Bean bag games are easy to setup for kids of all ages. Toddlers and preschoolers will especially like tossing and catching bean bags in these fun activities.

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Why do kids love bean bag games? Maybe because they get to toss and catch in fun ways with few (if any!) rules.

And they can easily play independently, or with one or more friends. 

Why should we play bean bag games with kids? For all the right reasons!

Bean bag games.....

• are boredom busters.
• use muscles from head to toe.
• engage early skills - including gross motor/fine motor/coordination/social.
• are simply fun!

The best part is, bean bag games are easy to set up, and are practically mess free.

You can even make your own bean bags with easy tutorials included in this post.

The games in this roundup have minimal setups, using everyday materials. There are more than fifteen ways to play, including easy tutorials for making your own bean bags.

The activities include games of toss, a scavenger hunt, a freeze game, and even some simple science!

Bean bag games for kids

You can easily adapt the games and activities for supplies you have on hand, and for ages and skill levels of the participants.

Engagement is key to supporting early learning skills. We can encourage participation with fun activities - like bean bag games - that kids can't resist.

Keep instructions to a minimum, and play to the max!

Let's start the fun by making our own bean bags.

Instructions for making bean bags

Bean bags can be as simple as sealable sandwich bags filled with a soft filler like cotton balls. Sturdier bean bags need a more durable fabric covering and heavier fillers like beans and rice.

You can easily make bean bags with the instructions below.

A variety of bean bags, using different colors and textures for both the fabrics and the fillers, adds interesting sensory play and STEM play to bean bag games. 

This is our basic bean bag tutorial using denim squares. You'll also find options for fillers.

Homemade bean bags can be designed to correspond to an event or holiday.

We created these heart shaped bean bags for a Valentine theme.

Activities using bean bags

Games of toss

• Cover recycled coffee cans with different colors of construction paper.
  
  Add numbers or letters to the cans for additional skills engagement.

• Create a game with a theme for holidays and special events.
  
  Choose red containers for a Valentine themed game of toss with heart shaped bean bags.

• Cardboard rings are easy to make for another idea for a fun game of toss, indoors or outdoors.
  
  Place the cardboard rings as targets on the floor.
  
  Add letters or numbers inside the rings to support more early learning skills.

• Create targets with craft foam to use with character bean bags for more games of toss.
  
  We used a turtle bean bag with lily pad targets.

• Targets can also be made with lines or circles of masking tape on the floor.
  
  Stand at the starting position and toss bean bags toward the targets.

Game of catch

Fill bean bags with cotton balls. Seal the bags with two way tape.

These bean bags provide will be especially soft and squishy for added sensory fun.

Aim and topple

Set up a few milk cartons or cereal boxes, or other clean packaging, in rows. This game is similar to our game of bowling using recycled snack containers.

Kids aim at the containers to knock them over.

Science play

1) Weigh bean bags on a digital or analog scale.

2) Stack bean bags one on top of the other. 

Hide and seek/warm and cold

Hide one bean bag.

Players say 'warm' (near) or 'cold' (far) as the finder looks for the bean bag.

Scavenger hunt

Hide several bean bags of different colors.

Place containers in matching colors at a distance from a starting line.

Participants stand at the starting line with the bean bags they find, then toss them into the matching containers.

Obstacle course

Jump over a series of bean bags placed on the floor.

Freeze game

Toss a bean bag in the air and catch it as music plays.

Freeze in place when the music stops.

Toe to toe

Push a bean bag along a masking tape line with your toe to the finish line.

Alternate toes as you walk.

Balancing act

1) Walk along a masking tape line with a bean bag balanced on your head.

2) Walk to the finish line with a bean bag balanced on a spoon. Drop the bean bag into a container. For additional play, use different colors of bean bags to drop into the corresponding container color at the finish line. 

Fun with bean bag games

Bean bag games don't have to be complicated to be fun, as well as beneficial.

These games - with simple setups, few rules, and maximum fun! - are invitations to engage in hands-on learning through play.

Keep a few favorites in your toolkit for easy boredom busters with the kids.