Hobbies And Interests
Design a Themed Bean Bag Toss
Kids enjoy role-playing and pretending, so you can take advantage of that by designing a themed bean bag toss game to match your party or event.
If you're having a pirate party, for example, your bean bags can be gold that you're tossing into a treasure chest. A SpongeBob party might have guests throwing Krabby Patties into Squidward's to-go bag. A Christmas party might have kids throwing bean bag gifts into Santa's sack, so he can leave on time.
Building the Bean Bag Toss Game
Bean bag games are either freestanding or lean-to designs. Though the lean-to design is easier to make, you'll need a wall or something else to support it.
Use plywood, which is typically sold in 8-foot x 4-foot sheets.
If you have the skills and tools, create a freestanding game by cutting the plywood in half, making two 4-foot squares. Create a "sandwich board" style game by attaching the two pieces with a set of hinges.
For a lean-to game, simply decorate the entire plywood sheet.
In either case, decorating the board involves the same concepts. Use a base coat or primer. Sketching your design in pencil allows you to correct mistakes and alter designs before paint is applied. Use exterior latex paint or acrylic paint for the design. You can tint latex paint with acrylic craft paint. Use a jig saw or a drill-end hole saw to cut the bean bag holes.
Making Homemade Bean Bags
You can buy bean bags or use Beanie Babies. However, these probably will not match a theme.
If you can sew, you can make homemade bean bags. Use a heavy duty fabric (recycled blue jeans work well) and a very sturdy stitch because durability is the key issue for the outer shell of bean bags.
Place a Ziploc bag into your bean bag shape before you fill it. Doing so accomplishes two things. It protects the beans (or sand) from moisture, which can lead to mold or rot. It also prevents the bag contents from leaking out if the outer fabric is torn.
Fill the inner plastic bags with sand or beans, leaving enough room to seal the plastic bag and sew the outer fabric shut.
Practice tossing the bag around before you make more; the goal here is to be sure you've reinforced it enough.
Keeping Score in a Bean Bag Game
Depending upon the age of your guests, you may choose to stage a bean bag tossing game with or without points.
In a carnival setting, there should be at least three "holes" that the bean bag can land in. Each of these would be valued at a different point level. An alternative approach would be to have one hole and count the number of bean bags successfully tossed into the hole.
To change the difficulty level, have the players stand farther away from the game board. You can also change the difficulty by adjusting the size of the hole or holes. The smaller they are, the more difficult the game will be.
If you decide to go with multiple holes, staple a mesh bag, the kind onions and potatoes are sold in, to the back of the board to "catch" the bean bags.
Have a few different levels of prizes available in a multi-hole game, to reward kids who hit the mark more often.