Inside: Jelly bean activities for kids that are sure to educate and entertain.
It is spring and Easter time. That means that jelly beans are in abundance, too. If you don’t want your kids to eat them all and be on a sugar high, use them for learning fun. Check out all the fun jelly bean activities for kids below!
Jelly Bean Math Activities
1) Jelly Bean Sorting
Jelly beans are perfect for practicing sorting. The most obvious way for kids to sort jelly beans is by color. But jelly beans can also be sorted by pattern if you find jelly beans that have different patterns on them. The Jelly Belly jelly beans we sorted contained jelly beans that were speckled as well as plain.
2) Jelly Bean Patterning
Invite your kids to make patterns using jelly beans. Start with a basic AB pattern (for example, red, blue, red, blue) for younger kids. If your kids are older, challenge them to make more complex patterns such as ABCCD (red, blue, green, green, purple).
They can come up with the patterns on their own or you can start a pattern and see if they can extend it.
3) Jelly Bean Counting
Use jelly beans to help your children practice counting. For younger kids just learning to count, you can help them put their finger on each jelly bean one at a time and pull it towards them as they say the correct number. For older kids, invite them to arrange the jelly beans in groups of fives and tens. Then ask them to practice skip counting by fives or tens to see how many jelly beans there are in all.
4) Jelly Bean Estimating
Another one of the jelly bean activities for kids is estimating. Estimating is a wonderful skill for kids to practice. Talk to your kids about what a good estimate is. If the jar you use is small, then a good guess would not be 1,000. If you put jelly beans into a large jar, then a good estimate would not be 10. Discuss with your kids why these would not be good estimates. Then talk about what would be good estimates.
If your kids are younger and just learning about estimation, you will need to talk about how it is OK if their guess is wrong as long as it is a good guess. People who estimate are making a guess about how much of an item there is without knowing the exact amount.
You might want to further your discussion by talking about why being able to estimate is important and how people use estimating skills every day.
Pour several jelly beans into a jar and invite your kids to guess how many are in the jar. Use a smaller jar with fewer beans for younger kids. This way they can help you count the beans in the jar after guessing and they won’t be overwhelmed with counting.
If your kids are older, pour lots of jelly beans into a big jar. After they estimate how many are in the jar, invite them to put the jelly beans into groups of tens and then count by tens to find the total number of beans.
Another way to estimate using jelly beans is to guess which color of jelly beans they have the most amount of and which they have the least amount of.
5) Jelly Bean Graphing
Learning to use a graph is another skill that kids can practice with jelly beans. Graphing combines the skills of sorting and counting in order to find out how many of each color of jelly bean there are.
Here is how you can make your own simple graph. Find a white piece of paper and some crayons or markers. Put the color of each jelly bean at the bottom of the paper. Then invite your kids to place the jelly beans in columns above the appropriate color. Explain to them that they need to start placing the jelly beans at the bottom of the graph and move upward.
After your kids have placed all the jelly beans on the graph, have them look at the graph to see which color of jelly beans they had the most amount of and which color they had the least amount of. Then have them count each color if they would like. They can even write numbers on the left side of the graph to help them easily see how many of each color they have without counting them.
Jelly Bean Games
6) Jelly Bean Toss
This is a fun game to play at an Easter or spring party.
Supplies:
- Jelly beans
- One small container per child
- Tablecloth or sheet
- Large container
- Tape, string or chalk
Directions:
Put an equal amount of jelly beans in each small container. Lay a sheet or tablecloth on the floor or ground. Set a large container in the middle of the cloth and make a line using tape, string or chalk about five feet from the large container.
Give each child a container of jelly beans. Invite each child to take turns standing behind the line and toss jelly beans at the large container. Allow each child several tosses per turn. Award each child a point for each jelly bean he or she manages to successfully toss into the container.
The player who gets the most points is the winner. You can decide if you would like to give the winner a prize or perhaps let him keep all the jelly beans in the large container.
7) Jelly Bean, Jelly Bean, Who’s Got the Jelly Bean?
This game is the same as Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button except you play it with a jelly bean instead.
Directions:
Invite children to form a circle with their hands out, palms together. Pick one child to be the leader or ‘it.” Have the leader take a jelly bean and walk around the circle placing their hands in everybody else’s hands one by one. Instruct the leader to drop the jelly bean in one person’s hands, though they continue to put their hands in the others’ so that no one knows where the button is except for the giver (leader) and receiver.
All the children say “Button, button, who’s got the button?” and then each child in the circle guesses. The child who is guessing replies with their choice, such as “Sally has the jelly bean!”
Once the child with the jelly bean is finally guessed, that child is the one to distribute the jelly bean and start a new round.
A variation to this game is to have the child who is “it” stand in the center of the circle. The jelly bean is then passed behind the backs of the children in the circle, stopping randomly. “It” tries to guess where the jelly bean is by calling out the names of different children. Once “it” correctly guesses who has the jelly bean, he takes his place in the circle. Whoever had the jelly bean then becomes the new “it” and play begins again.
Jelly Bean Art
8) Jumping Jelly Beans Painting
Supplies:
- 3-4 jelly beans
- One covered container per child
- 2 pieces of white paper
- 4 different colors of tempera paint
Directions:
Cut one piece of white paper to fit the lid of the container. Cut another piece of white paper to fit the base of the container. Secure the paper that fits the base in the bottom of the container with tape. Place the paper that fits the lid on the bottom of the lid and secure with tape.
Set 3-4 jelly beans on the white paper located in the bottom of the container. Then pour a drop of each color of tempera paint on the same white paper, but away from the jelly beans.
Tightly place the lid on the container and invite your child to hold the container while jumping up and down. Have them jump up and down for at least 20-30 seconds.
I sing this simple song over and over while they are jumping:
To the tune of “Oh My Darling Clementine”:
Jumping jelly beans
Jumping jelly beans
Jumping jelly, jelly beans!
Jumping jelly beans
Jumping jelly beans
Jumping jelly, jelly beans!
After your child has finished jumping, take off the lid of the container and then pull out the paper located on the bottom of the container. Place the paper somewhere safe to dry. Then allow them to display their Jumping Jelly Bean Painting somewhere special.
9) Jelly Bean Structure
Supplies:
- Jelly beans
- Toothpicks
Directions:
Let your child use jelly beans and toothpicks to build a structure such as a house. Show them how to stick a jelly bean on the end of a toothpick and then place another toothpick in the same jelly bean. Model how to do this in order to build a structure. Encourage them to experiment with how big or long they can make their building. Invite them to put a Peep or toy bunny in the structure when they are finished.
Jumping Jelly Beans! Which one of the jelly bean activities for kids was your children’s favorite? Let me know in the comments below!
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