I’ve been busy creating a few free jelly bean activities to help parents looking for ways to keep their children engaged in learning at home during these challenging times. Of course, they can be used by teachers and at school, too!
You’ll find a variety of jelly bean activities designed to supplement math and literacy instruction for your preschoolers, kindergarteners, first, and second-graders. Most children will need at least some adult direction to complete them.
Why You Should Try These Jelly Bean Activities
- All these resources are free!
- There is a black/ white version to print on paper for each activity.
- The preparation is minimal. Just print. You will need to cut some pages in half.
- Most of the materials needed are basic school supplies and household items.
- Jelly beans can add engagement and motivation to an ordinary activity.
- National Jelly Bean Day is on April 22nd!
You will need actual jelly beans for some of the activities. One activity also requires dice.
All grade levels given are general guidelines. Some activities have color options. Some can be laminated for reuse.
Go ahead and browse below to find the jelly bean activities most suitable for your children!
Jelly Bean Graph (PreK-2nd)
You will need:
- one copy of the graph for each participant
- one copy of the graph questions and a pencil for each first or second grader
- crayons
- jelly beans in 6 colors (I used Starburst.)
Prepare a baggie or plastic egg with 6 predetermined colors and amounts of jelly beans (maximum of 10) or scoop a scant ¼ cup out of the bag.
Sort your jelly beans by color. Place on the graph and/ or count each color. Color the jelly beans on the graph to match your colors. Color the bar graph. Consider coloring optional for preschoolers.
First and second graders can read and answer the graph questions. With younger children, use them as a guide for oral questions. Kindergarteners can also write a sentence that tells information about their graph.
This activity is included in the Jelly Bean Activities for Math and Literacy packet, a free download in my TpT store.
Roll & Count Jelly Bean Activity (PreK-K)
You will need:
- one half-page mat for each participant
- 1, 2, or 3 dice
- jelly beans
- crayons and a pencil
Roll 1, 2, or 3 dice, depending on your child’s skill level (numbers to 6, to 12, or to 18). Count all the pips. Put the same number of jelly beans on your jar mat. Draw and color the same number of jelly beans in the jar. Write the number. For younger children, an adult can write the number for them to trace.
Roll & Add Jelly Bean Activity (K-1st)
There are 2 versions, one for two dice (addends) and one for three dice (addends).
You will need:
- one half-page mat for each participant
- 2 or 3 dice
- jelly beans
- crayons and a pencil
Roll the dice. Look at each die. Put the same number of jelly beans in 2 or 3 groups on your mat. You can use a different color for each number. Draw and color the same number of jelly beans in the jar. Write the addition equation.
Find these two free activities in the Jelly Bean Activities for Math and Literacy packet in my TpT store.
Treasure Reports
Treasures are any small manipulative such as erasers, beads, buttons, acrylic gems/ fillers, cereal, or small candy (like jelly beans, of course!).
Counting these collections helps to develop number sense and place value concepts. There are activities for the quantities 1-10, 11-19, 11-99, and 101-999. The directions are on each recording sheet.
You will need:
- jelly beans
- recording sheet for each participant
- containers, scoops (measuring spoons and cups), organizers to group tens and hundreds
- pencils
Numbers 1-10 (PreK-K)
Prepare bags/ condiment cups with selected numbers of jelly beans beforehand or have children scoop jelly beans from a container.
Numbers 11-19 (K-early 1st)
Your children need to understand the concept of teen numbers as 10 plus some more. This can be prior knowledge or you can introduce the concept by modeling first with this activity.
Prepare bags/ condiment cups with selected numbers of jelly beans beforehand or have children scoop them from a container.
Numbers 11-99 (1st-2nd)
Each child or pair of children needs a prepared bag with 11 to 99 jelly beans or a container filled with jelly beans and a scoop. They may use ten frames, ten-rod mats, small cups, cupcake liners, etc. to group their jelly beans by tens. Find free printable templates for ten frames and ten-rod mats in my TpT store. Enter treasure reports in the search bar. You can also use the jelly bean jar organizer mats included in this resource.
