Have any old t-shirts or scrap cloth lying around?
Why not turn them into a fun game?!?
Rather than spending the big bucks for premade stuff, I love making my own with whatever I can find around the house!
So for Valentine’s Day I made my own heart “bean” bags out of a t-shirt and lentils!
Now I’m not super talented at sewing, so I did this all by hand and to the best of my knowledge 🙂
I traced out the heart onto the shirt with a marker.
I do know you need to pin it! My sewing knowledge goes that far lol
I laid out the shirt so that when I pinned it, there are two layers pinned together. That way I know when I cut out the pieces, they will be the same.
So here are my two layers, still pinned together, ready to be sewed together!
I did a simple hand stitch all around the edge and left about an inch open so you can turn it inside-out.
Once you have it turned inside-out (which is really right-side-out, hiding the marker and the stitches), take a pen or similar item to poke the edges the rest of the way out to get the full heart shape.
Time to fill it up!
Since my stitches are so basic, rice would be too small and come right out. So I used lentils! You can use beans, but I find they make them kind of bulky and heavy for home-made games. If you use a sewing machine, then rice will be just perfect 🙂
I made a little funnel from paper and poured enough lentils in to make it about 2/3 full.
Then I sewed that last open inch shut and VOILA!
To make the game board, I used dollar tree foam poster board.
I traced and cut out three heart holes…
…then decorated it with dollar tree stickers!
To hold it up, I used a hole punch to make holes in the corners and put pipe cleaners through them.
Secure the pipe cleaners to some chairs, and you’re ready to play!
He was SOOO pumped!
This is a great gross motor activity to get them moving, build muscle, and improve coordination!
Note the door snake I used to block the bags from sliding under the couch – highly recommend 😀
SO many cute action shots! He had really good aim!
Too cute hahaha
I’m a sucker for a cute photo op <3
Happy Valentine’s Day!
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