B is for Beans

 

BEANS

Coffee Beans: I once went to a coffee shop in Pickering that had an art piece of a rooster made from beans, presumably coffee beans from different countries that were of different sizes and colours. It was really cool actually. This particular coffee shop let us go ‘behind the scenes’ to see how they prepare their blends and they even donated some of the empty coffee bean sacks for our church to use for sack races at a picnic. I heard something about using them as canvases for artwork which is interesting. I am not personally a coffee drinker but my brother and son are. However, I appreciate the effort that goes into filling those bags with quality coffee beans and transporting them around the world for others to get a taste of their homegrown treasures.

Cooking Beans: The diversity of types of beans lends itself to being a common ingredient in a variety of cooking dishes. You can have your child observe the differences in the bean as it soaks for 24hours in a bowl of water, going from a well preserved dry bean to a digestible form ready for a meal. Your child can also help make a bean salad or chili or refried beans. You can discover a bean dish for each continent and taste test many new recipes to see which ones appeal to you the most.

Counting beans: Beans are so useful for practicing counting with children. They can also be used to discuss different colours and sizes. Maybe the beans could be used for 1:1 counting on a 100s chart. Or using an egg carton, you can practice your times tables up to 12x12 as you gradually add up to 144 beans into the carton. 

Crafting Beans: Make your own bean bags or glue dry beans into a picture design on cardstock. Some beans could act like beads. The tin from beans could also have dry beans hot glued on the outside to make a fancy pencil holder or decorative plant holder. 

Experimental Beans: Beans are excellent for science experiments too. An early experiment is to place a bean on a wet paper towel and put it inside a ziploc bag and tape it to a window to maximize its exposure to the sun. Each day you can observe the changes as roots, stem and leaves gradually sprout. At another stage you could take your child(ren) to a farm to pick beans. They can learn about how they grow. They can also open up the bean pods to see the seeds within and try to grow them too in the soil of your own home garden. They are quite resilient so a good crop for beginner gardeners.

Magic Beans: While there are no genuine magic beans, the concept exists in fairy tales such as Jack and the Beanstalk. It is also possible for a child to believe that the bean you put into their hand is magical and the concept could spark some interesting stories that teach important lessons. Perhaps a collection of ten 'magic beans' could equal a reward or a treat to magically appear over night. Each bean could represent an act of kindness done or some positive action that is to be encouraged in the moment with the bean and reinforced once several have been attained. 'Magical' things happen when you go around doing good in this world don't you think?

Marker Beans: Beans can mark your spot on a game board or serve as the X’s and O’s in a game of tic-tac-toe.  Beans can also be used in hopscotch to toss them onto the next number instead of using a stone. Potentially, a trail of beans could be left to mark where you have been as well.

I didn't include jelly beans and there are other types of bean activities I am forgetting here. I am also thinking of a series of bean (been, human bean(being)) jokes that would make us laugh but I will stop here for this blog.  I hope you will share some great moments with the child(ren) in your life based on this common object found in most homes and communities: beans.