Hobbies And Interests
Cornhole
Cornhole--sometimes dubbed corn toss, beanbag toss, soft horseshoes or Indiana horseshoes--stands as perhaps the most popular beanbag pastime. A game with primarily southern American heritage, cornhole plays out in a style similar to horseshoes; players toss beanbags into a simple platform with a hole in its center. Tossing a bag into the hole scores three points, while landing on the platform nets one point. The American Cornhole Association recommends tossing from a distance of about 30 feet and playing to a score of 21. While various retailers sell pre-made cornhole platforms or sets, platforms can be inexpensively made from a variety of common objects. A sturdy sheet of cardboard, particleboard or plywood propped by concrete or wooden blocks will suffice, as long as a beanbag-sized hole is cut in the center.
Tic-Tac-Toe
Beanbag tic-tac-toe brings the traditional pen-and-paper game into the third dimension. Players toss beanbags onto a large mat or drawing of a three-square-by-three-square tic-tac-toe board on the ground. Just as in the traditional game, the first person to land three beanbags—marked with different colors, Xs or Os—on the grid in a diagonal, horizontal or vertical row wins. Players agree on a standard throwing distance and stand on any side of the playing board to make their shots. Bags that land on lines or in the same square as other bags don't count. To create this game on the cheap, simply use masking tape to create a tic-tac-toe grid large enough to accommodate beanbags on an indoor or outdoor ground surface; this same tape can mark the bags with Xs or Os. When playing on a concrete surface, use sidewalk chalk to create your grid.
Bowling
Beanbag bowling mimics the traditional ball-and-pin bowling on a smaller, simplified--not to mention cheaper--scale. Players need only a smooth surface, one beanbag per bowler and four to 10 lightweight “pins.” Standing at an agreed-upon distance, players slide their bags at the arranged pins, competing to knock over the largest amount and taking turns as pin-setters. Younger players might user fewer pins and a simple greater-than scoring system, while older players progress to 10 pins and traditional bowling scoring. Laminate, tile, concrete and wooden floors work well as a bowling surface, as does a simple strip of lightweight plastic. Numerous household objects stand in for value-priced pins, including empty milk jugs, two-liter soda bottles, aluminum cans and cardboard paper towel tubes.