Textured holding crosses for sensory play and worship

A while back, I thought it would be good to have some holding crosses for the children to use during our worship time as part of our multi-sensory items but, when I looked at the price of wooden ones, I was a bit put off!

Instead, I decided to go down the fabric route (I got a massive bag of offcuts from Amazon for a really cheap price!) and have made a collection of different sized and textured crosses which are perfect for holding onto.  They don't take long to make and you can stuff them enough to make them quite firm to hold.  It's great that I got such a variety of fabric in the parcel because it means that each of the crosses has its own particular feel and texture.

You will need: Various kinds of fabric- fleece, denim, silky, sequinned etc, needle and thread, stuffing (I used the stuffing from a cheap cushion from IKEA)

1. Cut out two identical cross shapes from a piece of fabric.  

2. Lay the shapes on top of each other and sew around the edges. Don't sew the top edges together yet, but leave a hole there. 

3. Stuff the stuffing through the hole until the whole cross is filled.  Sew up the top edges to seal everything in and your cross is finished!

If you are going to be incredibly neat and tidy, you might sew the cross inside out and turn it right side out before you add the stuffing!