Kids Easy Photo Fabric Bean Bag Craft

Thank Photo Gifts and Ideas

Bean bag crafts are always a winner with kids. For years, doing so much by hand has cause me to neglect some of the most creative uses for technology! After seeing this craft I am definitely looking into it more!

Here's what you'll need for your Kids Easy Photo Bean Bag Craft

2 tablespoons of Alum
2 1/2 teaspoons of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
1/2 teaspoon of liquid fabric softener
1 cup of very hot water
Muslin cotton fabric (you will use approximately 8 1/2” x 11” [rectangle shapes] per child)
Freezer Paper (you will use approximately 8 1/2” x 11” [rectangle shapes] per child)
Scissors
Medium size mixing bowl
Mixing spoon
Software: Adobe Photo Shop Elements (if your not looking to spend your moolah on Photoshop, just yet)
Computer and Ink Jet printer (A laser printer is a no-no for this project. I'll explain why later.)
Iron and Ironing Board
Kids Markers (optional)
Sewing Machine or needles and thread (optional)
Digital Camera
Sharpie
Drying rack with clothes pins
Bag of beans or rice
Stapler

Okay, it seems like a big supply list but it isn't really, much of what we had was already on hand. Depending on how much child involvement you encourage depends on the difference between a day or two of completion. I like involving the children as much as possible, so I purchased extra muslin and put them to work on it first. I have twelve kids that don't like to miss a day of school, so nothing ever goes to waste.

The Process

Get Fabric and Paper Ready: Pre-cut 5"X5" piece of muslin and 8 1/2” x 11” Muslin and Freezer Paper (The trick is to cut them while they are placed one on top of the other) use a paperclip or staple to fasten your clipped muslin a freezer paper together so they don't get mixed up.

Snap a Picture: Give the children a 5"X5" piece of muslin to color with markers on. This will be the backing to their bean bag. While they are doing that snap a picture with my digital camera.

Try Setting up the Process in Learning Centers: We set up a 'Mixing Table" for the children with a parent volunteer. Mix the alum, washing soda and hot water in a mixing bowl and make a solution. Do this over and over with the children because the fabric will need to soak up the solution you're making. Besides, the children love to watch the science of it fizzing up.

Write the child's name of the muslin and freezer paper with a sharpie and have them dip an 8 1/2” x 11” piece of muslin in the mixture and  least 15 minutes before squeezing it out. The children will then allow it to dry on the drying rack until the next day. Remember, keep your matching freezer paper in a safe place!

Once the fabric is dry, take out the freezer paper, iron and ironing board. Depending on the age of the children you can iron it with them.  We put freezer paper shiny side up and iron the treated fabric to it until it is cleaved nicely. These are all 8 1/2” x 11” rectangles, so they will run through or printer properly. We trim any excess paper of fabric after we are done ironing.

Getting ready to print..

 In whatever program you choose, size your pictures to 4″ x 4″ images and print them onto your fabric. We set the canvas size to 8 1/2" x 11" to perfectly match a regular sized paper. Place the images far apart so that you'll have plenty of seam allowance.

You can change your printer settings to the best print quality on fabric if you have that option. Always Make sure you print on the fabric side and not on the back of the freezer paper. Oh, I almost forgot, never use a laser printer because it will melt your freezer paper-not good, people--not good.

Heeeere it comes!

After you print....

More pix from The Idea Room

Get the 5"X5" fabric your children colored on with markers and match it to the their photos. Because the kids are too young to sew on this craft we stapled around the pieces front to back to create the 'bag'. The kids gladly filled the beans in the bean bags and a parent volunteer too them home to sew them. Yes, we could have easily had them sewn first and then had the kids fill them with beans but you didn't see their faces when they saw them. The kids just HAD to fill them immediately!

By the way, these make great gift for any occasion. Here are a few ideas of what you can do with them.

• Mother, Father or Grandparents Day gifts
• Great first day of school gift to the children
• Instead of photos you can use picture the children have drawn
• Great for activity centers or matching games
• Great for circle time activities
• Great to use as place setting for circle times or place settings
• A great way to transition children in excusing them for new actives and name selection

 

What ideas can you think of?