Written by A couple of years ago we recognized that our middle school area needed a refresh when it came to seating. Our high school area had couches, some bistro tables and chairs, and some smaller round cafe-style tables with chairs. In our high school area we could have more control over the environment and setting but our middle school area only had some couches that were woefully outdated.
We began looking around online trying to find various options. We looked at purchasing newer couches but they were beyond our budget. Floor cushions were an option but it didn’t feel like we valued our middle school students. We contemplated simply putting out more chairs and tables but it felt like middle school was simply forgotten and high school was where intentional environments happened.
Then we happened upon Habutway Bean Bag Chairs. Prior to purchasing these bean bag chairs I was very anti bean bags because I have seen what happens when all the little beads explode out of them. And let me tell you, the clean up for those things is not fun.
However, these bean bag chairs have memory foam in them, so even if they were to “pop” it would not require the same clean up as the others. We purchased three of these chairs and they arrived vacuum packed which meant that packages were significantly smaller than the actually bean bag chairs. Once you take them out of the packaging, you need to break up the foam by tossing the chairs onto the floor and give them around 24 hours to fully “inflate.”
When we put these out for the first time, our students fell in love with them. They have quickly become the most sought-after seats in our program and students love to jump on them and see how many people they can fit on the bean bag.
These bags are incredibly durable and have held up to the wear and tear over the years. The outer covering is also machine washable which is a huge perk when working with students who often have food and drinks or come right to youth group from sports practice.
The one downside for our ministry though is storage space. We meet in a multipurpose space so we need to find a place to store these bean bag chairs and that means stacking them in one of our closets each week. These bean bag chairs aren’t super heavy but they aren’t light either which adds some complexity to stacking them in storage.
Overall, these are a great addition to any ministry space. I highly recommend them, and you can choose from a variety of colors and a couple different sizes. These are a great win for students and will quickly help make your space feel more inviting and welcoming.
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