Jelly Bean J !
I know what you are thinking, there is NO way you can do this craft with your child because they will eat the jelly beans. I did it with a class of 3 year olds and laid down the rule that if they did not eat any jelly beans while doing art, they got to have 3 after they were done.
It worked. Now at home with mom and a 20 month old things were a little different , as long as he was presently eating a jelly bean he would happily glue others on, and not eat those ones. You can also draw some paper jelly beans, but that doesn’t make the same impact, which when you are introducing a letter impact counts.
- Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of construction paper, something to draw with ( we used pencil crayons) , glue , scissors and of course jelly beans! We used natural ones that are so yummy, also the color doesn’t run in the glue.
- Draw a big upper case J.
- Have your child color and draw on it. My son went to town on this step today. Don’t cut it out until later.
- Add the glue. I dotted glue all over so that my son would see he was supposed to be putting the jelly beans on. I found with older kids giving them a number and telling them to put that many glue dots works well, then the jelly beans can go on, and you can repeat.
- Add the jelly beans.
- Let it dry completely.
- Cut the J out and glue it onto the other piece of construction paper, you will NEED to do this because the weight of the jelly beans needs to be supported by more than one layer.
- Don’t forget to pop this on your fridge and point to it often and ask your child why in the world there are jelly beans on the fridge! I bet they’ll tell you because J is for jelly bean!
Song!
5 Little Jelly Beans!
5 little jelly beans,
I wish I had more,
I ‘ll eat the red one ,
now there are four!
4 little jelly beans,
tasty as can be,
I’ll eat the green one
now there are three!
3 little jelly beans,
Only a few,
Ill eat the pink one
now there are two!
2 little jelly beans,
eating them is fun,
I’ll eat the blue one,
now there’s only one!
1 little jelly bean,
the last one for me,
I’ll eat the purple one,
I’m happy as can be!
Additional Activities!
Click here for easy instructions on how to make an
alphabet fishing game for your little one!
melanie says
You are so brave to put your vidoes up online! My daughter just loves them! (And I do too- I’ve learned several new songs)
Do you have a particular order you teach the letters in, or is it more of whatever you want to do a particular week? What do you make for the letter A?
Anonymous says
Very cute little boy and great jelly bean video!
Allison says
Brave, insane… it’s all relative but as long as people are having fun and learning with their kids I am happy.
I don’t do a particular order, there is a preferred order that I followed when I was teaching but I to be honest I would have to pull it up, so check back and I’ll find that for you!
As far as A is concerned I have made “Animal As” with Animal cut outs, “Ant As” ( that was for bug week) and “Apple print As” too!
melanie says
Thanks for your response Allison- and sorry to hijack the comments again…. I’m working on some plans to use with daughter this fall and I just can’t decide how to organize myself. When you do a letter each week- do all of your activites revolve around that letter or do you do other things too- things that have nothing to do with your letter of the week?
For example- in October- would you do fun fall and pumpkin related activities? Or just activities that have to do with the letters you’re focusing on?
Thanks so much for your advice!!
laura says
Hello,
I just discovered your blog, so many great ideas!
My son is 20 months and starting to enjoy painting etc.
We made the pirate hat as he loves hats at the moment.
Thank you for your blog, very inspiring!
Laura
Allison says
Melanie,
Right now I devote one day to the letter of the week craft, and some other alphabet themed things. Throughout the week I will often point that letter out etc.. but that’s it.
When I was teaching (2 1/2 – 3 1/2 year olds) I would do a kick off on Monday with the letter, then refer to it again throughout the week in stories and doing letter hunts etc.. but would focus on other themes the other 2 days I had each group. On Friday we would do another fun letter recap during circle time ( like a song with that letter) and that was it.
I think the key is to find fun ways to teach instead of forcing, they have years to sit in desks and be passive learners right now the goal is to keep them engaged and playing since that’s how little ones learn best- through play.
Laura,
Thank you so much, your profile pic of the two of you nursing ( I think?) is beautiful. I am happily nursing a toddler too!
Tanya says
THANK YOU for taking my request! I can’t wait to try to out this jellybean idea today w/ my 20 month old! By the way, congrats on continuing the nursing relationship w/ your LO. My daughter self-weaned at 15mos(boohoo), but I treasure the time we had nursing together.