My toddler recently discovered the joy of playing with beans so I've been trying to come up with fun learning activities that involves beans. This activity has quickly become one of my little one's favs and he has asked to do this almost every day since he started playing it!
I started off by writing his name in large letters on a piece of construction paper (if you do this activity, be sure to choose a light color otherwise it will be difficult to see the beans). I then taped a piece of contact paper sticky side up on top. (You can purchase a roll of contact paper in the kitchen section of any store such as Walmart, Target, etc for about $5.) We, of course, went through the letters and spelled his name first and then I gave him a cup full of beans. While I wanted him to trace the letters with the beans, I purposely didn't give him any instruction so I could see what he would do with them. But, he immediately began tracing the letters with the beans and announcing each time a letter was complete.
Soon he had his full name complete! He wanted to continue the activity, so I asked him what other words he wanted to spell and he suggested words like 'dog', 'house' and 'zombie'. Don't worry, he's not allowed to watch zombies on TV but he does have a 10 year old brother who is obsessed with them! LOL!
He's done this activity many times over tracing words, letters, numbers, and even pictures. Since the papers can be used over and over again, I started saving them in a folder and, whenever he wants to do this activity, I pull the folder out and tape the contact paper so that he can slide the paper in and out from the side.
What learning activities have you done with beans?
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What learning activities have you done with beans?
Check us out on Facebook! The Hands-On Toddler