Bean Bags

Physical

Items required: you will need several felt beanbags in the shape of flowers. These are easy to make (a design follows). Stuff two with dry beans, two with plastic grocery bags, and two with cotton or batting.

You will also need a basket with no handle.

Gather participants around the table and perform the greeting. Bring out the basket of flowers. Present one flower at a time explaining what it is: “This is a red felt flower”. Present the flower to one participant and ask that person to hold it. Bring out a second lower and the the same with a second participant and then a third an fourth until all the flowers are on the table. Ask participants to squeeze their flower and feel the softness or the texture. Then ask individuals to toss their flowers to another player: throw them, slide them, or hand them to other participants.

Place the empty basket in the middle of the table. ask the participants to take their flower and throw it into the basket. Move the basket closer if necessary so the participant can get the flower inside. Have participants throw flowers into the basket several times each.

Cognitive

Items required: felt flower bean bags of various colors. Bee bean bags.

Displaying one flower at a time, ask the color. If no answer is forthcoming, give the answer and reinforce it by showing each participant the flower as you repeat the color. Do this with each flower.

Place two of the flowers in front of one participant. Ask that individual to put one certain flower in to the basket, which you then present to them. “Put the red flower in the basket”. Do not allow a wrong response. If the participant begins to make an incorrect choice, remove the basket and repeat the color requested. “I need a red flower. Do you have a red one?” Help them make the correct choice. Then request the second flower by color. Move to the next participant, place two flowers in front of that person and perform the same requests. Continue through all the flowers.

Intersperse a request for a bee. You may also pull out a bee as a surprise item and ask, “What is this?” Give the bees to different players. When drawing a bee from the basket, you can ask, “Is this a flower?” “Is this a bee?” “What color is the bee?”

When all flowers are in the basket, draw them out again, one at a time. Hold up the one flower and ask, “What color is this?” If there is no answer, add, “This is red”. Then try again. “What color is this”. If again no answer, say “This is red” and give the flower to one participant and pull a second one from the basket Continue until all flowers are back in the hands of the participants. To close, hand the basket around simply as that players return the flowers to the basket.

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Physical

Items required: felt bean bags of different colors, in the shape of frogs (pattern follows), a piece of green felt with a 14 inch diameter (doesn’t need to be exact) with a bright pink flower in the middle.

Place box of bean bags and felt lily pad on the floor. Gather all your participants around the table and greet each one by name, eye contact, and touch.

Bring up one bean bag and share it with one of the participants. Help them hold the bean bag and feel the softness of the felt and the heaviness of the beans. Pass the bean bag to the next participant and do the same. Continue until each player has held the bean bag. (At this point you are not concerned about the “frog” label. Participants are simply encouraged to physically relate to the object.)

Once everyone has handled the bean bag, bring up all the others and place at least one in front of each participant. Put the “lily pad” in the center of the table and ask participants to toss their bean bag onto the lily pad.

Remove the lily pad and ask participants to toss or slide their frogs to other players across the table. End the activity by asking them to throw their frogs into a basket or box.

Cognitive

Items required: felt bean bag frogs of various colors, felt lily pad.

Gather one bean bag and show it to each participant asking each to look at the frog. Having them touch the frog will sometimes help direct their gaze to the bean bag. Share an informative observation. “This is a toy frog. Feel the felt. It’s soft, but it’s also a bit heavy.”

“What color is the frog?” You may need to provide other cues. “Is this frog yellow?” Show other participants and ask the same questions: “Is this frog yellow?” “Yes. This is yellow”. Then hand the yellow frog to one of the participants and bring up a second frog. Perform the same routine with each frog until everyone has at least one frog bean bag.

Next, ask participants to toss their frogs onto the lily pad following specific directions. “Find the red frog. Toss the red frog onto the lily pad”. Hands-on help may be needed and you might need to move the lily pad closer to the player to ensure success.

Present a color word card and ask that participants read the card. You must be sure to get their attention so move the card close to each player. You may need to say, “This word is red.” Then ask them to find a red frog. Direct them to toss the red frog onto the lily pad. Then move on to another color and another participant. Continue until all the frogs are on the lily pad.