Games with Bean Bags

Bean bag twirl: Have your child position his/her fingers under the beanbag, holding it level. Keeping the beanbag level, slowly rotate the beanbag 360 degrees, using the fingers and thumb to manipulate it.

1. Let the child hold the beanbag with the fingers of his/her right hand. Have your child raise his/her arm straight above his/her head and drop the bag. Your child must catch the beanbag with his/her right hand before it reaches the floor.
2. Repeat above game with the left hand.
3. Repeat the first game but let your child drop the beanbag with his/her right hand, catching the beanbag with his/her left hand. Repeat, switching hands.

Starting in the basic table position, place a beanbag on your child’s tummy and ask him/her to walk backwards, like a crab, to a destination and back again. As this activity is quite demanding, set a short distance (1-3m) for your child’s first attempt.

Let your child balance a beanbag on his/her head while walking.

1. Let your child balance the beanbag on his/her head while walking along a straight line or on a row of bricks.
2. Alternate by letting your child balance the beanbag on different parts of his/her body, e.g. hand, arm or shoulder.
3. Let your child balance the beanbag on his/her head while hopping or jumping.
4. Let your child balance the beanbag on alternative parts of his/her body while standing up, sitting down and then turning around without letting the beanbag fall.
5. Place the beanbag on top of your child’s head. Let him/her bend his/her head forward, catching the beanbag in both hands. Do this again, but this time catching the beanbag with the knees and then with the feet.
6. Let your family stand in a circle. Your child starts by placing the first of three beanbags on his/her head, walking to the person next to him/her and shaking the beanbag off his/her head. The second person catches the beanbag and places it on his/her head, taking the beanbag to the next person. The last player places the beanbag in the bucket.
7. Your child then places the second beanbag on his/her shoulder, under his/her chin etc. Play goes around as before until all three beanbags are in the bucket.

Throw the beanbag to your child; let your child catch the beanbag with both hands.

1. Vary the distance and the height of the throw.
2. Let your child catch the beanbag with one hand.
3. Let your child throw the beanbag into the air and catch it with both hands.
4. Let your child throw the beanbag into the air and try to stop it with different parts of his/her body, e.g. the arm, shoulder, head, leg, ankle etc.
5. Let your child throw the beanbag into the air and:
6. – Clap hands before catching
7. – Turn around before catching
8. – Touch the ground before catching.
9. – Clap behind, in front of or above his/her head before catching.
10. Let your child throw the beanbag forwards, running and catching the beanbag before it falls.
11. Let your child throw the beanbag with the right hand, catching the beanbag with the left hand (now change hands).
12. Stand opposite your child. Throw beanbags to each other while gradually increasing the distance and height of the throw. (You should each have one beanbag tossing them to each other).
13. Piggy in the middle: let your child stand in the middle between you and a sibling/your partner. Throw the beanbag to each other over your child’s head. S/he must try to catch the beanbag. If s/he manages to do so, the person who threw the beanbag becomes the “piggy”.

Aim and throw the beanbag into a box or waste paper bin.

1. Gradually increase the throwing distance.
2. Hold a hoola-hoop in the air –let your child throw the beanbag through the hoola-hoop, holding the hoola-hoop at different heights.
3. Throw the beanbag over a hoop or rope into a target such as a box or bucket on the ground.
4. Hang a target on the washing line. See if your child can hit the target with the hoola hoop.

Play “skittles” with your beanbag. Plastic cold drink bottles (filled with a little sand) and placed in a row on the ground makes excellent skittles.

Place the beanbag on the floor in front of your child. See how many ways your child can move it forwards, backwards and sideways without using his/her hands. (Can you push it with your nose, your knee or your shoulder? Perhaps you can pull it with your mouth?)

1. Let your child pick the beanbag up with his/her toes and then drop it into a box.
2. Place the beanbag on your child’s foot. See how high your child can flip the beanbag.
3. Now let your child flip the beanbag off his/her foot and catch it with one/both hands.
4. Place the beanbag on your child’s foot and let him/her swing his/her foot backwards and forwards without dropping the beanbag.
5. Jump over the beanbag – forwards, backwards and then sideways.
6. Run and leap over the beanbag.
7. Rest one hand on the beanbag. Move quickly around the beanbag like a coffee grinder. Change hands.

Let your child place the beanbag on any part of his/her body. Let your child wriggle around and catch the beanbag as it falls to the ground.

1. Let your child hold the beanbag between his/her elbows and see how far s/he can jump.
2. Now let your child hold the beanbag between his/her feet, ankles, knees etc.
3. Place the beanbag between your child’s feet, ankles, knees etc. and see how far s/he can roll.

Let your child lie on his/her back. Place the beanbag between his/her feet. See how high your child can toss the beanbag.

1. Place a box/bucket at your child’s head. Let him/her place the beanbag in the box/bucket with his/her feet.

Spread 5 or 6 beanbags in a row on the ground. Let your child walk on the beanbags.

1. Let your child jump from one beanbag to another.

Red Indian Game:

Let your child and his/her friends/siblings sit in a circle. The “Red Indian” is blindfolded, sitting in the centre of the circle with a beanbag next to him/her. One child sneaks up quietly and tries to steal the beanbag from the “Red Indian”. If the “Red Indian” hears him/her s/he points in the direction of the sound. If s/he points directly at the “thief” s/he is allowed to stay “Red Indian”. However, if s/he does not hear the “thief”, the “thief” becomes the “Red Indian.”