New Idea

Unadorned mats are easier to stack and store.

Our sew-ins produce lots of mats that I have to store until I "find them homes". With all the attachments on (beads, stuffed animals, etc.) they seemed to take up quite a bit of room. I couldn't stack them very deep because it could smush the stuffed animals and yarn items.

After a one of our sew-ins we had several mats that did not have the attachments on yet. I found that they were much easier to store and I didn't have to worry about the attachments flattening from being stacked. The mats are designed so that the items are clipped on so they can be removed for cleaning. When I get ready to deliver mats it only takes me a few minutes to get them ready by clipping on the attachments.

Let the recipient select the attachments

Recently I was contacted by a woman from Sammy's House which is "a special place for special children". It is is a not-for-profit agency that provides services for children who are medically fragile and/or developmentally delayed in inclusive learning environments with typically developing peers. She wanted to have a few mats to see how well they would work with the kids. I took a stack of mats and a box of stuffed animals, yarn bundles, squeeze toys, and other attachments. She selected and attached the items she felt would work best with these kids.

So, you might want to try letting recipients "build their own" mats. Let them pick out what they want to attach.