Tossing bean bags is a great way to get students speaking and turn taking ( a valuable and essential language skill). You can use them to tell stories, ask and answer questions, respond with “first word you think of…” etc…..
Here’s one example of a Bean Bag activity.
1. Take a large cardboard box and tape one end shut.
2. Turn the box on its side (or wherever the most surface area is) and cut out several holes. Make them different sized, with at least one really big one, and one really small one, just big enough for whatever you use as a bean bag.
3. Paint the box bright colors, or paint giant lips on the holes so it looks like a large mouth that they’re aiming for, or whatever you like.
4. Make bean bags out of little plastic sandwhich bags filled with beans, beads or rice and wrap tape around it to seal it tight.
Now that you’ve constructed your game, make another one if you have a big class and want to divide the class in two. If you already have a small class, just use the one.
5. Make small cards with phrases or vocabulary words on it. Tape one word/phrase per hole, and assign a point value for each hole.
The large holes are the easiest for the kids to hit, so they should have the least point value. The small holes are harder, and should have more points, as well as harder phrases.
6. Stand back and let them throw! The kids get points automatically for saying the correct word or phrase – and get DOUBLE the points for their team if they get the bean bag in the hole!
Modification ideas:
– Move the box further away and make the phrases harder
– Make the holes in a circular shape and have the kids try to go clockwise or in some particular order (they could do a whole convesation if each hole has a different sentence).
