Isn’t this just too cute? Here’s a new game for the kids that will cost you the price of a bag of lima beans (or any large white bean) and a thin permanent marker. And most kids like tiny things, so these beans have a certain appeal that you just won’t find with any other alphabet game! Note: If you’ll be using the beans to play with I recommend giving them a protective coat of acrylic varnish (spray would be convenient, but do it outside!) or even some clear nail polish. The letters on our beans started to wear off from handling.
I’ve been wanting to teach my kids the English alphabet and was thinking about a letter a week. My husband thinks we can invest far less time with some matching and memory games (this was his idea) so we’re going to give it a try! My instincts tell me that I should do some workbook style coloring exercises together with games like these, and if we come up with anything noteworthy I’ll be sure to share it with you.
As far as the rules of the game, well there are many ways to play depending on your child’s knowledge. For older children you could devise a scrabble type game, and for younger ones a matching game, like which little letter goes with which big letter etc. (As you may have noticed I put a dot at the top of the bean so kids know which way is up.)
- Now the only dilemma is how to package our new game? (Instructions for making the adorable packaging here.)I’ve got an idea that I hope to spend maybe 15 minutes on today, so come back tomorrow to see what I’ve created. And by the way, this is not the first post I’ve done involving beans, you can see my previous post about bean mosaics here.
Enjoy and do take a moment to let me know you are out there, with a comment or an email! All the best.
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