I have been wanting to buy my children bean bags for a while and never got to it. DIY bean bags turned out to fit my budget and they were pretty easy to make.
 
I have a CD of bean bag toss songs that teach following directions that I used with my own preschool classes when I was teaching. It was a great indoor activity in the heat of Summer, rainy days or the cold of Winter that kept the students focused, but moving to burn their pent up energy.
 
There are countless games that you can play with bean bags (I share one below), but bean bags can cost from $10 for a few to $30 for specialty sets.
 
I am a novice with the sewing machine, but since I have mastered the straight line, I figured I could make some bean bags for my children with leftover scrap fabric.  Here is what I did in case you are interested in making DIY bean bags yourself.

 

Small bag with a drawstring text reads DIY make your own bean bag.

Make Your Own Bean Bags

DIY bean bags from The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide
 
Step 1: Gather some fabric-
 
If you have a scrap fabric bin or basket, look through it for scraps that can be cut into squares of anywhere between 5 and 7 inches.
 
You can find great scrap fabrics in the remnant area of your local fabric store too. These are often super cheap!
 
DIY bean bags from The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide
 

Step 2: What you need-

  • dry beans or rice (one type or a variety)
  • a tape measure or ruler
  • zip top bags (I used quart size)
  • and duct tape (optional)
 
 
DIY bean bags from The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide
 
Step 3: Cut your fabric into squares.
 
You will need two squares per bean bag. I made mine 7 inches square.
 
I use a white crayon to mark my fabric, but you can use a pen or tailor chalk if you have it.
 
Step 4: Place the fabric right sides together and sew along 3 sides to make a ‘pita pocket’.
 
DIY bean bags from The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide
 
Step 4: Put about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of beans or rice in a zip top bag, seal the bag, and if you desire use duct tape to tape the bag. (The bag will not be full, so as in the picture below, you will have excess bag that can be taped down to help it hold it’s shape in the fabric pocket. I did not use the tape.)
 
DIY bean bags from The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide
 
 
Step 5: Place the bag into the fabric pocket. Tuck any excess bag down inside so that it does not bunch up too much. (The bag is used to prevent the beans or rice from absorbing moisture over time that could grow mold.  Mold is an issue in our neck of the woods, so I am taking this precaution to get as much life out of these bean bags as possible.)

DIY bean bags from The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide
 

**Note: It has been 10 years since I made these bean bags, and they are still intact!

 
Step 6: Sew the bean bag closed. I am not an expert seamstress, so I just tucked in the open side, pinned it and sewed a seam across the top.
Step 7: Repeat steps 1-6 until you have as many bean bags as you want.
 
The picture below shows how many bean bags I made within about 30 minutes.  All that it cost was the price of the beans!
 
They’ve been tossed and caught and dropped on the floor many times already and not one has popped. Make your own bean bags for a very simple, very easy one item activity for kids.
 
DIY bean bags from The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide
 
You can even make a bean bag toss game out of a laundry basket or a cardboard box. Here is what our cardboard box bean bag toss game looked like:
 
DIY bag toss game from The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide

Super simple. All you need is a cardboard box and a marker. I added a math element by labeling each flap with ‘5’ and writing ’10’ in the bottom of the box.

Each time the bean bag landed on a flap, the child tossing earned 5 points. If the bag landed in the box, 10 points were earned.

We wrote each person’s score on our chalk board and added up the totals as we went. (Great practice in counting by 5s and 10s!)

 
 
I saw one toss game on Pinterest and added it to my Indoor Gross Motor Activities for Kids board. The game looked like the mouth of a funny monster which would be a more involved but fun indoor bean bag toss activity to create!
 
Have you tried making any DIY toys for kids at home? What is your favorite project so far?
 
Red, small drawstring bag on table. Text reads DIY make your own bean bags.
Make your own bean bags! So easy to sew and stuff DIY bean bags for the kids to play with indoors. These have lasted years!
How to teach a toddler activity free download guide for subscribers to the stay at home mom survival guide.
 
More fun activities to create at home:
 
Homemade Play Dough Puzzle from The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide
DIY felt board made from a brown paper bag from The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide
 
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