Why Schools and Daycares Are Replacing Bean Bags with Cove Sensory Loungers

For years, the humble bean bag has been a staple in reading corners, libraries, calm spaces and early learning environments. It’s soft, comfortable and gives children somewhere less structured to sit.

But there’s a new kind of soft seating making its way into educational spaces.

Meet the Cove Sensory Lounger.

We’re seeing schools, childcare centres and early learning environments choosing Cove Loungers as an alternative to traditional bean bags — and when you see children interact with them, it’s easy to understand why.

Children Are Naturally Drawn to Them

One of our favourite things about watching children discover a Cove is that they rarely need to be shown what to do with it.

They climb on. They sit. They rock. They curl up. They turn around. They find their own favourite position.

The Cove was intentionally designed around the way children naturally move rather than expecting them to sit in one fixed position.

And that matters.

Some children actively seek movement while sitting, and gentle rocking and movement can provide vestibular and proprioceptive input — sensory information associated with movement, balance and body awareness.

Rather than asking children to stop moving, the Cove gives them a space where movement can be part of sitting.

One Lounger. Multiple Seating Positions.

This is one of the biggest differences between a Cove and a traditional bean bag.

The Cove isn’t just somewhere to flop.

Its sculptural design allows it to be repositioned to create different seating experiences.

Children can sit more upright, recline, lounge, curl up or gently rock depending on how the Cove is positioned and what feels comfortable for them.

That makes one piece of furniture incredibly versatile across the day — from story time and independent reading to quiet time, sensory spaces and calm corners.

For educators creating flexible learning environments, it provides children with something especially valuable: choice in how they sit.

The Gentle Rocking Motion

Turn the Cove into its rocking position and it becomes something completely different.

The curved form allows children to create a gentle side-to-side rocking movement using their own bodies.

For children who naturally fidget, rock or constantly change position, this creates an opportunity for movement without needing to leave their seat.

Not every child needs to sit completely still to listen, read or relax. Sometimes movement is exactly what their body is looking for.

Goodbye, Bean Bag Mess

There’s also a very practical reason educators are loving the Cove.

No beans.

Anyone who has had a bean bag split in a classroom knows exactly what we mean.

There are no thousands of tiny polystyrene balls waiting to escape across the floor, no saggy half-empty bean bag sitting sadly in the corner and no constantly trying to redistribute the filling to make it look presentable again.

The Cove uses structured foam to maintain its distinctive shape.

That means even in a busy classroom, library or early learning environment, it has a much more intentional and streamlined appearance.

Soft Seating That Actually Looks Good

Educational spaces have changed.

Schools and early learning centres are increasingly creating beautiful, considered environments that feel warm, calm and inviting rather than purely institutional.

And furniture plays a huge part in that.

Traditional bean bags can quickly look slouchy or messy. The Cove was designed to bring the comfort children love from soft seating into a more structured, contemporary form.

Its beautiful corduroy cover and considered colour palette allow it to sit comfortably alongside modern classroom furniture, rugs and learning resources without making the room feel cluttered.

It’s sensory seating without the sensory-room aesthetic.

From Reading Corners to Calm Spaces

The Cove can work across so many areas of an educational environment:

• Reading and literacy corners
• Calm and regulation spaces
• Sensory rooms
• School libraries
• Breakout spaces
• Early learning and childcare rooms
• Quiet-time areas
• Flexible learning environments

And because children can interact with it in different ways, the same Cove can serve a completely different purpose from one child to the next.

Designed for the Way Kids Actually Sit

The Cove Sensory Lounger was created by Grace & Maggie founder Laura Agrimi after recognising something incredibly simple:

Kids don’t sit like adults.

They wiggle.

They rock.

They curl up.

They lean.

They flip around.

And they change position approximately five seconds after finding the perfect one.

So rather than designing another chair that asks children to sit a particular way, we designed one that gives them the freedom to find their own.

The result is a piece of furniture that children seem instinctively drawn to, and one that can look just as beautiful in a thoughtfully designed classroom as it does in a family home.

Maybe the bean bag has finally met its match.