Saturday, January 3, 2009

Homemade Hand Hacky Sacks

One of the newest ways to get kids up and moving (aka off the computer or video games) is kind of a twist on the old game of Hacky Sack. The original toy is called a Myachi (pronounced mee-A-chee). To see a video of the original toy in use, click here.

To play with these hand hacky sacks, you can toss or catch the bag with anything but your palms. Place the bag on the back of your hand with your fingers spread out and sort of curved back to create a cradle for the bag. Begin with tossing the bag from one hand to the other and soon, you'll think of all kinds of ways to toss it around. You can play alone or with friends.

I do not actually own one of the original bags, so my version my vary slightly. You can whip one up in seconds and it is very easy to make several right in a row. I can see this being a great birthday party favor or something to make when your kids have friends over.

Materials Needed
Fabric (I find that a light cotton is best)
Needle and thread
Sewing machine (optional)
Unsharpened pencil, dowel or chopstick (optional)
Poly Pellets (for filling bean bags) or small beads

Step 1: Cut two pieces of fabric that are about 3.75 X 2.25 inches.

Step 2: Place the fabric pieces right-sides together and, using a 1/4 inch seam allowance, sew three sides together leaving the fourth side (one of the narrow ends) open.

Step 3: Cut the extra fabric at the corners on a 45 degree angle as shown in the photo to the right. This is important so your corners are sharp when the bag is turned out.

Step 4: Turn the bag right-side out. You may have to use a pencil or a thin dowel rod for this. Be sure to push the corners out to make them as square as possible.

Step 5: Fill the bag with poly pellets or beads leaving room to fold in the ends of the fabric. You may want to use a small funnel to help fill your bag.

Step 6: Fold the fabric at the open end in about 1/4 inch. Using your needle and thread, stitch the end of the bag closed. Fasten off your thread. Your finished bag will be about 3.25 X 1.75 inches.

If you watch the video in this link, you'll see that there are many other moves you can learn to do with your hand hacky sack. Have fun with it!






Heather is a wife, mom,
school cafeteria worker,
councilwoman and babysitter from Ohio.
She also blogs at
Its All for the Best
and
The Fat Bottomed Girl.

3 comments:

  1. Oh how fun, I used to love to play this! That's a good idea to make up a bunch to have on hand for kids. I'll be linking.

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  2. I just saw the Myachi on the Martha Stewart show and just knew someone would have a way to make it since it looked so simple.

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  3. that's not even close to a hack sack, what are you on?

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