One thing to try if your kid is real young is the good ol' Girl Scout Sit-up-on (there are many different spellings of this). We had our Brownie troop do this many years ago. It is a floor pillow that is made for the girls to sit upon at meetings. We made our by cutting vinyl tablecloths as the fabric (I've also seen vinyl wallpaper used). Use a paperhole punch to make lacing holes all around the squares of tablecloth, which has been cut to the size you want for the pillow. The "thread" can be yarn, ribbon, or string. The stuffing is traditionally folded newspapers. These last longer than you would think, but you definately want to toos it out once it 'shows its age'. The hardest part is definately punching the holes. I am sure you can find a multitude of directions on-line, or make up your own using info from this video.

Oh, my gosh Marie, your comment about sit-upons in Girl Scouts brought back an old memory that I had completely forgotten! I don't remember what we filled ours with way back then (newspapers doesn't sound familiar).

It's much easier to buy a large pillow form available at craft stores and measure the material, cut and sew to fit the form.

Eliminating the pillow form allows the child to be less worried about getting the sides straight and cut exactly right. This is just a fun way to teach them some stitching and plumping the pillow is actually a lot of fun as well!