Here is one of my fun Halloween activities for the kids. Aren’t those cute Pumpkins and Ghosts? They are just painted beans! Then, use a sharpie to make the faces!
I actually got this activity from a garage sale from a teacher. I'm not sure what kind of paint was used on these beans, but it's very shiny! I'm going to guess it was spray paint. I've had a few people tell me that they have used that on Pinto beans, and that's what looks like is going on here! Thanks to everyone for helping us figure this out! ;) I can see lots more of these for the future (Green christmas trees, or maybe as ornaments?).
You can use them as is for sorting, patterning, counting, etc!!
Or you can add a fun picture for extra fun and activities. This is just a basic shape out of felt!
Aren’t those hands the cutest? I do this with kids as young as 18 months (just watch them to not put them in their mouths!)
Rebecca
We are joining the following parties; ABC and 123,
Those are so cute! I was going to ask the same questions as Angie regarding the paint and beans. I just love this idea.
ReplyDeleteI am a teacher and have made these for Halloween math. I used lima beans and spray paint. The ghost side is the natural color of the lima bean.
ReplyDeleteAny ideas of how to use these for 9-10 year olds? Patterns, addition and subtraction is not our focus. I'd love any ideas :)
I had a friend who painted beans with nail polish!
ReplyDeleteSarah,
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking you could use them with percentages and fractions. Give students a handful of ghosts and pumpkins. Make them come up with math problems. They could find the percentage and fraction of ghosts to pumpkins. You could also have each one pumpkin equal something greater and do multiplication with it. For example one pumpkin equals 2 points. If you had 5 pumpkins how many points would you have. This could easily be used for harder numbers like 13 points for each one pumpkin. Or use the ghosts as negative numbers and the pumpkins as positive numbers. How about predicting numbers? If you have a big enough batch or a digital scale you could do weights and measurements with them.
By the way, thanks Sarah for letting us know how you've made these. I was kind of thinking spray paint because they were so shiny and no brush marks!
ReplyDeleteRebecca
This is awesome! I love little project ideas to do with the kids and your posting have been so great this week! Very clever and beautiful things!!! Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteI made these for my kindergarten class when I was teaching. The kids loved it! I even had a little haunted house mat for them to count on! I used spray paint. We used it for all sorts of things: patterns, counting, sorting, etc. I like the fractions/percentage idea for older kids. What about probability problems?
ReplyDeleteI love this what a cute idea :0)
ReplyDeleteThese would make math fun. I already dug out the beans to make. Just need the paint. Thanks for the idea.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone heard of Math Their Way? The author of that program, Mary Baratta London, used techniques like this to teach early mathematics skills. She used lima beans to make penguins, ladybugs, and even frogs, so fun. Her program is older but still so relevant, definitely worth checking out if you are teaching at home or school. Thanks for sharing these. I hadn't thought of ghosts and pumpkins.
ReplyDeleteOver 20 years ago (when I was in Kindergarten :), my teacher used this exact game! I am now a Kindergarten teacher and contacted her about how she made them. She used Math Their Way curriculum and I am trying to find pictures and direction online to make my own. Thanks for bringing back memories.
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