Winter Games - Indoor Herbal Bean Bags

Okay it has been cold and wintry and dark for two months.  Winter came early this year in the Midwest so by now I am dying for activities.  I am planning my garden, ordering my plants, but that is all passive, I need something to DO!  And if you have kids around the house, they probably do too!

So here is a great idea.  Make some herbal bean bags.  You can place an herbal mixture with the beans and the scent they give off as you throw them around can lift your spirits as well as give you something active to do, both the making and the using.

Steps to make Herbal Bean Bags:

1. Cut a piece of cotton fabric into 7-inch by 7-inch square.  Then fold in half, wrong-side out.  Stitch along three of the edges using very small stitches.
2. Turn the bag inside out and fill half-full with beans (such as kidney or lentils.)  Add 2 tablespoons of dried (not powdered) herbs.
3. Finally, turn under the edges of the open end and sew the bag closed using very small stitches.

Games to play:

1.                  Draw a circle on a piece of paper and stand with your back to it.  Toss the bean bag over your shoulder to see if you can get it into the circle.  Fun to play with three bean bags to see if you can get all three in or in competition to see who can get the most in.

2.                  Set up paper towel or toilet paper rolls and play 9 pins by tumbling the bean bag into them.

3.                  Bowls are a bit tougher a target.  Cereal bowls or paper bowl that you must land in perhaps several in a row like Bozo buckets could all be fun and improve eye-hand coordination too!

4.                  Now I am not recommending breaking the house, but you can also suspend a ring (like a hula hoop) from the ceiling and toss beanbags through it.

Have fun!
Marcy Lautanen-Raleigh