Jelly Bean Fun

Many of you may have celebrated Easter recently- if your children received jelly beans, I have some fun ways to be sneaky and make the candy support learning!

One of our family’s Easter traditions was a spin on the common Easter egg hunt. I would hide jelly beans throughout a room and then have a jelly bean hunt (helpful hint: always dust first!). This is great when the weather is not cooperating or you don’t have enough eggs for a challenging hunt. My fully grown daughter still comes over and requests that we fulfill that tradition so you know it is fun! I have to note that there has been the (rare) occasion when I have come across a forgotten jelly bean long after Easter has passed- tells you how well I clean hide!

Once all the jelly beans have been found now is the perfect opportunity to do a little counting and color sorting. If you have more than one child or person participating- compare who has more/less of each color.

So… you have already snuck in some movement and some exploring during the jelly bean hunt and then moved on to some math skills with the counting, grouping and comparing… before you gobble down those jelly beans, how about trying blind taste tests and see if your child (or you) can correctly identify the jelly bean’s flavor without the visual cue of the color. A mirror and some silly faced tongue checks are a great way to confirm if the guess is correct. If you want to delay gratification a bit longer, grab some toothpicks and use the jelly beans as connectors to build some random structures.  Don’t forget to wash hands and to supervise children when working with sharp toothpicks.

Here’s my creation. We would love to have you share what you created on our Facebook or Instagram page using #PlayAheadBlog

NOTE: If you don’t have jelly beans, try the activities using coins, Lego, small toys or some other type of candies. Marshmallows are great for toothpick construction.

Keep learning and having fun together!