Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Bean Bag Races
Linda writes: "Beanbags are easy to make and fun to play with! My daughter wanted "beanbag races" for her 6th birthday party and of course I waited till a few days beforehand to actually try to buy beanbags. Both Scholar's Choice and Toys R Us have them available for order but none in the store. So, off to Atlantic Fabrics. I bought some Fat Quarters (pre-cut squares of gorgeous fabric suitable for quilts) in a nice all-over pattern in pretty colours. If you aren't fussy, of course, this would be a good use for leftover fabric.
I made myself a square cardboard pattern 15 cm x by 15 cm, and quickly cut the squares of fabric. I sewed them around, leaving about 6 or 7 cm open on one side to fill. My daughter enjoyed filling most of them using brown rice and a funnel - I chose the brown rice because it was about the cheapest thing at Bulk Barn; actual beans also do work! The bags were easy to close with a little hand sewing. About 1 cup of rice was used for each bag.
At the party, the girls had races going a very short distance carrying the bean bag in anything but a hand - they quickly crowd-sourced that the easiest way was on a shoulder, or a back (and then staggered doubled over) but it was fun to see the ways they tried it! You can make it an everyone's-a-winner game by forming two lines like a relay race and having each child go to the back of the opposite line after a turn, just keep it going as long as there is interest. And the beanbags then went in each girl's treat bag to go home.
At my daughter's preschool last year they sometimes did sort of synchronized/guided play with beanbags, to a CD instructor that coached them along, telling them to put the beanbag on various body parts etc. This was done in a circle and obviously helped in following instructions, co-ordination etc.
We also did egg and spoon races (with hard boiled eggs) and Tape the tail on the donkey. My homespun princess insisted that I draw the donkey and she coloured it rainbow colours. Wow, I loved getting in touch with my inner artist a few hours before the guests arrived. What saved me there was going to Microsoft Clip Art, downloading a few donkey pictures and asking which she liked best – then I just copied it freehand on a Bristol board, imperfect to me but lovely to her! These were fun activities that cost almost nothing but the 5 and 6 year olds enjoyed them!"
Thanks Linda!Labels: Playtime
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