Blanket Time--Edited to add a little more

Adopting a 2 and 3 year old to go along with our 1 and 4 year olds is possibly the most challenging thing we've ever done.  Adopting is challenging, adopting two at once is challenging, adopting non-related children at the same time is challenging, and simply having four young children is very challenging.  I'm constantly looking for ways to improve the way we do things so that things aren't chaotic ALL the time. 

This week we have started "Blanket Time".  It's something I've thought about doing for a long time, but now that we have four small kids and things can get out of hand without much direction, I decided it would be a good time to start.  We've just started doing it this week, and overall things are going very well during that time.  I've taken things I've read and heard from other places and people and found a system that is working for us.  I set up four small blankets in the living room as far apart as possible (which isn't very far apart) and put a toy or activity on each one.  I then put one child on each blanket (I choose to keep down on the whining over who gets what first) and set the timer for 15 minutes.  When the timer goes off, the kids do a quick clean up of their blanket space and rotate.

Things that are going well:
--It's a relatively quiet time during our day.  There is no bickering. :)
--Each of the kids know that they will get a chance to play at each blanket which means they aren't whining about who starts where. :)
--It gives each of the kids some individual playtime without the threat of another child coming to take away their toys.
--It gives the kids a chance to play with the toys that are often out of reach in a structured, supervised setting  (such as beads as they are unsafe for the boys if I am not sitting right there with them).
--When the final timer goes off, the kids are doing a great job cleaning up their "last" blanket and putting things away.

Things that are challenging:
--Finding activities that are fun for all four kids.
--Keeping Kai (the youngest) on his blanket for the full time.  The other three are doing great!

My requirements:
--Using activities that all of the kids can enjoy.
--Mixing up the activities so that we have a combination of things that are just fun and things that work on developmental skills.
--Using activities that are easy to take out and easy to put away (for my own sake and so that the kids are able to clean up their own area quickly before moving on to the next).

Here are pictures from a couple days this week.

The room set up with four blankets and four kids.

Stacking cups and peg puzzles.

Beading with small beads for the girls.

Simple puzzles.

Larger beads for the boys and Leap Frog Fridge Phonics and Word Whammer.

Mr. Potato Head and Leap Frog again.

Little People House, Farm, people, animals, cars, etc.  Tobey actually sat here for 15 minutes without playing.  Maybe next time.

Duplos.  I'm thinking about adding small Legos to the mix so that the girls could choose either one.

Large beads and small beads on the same blanket so that the girls had a choice.  I removed the small ones when the boys were on the blanket.