Here’s something fun to do with all those single socks, or if kids have outgrown them: make sock bean bags. Sock bean bags are fun for all kinds of things.
Great for toddlers (supervision necessary in the unlikely case the sock opens up). Give them a plastic container from the cupboard or a box and they can squish and throw the bags in and out.
School Holidays/Weekend Family Fun/Parties
There are heaps of fun games you can do with bean bags. Just google ‘bean bag games’ for ideas. I’ll include 11 below.
2. Bean Bag Throw
Mark a throw line and toss bean bags into a bucket, basket, box or tub.
3. Bean Bag Target
Use chalk to mark a target on concrete. From a throw line, try and get as close as possible to the target.
4. Bean Bag Balance
Lay a piece of rope or wood on the ground and balance across it with a bean bag on your head.
5. Hot Potato
This is a classic! Get a group of kids (or adults) sitting in a circle. Pass a bag around until the music stops. The person who still has the bean bag has to sit in the middle. Continue until the last person is left and declared the winner.
6. Naughts and Crosses
Mark a 9 square board on concrete with chalk (like this) or with masking tape on carpet inside. Two players can use 5 bean bags each to play the game. If you don’t have bean bags of the same colour, just wrap around a section of coloured tape around the top to distinguish the bags.
Throw bean bags from one to another. Great fun for the backyard.
8. Stuck in the Mud
Each player balances a bean bag on their head, keeping it balanced as they walk around. If the bag falls off, the player must freeze. To get “unstuck” another player must pick up the bag and put it back on their head.
9. Feed the Beast
Draw a face of a person or animal on a big cardboard box or card. Cut a section for the mouth, and “feed” the beast by throwing the bean bags from a line.
10. Scoop Catch
Make a scoop out of an empty 2 litre milk bottle by cutting out a top section near the handle (ensuring to keep the handle in tact). Check out this post for more detailed instructions. This becomes the scoop.
11. Knock the Bottles
Recycle empty bottles, and fill with a little water (as a weight: the more water, the harder it is). Set up bottles on a box and throw bean bags to see how many you can topple.
How to make
Materials: Sock & Beans/Lentils/Rice/Barley
Note: I used children’s socks sized 9-12 that were on a clearance but any regular socks can be used. It will just change the size of the bean bags slightly.
a. Turn sock inside out.
b. Tie a knot just below the heel line.
c. Turn sock back the right side showing.
d. Leave enough room at the top to tie a tight knot and it’s finished. Tip: Tighten the topknot every now and again, and for a safe guard, also use a hair band under the knot for a double fastening.