflies we go outside and my kiddos have their butterflies “migrate” in a butterfly migration activity.

The tie blanket is not only pretty but useful, below are the instructions to help make it accessible for your child.

How to create a fleece tie blanket with your 3-5 year old.

Materials needed.

The materials needed for creating a fleece tie blanket are:

• Two fleece fabrics, 1.5 yards each. – cheapest to buy in person from a craft store such as Hobby Lobby.
• *Fabric scissors.

*fabric scissors are nice because they cut fleece fabric much easier but you can make due with a regular pair of scissors.

Prepare the fabric and lay out.

You may want to trim off the edges that have defects in them from manufacturing or also called the selvage edge. These are usually a different color, may have stamping on them, or holes. It is up to you to trim this away. Additionally, the sales clerk may not get it exact and excess needs to be trimmed away to make sure the fabrics share the same dimensions. In the picture above you can see the green plaid has a considerable amount left, that is because the it was the end of the bolt and the sales clerk said she would just give us that last bit of fabric free. I removed it before starting and plan to make a rectangle throw pillow.

Now take your two fabrics and lay out where you have ample space. I did this on a large, square coffee table and it was a little difficult when it came to the cutting. However, it was convenient for the boys tying the knots. Lay the first fabric with the right side down and the fabric on top should have the right side facing up. The wrong sides should be facing each other. 

Going forward the fabrics should not separate. When cutting, both fabrics should be cut simultaneously. 

Cutting the fabric.

Choose a corner and cut a square that is 5-6” long. This is how deep you will make each strip around your blanket. Each strip will be 1-2” thick. You can either prepare the entire blanket for tying or take it side by side. 

I chose to cut a square out of a corner, then cut one side of strips, and let the boys tie. Once I showed them how to tie, I was able to then cut the next square and next side of strips while they continued working on the previous side. I recommend this way in case something happens to the fabrics that they are separated or you need to come back to finish it another day. It is not as dire to align everything and match up the strips. 

The nature of this activity is extremely forgiving for error, that is why it is great for preschoolers! You can use a ruler to mark where to cut or simply eyeball it. I did the latter and the blanket turned out wonderful. 

Tying the fringe

Sit down cross legged with your younger preschooler on your lap and hold the two strips in each hand. One strip should be the bottom fabric and the top strip is the matching strip from the top fabric. An older child can work in tandem with you on separate strips. Demonstrate tying a simple square knot. This is essentially the beginning step of tying shoes, done twice. 

I enjoy making it into an anecdote. Strip A is held straight up like a tree. Strip B is a rabbit. The rabbit runs around the tree and then needs to find it’s den which is the hole that is created by going around Strip A (the tree). This will need to be done twice with the same strips.

Slowly demonstrate it a few times while communicating about the rabbit and the tree. After this, invite your young preschooler to hold the strips and try it with help. You will probably need to identify the hole that is created by going around strip B. 

Mick was mostly independent after completing half a side. Marty is capable of tying his shoes so he completed his half after I demonstrated once. Mick wanted to sit in my lap when working whether I was an active participant or not. 

Have them work from one side to the other. 

The boys each started on either end and worked their way into the center. Once one side was completed I then cut the next side while the boys looked at books nearby. 

After the first couple sides Mick checked out and simply played, antagonizing his brother too while Marty worked on the third side with me. Mick came back and helped finish the last side. If big brother had not been there or both kiddos would have checked out, I simply would have folded up the fabrics and put them away until the next day.

Finish by reading books about quilts while using the blanket.

Once the blanket is complete it is ready to use! Cuddle up with the blanket on your laps and read some living books. Here are some favorites of ours that feature quilts: The Quilt Story by Tony Johnston and Tomie dePaola, The Quiltmaker’s Gift by Jeff Brumbeau , and The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy .

What better activity than to have your family bonding during and after? I can’t think of a better one for winter at least. I hope you enjoyed this activity and will try it out in your own home with your kiddo. If you plan to try it or have, leave a comment and let me know if you did it one day or spaced it out over a few and why. How did it go? Let me and others know in the comments. 

Letter of the Week

This activity is one of other cozy activities all centered around quilts, to learn more click the following link. Qq is for Quilt is only one week of the 26-week curriculum, Letter of the Week. This free preschool curriculum includes coloring pages, activities, book suggestions, and so much more. Explore more about Letter of the Week by following the button below.

Tie Blanket

Activity Instructions