How to Make A DIY Bean Bag Toss for the Backyard

Pry your family away from their devices and get everyone out into the backyard for some quality time. Building a DIY bean bag toss is the perfect project and will offer countless hours of fun once it’s all built.

There are two fun parts to building your own DIY bean bag toss: the board and the bean bags. You can get as creative as you like with woodworking, sewing, and painting, really bringing your family’s personality to life.

What You Need

Materials:

• 2′ x 4′ ¾” plywood
• 8′ x 2′ x 4′ stud x 2
• 2 ½” wood screws x 8
• 1 ⅝” wood screws x 12
• ⅜” carriage bolts and wing nuts x 2
• 220-grit sandpaper
• Paint for decorating
• 1 yard of 10-ounce canvas/duck cloth (60″ width)
• Needle and thread
• 16 pounds of dried beans or corn kernels

Tools:

• Drill/driver
• Miter saw or circular saw
• Jigsaw or hole saw
• Sewing machine
• Tape measure
• Pencil
• Paintbrushes

Prepare the Frame

• Cut the sides: Cut one stud in half — so each side will be 4 feet in length. Then drill a ⅜-inch hole 4 inches from the bottom in the center. Drill two holes at each end that line up.
• Cut the top and bottom: Cut two pieces of your other stud, each 21 inches in length.
• Assemble it: Screw the frame together using the eight 2 ½-inch wood screws.
• Make feet: Cut two pieces of stud at 1 foot in length and drill a ⅜-inch hole 1 ¾ inches from the bottom at the center. Round one end using the jigsaw and attach the feet to the frame using the two carriage bolts and wing nuts.

Attach the Board

• Place it: Place the plywood board on the top of the frame.
• Fasten it: Using the 1 ⅝-inch wood screws, evenly space five screws along each side and one screw in the center, top, and bottom of the frame.

Cut the Hole

• Mark it: A regulation bean toss board has a hole 6 inches in diameter.Make a mark with a pencil 9 inches from the top and 12 inches from the side to find the center.
• Drill it: Using a 6-inch hole saw, drill at the mark or trace a 6-inch hole, then drill a ½-inch hole and cut around your tracing with a jigsaw.

Finishing Touches

• Sand it down: Get rid of rough edges with your sandpaper.
• Decorate it: Get those creative juices flowing! Paint your board with your favorite colors or a design that’s unique to your family or team.

Make the Bean Bags

• Cut out squares: Cut 32 7 ½-inch squares from the canvas fabric, laying 16 pairs of cloth together to make 16 bags (each player gets 4 bags).
• Pin them: Pin the fabric squares together, leaving a 3-inch gap at the center of one side.
• Stitch them: Sew around the bag with a small, straight stitch, leaving a ½-inch seam allowance (don’t forget to leave the gap at the top!). To reinforce the bag, sew around again with a ¼-inch seam.
• Turn them inside out: Pulling from the corner, fill each bag with 1 pound of dried beans or corn kernels.
• Sew them up: Shake the beans to the bottom, then pin across the gap to stop the beans from falling out. Sew across the gap to seal each bag.

That’s it — you’re ready to play your DIY bean bag toss game! Find more fun projects here.

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