Bean bags are great for all ages, and there are a million and one games to play with them. They are easy to make and can be customized for different holidays, like these Halloween Bean Bags.
You will need:
- Felt
- Glue (I prefer a glue gun)
- Dry Beans or Peas (split peas work great)
- Scissors
Good to have:
- Cookie cutters to trace
- Pen or Marker
- Funnel
- Googly eyes
- Embellishments to decorate your bean bag
The Project:
Simply draw or trace any basic Halloween shape on a piece of felt twice, then cut it out. Glue three quarters of the shape shut, leaving a large enough opening to stuff the bean bag with the peas or beans. Fill the bean bag and glue it shut. You can decorate your beanbags any way you desire!
Tips:
- The more simple the shape, the better. Of the four pictured, the best for playing with is the pumpkin. The other shapes are really stiff and rigid, but cute enough that the kids will still happily play with them.
- The larger, the better. Small shapes don’t fill as comfortably, and they feel really stiff and hard longer. The glue makes the edges really rigid on small shapes, but isn’t as noticeable on larger shapes. If you can make it larger than a child’s hand, preferable about the size of an adult’s hand, they really turn out much better. Sadly, I ALWAYS forget this and trace my cookie cutters as they are, rather than enlarging the shape, so my shaped bean bags are always hard feeling. Argh!
- I like to glue the bean bags most of the way on my own before involving my kids. My son’s favorite part is pouring the beans through a funnel into the bag! We make a few at once so that he can move on to stuffing the next one while I close the one he’s just finished stuffing. His portion of this project moves quickly, so be ready for the kids to be done first!
- See Basic Bean Bags for more tips on making bean bags.
