Cheap bean bag fun all around
May 17, 2009 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under children's activity, craft ideas
Dry beans of all sorts are not only great for inexpensive meals but also good for all sorts of kid-time-fun. Karen’s post on Thrifty Use for Old Jeans got me thinking about jean bean bags. Jean bean bags can be quickly and easily made with old jeans and old beans.
Grab those beans that aren’t looking so hot anymore – the really hard, shriveled kind. Grab some old jeans that are beyond repair. Cut the jeans into small squares, or another shape and stitch them together (wrong side together). Leave a small opening. Stuff with beans and stitch closed. You can decorate them with patches or fabric paint if you like.
Jean bean bags are really nice when compared to basic fabric bags because they’re far more sturdy. If a small tot gets a hold of one, it’s less likely they’ll chew through too. We don’t want that as beans are obviously a choking hazard.
You can make a bunch for a bean bag summer outdoor birthday game even. Grab a large cardboard box. Decorate with a happy face, clown face, whatever you like. Cut a hole in one part of one side of the cardboard box and there you go. You might want to weigh down the inside with some large rocks so that the box doesn’t go flying when kids toss the bean bags at it.
Here are some more fun (and cheap) bean projects to make:
What other thrifty ideas do you have for dried beans?
[image via stock.xchng]
When I was teaching, someone donated a bunch of fabric scraps to my classroom. My principal took them and made bean bags for my preschool class. Some were made with wild prints, but that was ok for bean bags. It was a great use of old fabric. It was nice to have extra things like this around, especially if we had some extra class time to fill.