Make a Bean Bag Toss Game
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I've got my new Fourth of July felt pennants to decorate my party space next weekend, so the next thing to focus on is entertainment. I wanted a new game for the kids at my party to play, and since their parents are all fans of the popular game cornhole, I wanted to make something similar with bean bags for the kids. Jo and I brainstormed last week and came up with easiest way to make bean bags ever... using the pockets of old jeans! Then I made some scored targets to toss them at, and now I have a game I can't wait to show all my young friends (and maybe the older ones too!)
To make the bean bags, you'll need the pockets from some old jeans. If you've used your old jeans for another denim projects, like our quilt, then you should have plenty of pockets left over, and this is the perfect way to use them up. Just trim around the back pockets with a pair of scissors, right along the pocket's edges. At the top of the pocket, just cut straight across the top.
You'll end up with pouch that's already sewn shut for you on three sides. Look at that, the work of making a bean bag is almost done for you!
If you want to decorate your pockets, take a few minutes now to paint them using acrylic craft paint.
Since I was making this game for the Fourth of July, I painted a star on each pocket.
After the paint dried, I was ready to fill the bags. I scoured the dry beans section of my grocery store to find a filler that was small and as cheap as possible. The best option available was split green peas, which ended up working perfectly. I filled the denim pockets about 2/3 full of the dry beans, making sure to leave enough room to be able to sew them shut without spilling.
I pinned the pockets closed with a couple of straight pins.
Then I used my sewing machine to sew the seam shut straight across the top.
And with that, the bean bags were done! If you don't have a sewing machine, you could sew the pockets shut by hand. (Or you might even get away with using hot glue, but I don't think they would last very long!)
The other part of this game is the saucers to toss the bags into. You'll need from three to five terra cotta saucers in nested sizes. I used four saucers measuring 6", 8", 10", and 12" for my game.
You can paint the saucers in any color or design you like, to match the occasion. I painted mine in a simple red, white, and blue design. I painted scores on each saucer, with the lowest score for the largest (easiest to hit) saucer, and the highest score for the smallest (hardest to hit) saucer.
To play the game, just line up the saucers with the largest one closest to you, and the smallest one farthest away. The distance between the saucers can vary depending on the age and skill level of those playing. Then have the kids take turns tossing the bags onto the targets of their choice, and score them for any successful hits. Easy and fun!
29 comments so far:
this is such a cool idea! thanks for sharing :)
We do alot of camping in our popup and to the traditional wooden cornhole frames are just to heavy and bulky to haul around. I am planning on using your idea but with twist: cheap dollar store pie tins. They won't be different sizes but they will stack well and not break in our camper. Big plus is how light weight the whole thing will be.
Thanks for the great idea.
dot, thanks!
Kriscake, great idea!
Oh My I LOVE this idea! THanks so very much!!!
Thanks, Becca and luvinthemommyhood!
love it! few questions. how to play, keep score and who wins?
Hi Rachel. You can make up whatever rules you like, depending on the age of the kids playing. A good starting point is to just have each child toss each bean bag once and then add up his or her score. Whomever has the most points after everyone has taken a turn wins!
Hello all! I am a music therapist and I use music paired with colored bean bags all the time to teach colors, and I was thinking that you could paint a target and a bean bag to match. You could also paint numbers on a bag and on the targets. This way its a game AND learning all at the same time!
Jennie, I really like the idea of making it an educational game!
This is so cute! We are going to do this for our 4th of July picnic! I lnked to it at my blog, http://www.squarepennies.blogspot.com. Thanks again for a great craft!
That's great, Maggie! We'd love to see how it comes out :)
Love this!! Thanks for sharing.
I just finished painting the bean bag pockets for our game. Can't wait to share it with the children next week! Thanks for the great ideas!
Cornhole is too big to take camping! I modified this by using plastic saucers (could even use cheap plastic plates) but I drilled a hole in the middle to accomodate a tent stake so that when they throw the bean bag it doesn't move the saucer.
Great idea, Jenae!
We love this game, but we did it with a twist. Instead of counting just points we made the numbers smaller amounts and eveytime the grandkids hit a target they got that many jelly bellies. Like an instant win. Of course we did this after lunch or dinner.
Great idea, Lois! Thanks for sharing.
What a super fun idea and I love the way you incorporated sewing with the bean bags. I've included this tutorial in a little collection I put together... http://darlingadventures.com/?p=999
Thanks!
Thanks for including us in your collection, Ginny!
Such a cute idea....thanks for sharing!
This idea is even good for older adults for a group activity. Maybe give a 1,2,3rd, prize..for total points...
Wow, my mind just really took off with this one. Sew one pant leg and add a handle to make a carry bag for the bean bag pockets. Using additional jean material in various sizes like the targets, appliqué numbers or other ideas on them, then roll them up and store/carry in the other pant leg bag. Not much wasted denim there, totally portable, no breakage, and easy!
Great ideas Gordon. Thanks for sharing!
good idea to play inside or out door and plus point is easy to make and easy to play.
Love the idea! I found 4 different size pie plates at the goodwill store, they stack together and won't break!
The kids. Love it!
Great idea, Marcie!
Bloody Brilliant!!!
being such a novice sewer where my first bean bag project took 2 days (used felt fabric...uggh!) I find this to be a wonderful idea to even use up outgrown pants as well. tks.
Great idea! Going to make this instead of a corn hole game.