Bean Bag Game – Valentine’s Day Heart Attack

Here are. a few more Cricut projects we think you’ll love – Bread Gift Basket, Favorite Vinyl Projects, and PJ Party Invitations.

Valentine Family Activity

Several years ago a friend of mine told me about a fun memory she had of visiting her grandma’s house. She said her grandma kept a small dish in her living room with some heart-shaped bean bags that all the grandkids would throw at each other – her grandma called this simple activity a “heart attack”. (How fun is that?!)

I loved this idea so much that I decided to try it out last year on Valentine’s Day. I thought, “If a small glass dish with a few fabric hearts can strike up a good memory for my friend, imagine what fun my kids could have if we made a lot of hearts and then made blanket forts and formed teams for an all-out war?!”

…so that’s precisely what we did!

The kids had so much fun, it just might become a family Valentine’s Day tradition!

I came up with 3 variations on how to play this fun bean bag activity so you can adapt it for kids of all ages. I’ll share the rules for each method below, but FIRST, let me show you how to make these simple heart bean bags!

Heart Bean Bags

MATERIALS –

• bean bags
• Cricut Joy
• Cricut Design Space
• Smart Iron-On (I used pink and red)
• standard cutting mat, optional (this would come in handy if you are using Iron-On scraps)
• weeding tool + scissors
• EasyPress Mini + Easy Press Mat

DIRECTIONS –

Create your hearts in Design Space, then click “MAKE IT”. Make sure that the “mirror” option is selected. Place your iron-on on the mat with the shiny side facing down, then load your mat into the machine. Press START and wait for your hearts to cut.

Weed the material from the backing.

Cut out each individual heart so you have them all separated.

Place your bean bag on the iron-on mat, then position your heart on the center of the beanbag with the plastic side facing up. Place the EasyPress Mini on top of the heart, applying gentle pressure to the EasyPress until your heart is secured to the beanbag.

Carefully peel off the clear sheet from your beanbag. If the liner does not lift off easily, reapply heat for a few more seconds. NOTE: Sometimes it is easier to wait for the design to cool before removing the liner. (Refer to Cricut for information about removing the liner when it’s warm vs. cold.)

Repeat with all other beanbags!

Bean Bag Game

A family Heart Attack is a perfect way to spend some time with your family indoors, or, if the weather permits, take this party outside for even more space to get crazy and play around! Here are 3 variations on how to play:

Variation 1: Hide and Seek

This one is especially good for the younger kids. Hide a certain number of bean bag hearts around the room and let the kids find them! The person with the most hearts collected when all the hearts are found wins!

Variation 2: Tag/Dodge Ball

Give everyone at least one bean bag heart. Run around and toss them at each other. If you get hit by one, you’re out! If you catch it, the person who tossed it is out! Last man standing wins!

Variation 3: This Means War

Build two blanket forts on opposite sides of the room. Split into teams and have each team hide behind their forts. Split the bean bag hearts up equally and set a timer for 1 minute. Each team tosses their hearts to the other team’s fort as fast as they can. When the timer goes off, the team with the least amount of hearts in their fort wins!

Have a happy Valentine’s Day!