There are five different recording sheets:
- grouping and counting by 1’s and 10’s
- grouping and counting by 1’s and 10’s, base ten
- grouping and counting by 1’s and 10’s, base ten, expanded form
- grouping and counting by 1’s and 10’s, base ten, expanded form, rounding
- grouping and counting by 1’s and 10’s, base ten, expanded form, rounding, counting by tens off a decade
Choose the one(s) that best fits the instructional needs of your children. They can also simply record their pictures of tens and ones on a whiteboard or a blank piece of paper.
To draw a picture to represent their groups of ten, children can draw circles, squares, or rectangles and write a 10 on each. Ones can be dots or drawn to represent the jelly beans.
Numbers 100-999 (2nd-early 3rd)
Print the jelly bean jar organizing mats, up to 10 depending on your quantity of jelly beans. You can also draw 10 circles on plain sheets of paper or set 10 small cups on plain sheets of paper to use as organizing mats.
You will need 101 to 999 jelly beans. Likely, you can just use the entire bag. Check the back for the number of servings and serving size. My bag of Starburst Jellybeans has about 14 servings with about 20 pieces each so I can plan on there being approximately 280 jelly beans in it. (Actual count: 339 jelly beans!)
Put only 10 jelly beans in a cup or on a circle or a jar and 100 items on a mat. Extra ones can be placed on the side.
Complete the recording sheet. Students can draw rectangles and write 100 on each to represent their groups of one hundred. Tens can be circles with a 10. Ones can be dots drawn to represent jelly beans.
Find out more about treasure reports in this post with a Valentine’s Day themeor this one with a watermelon theme.
Click the highlighted words, Jelly Bean Treasure Reports, to download your free copy.
Jelly Bean Observations (PreK-2nd)
You will need:
- one copy of the jelly bean observation table for each participant
- jelly beans
- pencil
Brainstorm adjectives (describing words) to tell how your jelly beans look, sound, smell, feel, and taste. For sound, shake them in a bag or drop a few on a hard surface. The strongest smell is when you open the bag. Try putting some in a baggie, bowl, or cup to smell.
Younger children can dictate their words for an adult to write. Write your adjectives on the jelly beans.
Older children can complete the companion descriptive writing activity.
Fun Facts About Jelly Beans (1st-2nd)
Learn some fun facts about jelly beans!
This is not a leveled reading passage. Some first and second graders will be able to read it. Many will not.
Read it to your child, share the reading, or have your child read it to you. What was the most interesting fact you learned?
Then, complete the companion fact and opinion writing activity.
You can find the observation and fun facts activities in the Jelly Bean Activities for Math and Literacy packet, a freebie in my TpT store.
Jelly Bean Jar Letter and Number Searches (PreK-K)
Provide practice in matching and identifying letters andnumbers (0-10) with these jelly bean jar searches.
There are 3 sets of letter searches: uppercase to uppercase (all 26 letters), lowercase to lowercase (all 26 letters), and uppercase to lowercase (16 letters). The last set only includes letter pairs that are visually different (i.e. Bb but not Cc).
You will need:
- selected pages
- crayons or dot markers to color or jelly beans to cover
Choose the pages you want your child to do. Consider the letters in their name, ones that follow a sequence of instruction, or ones they need a little extra practice with.
Print the pages you selected. Then, cut each page in half.
Children can use crayons or dot markers to color the jelly beans with letters/ numbers that match the one on the jar lid. They can also just cover the matching letters/ numbers with jelly beans.
Encourage them to name the letter/ number out loud several times while they are completing the task. The number jars show the quantity with jelly beans in a ten frame. Children can count them to self-check their number identification.
Click the highlighted words, Jelly Bean Jar Letter and Number Searches, to download your free copy.
Search & Sort Jelly Bean Words (K-2nd)
This resource does not include a comprehensive set of words.
It includes:
- 5 pages with short vowel word families, one page for each vowel, sort by word families (K-1st)
- 3 pages with CVC short vowels, sort by vowels (K-1st)
- 4 pages mixed short vowel (VC) and silent e (VCe) patterns, one vowel per page, sort by vowel patterns (1st-2nd)
- 4 pages long vowel patterns, VCe and VV plus –igh, one long vowel sound per page, sort by vowel patterns (1st-2nd)
V= vowel C= consonant
Select the set which best meets your child’s needs. Complete one per day or one per week. Your child can also pick 6 words and draw pictures to illustrate their meanings or pick 6 and write a sentence with each.
Which set should you use? Think about the words you know they can read in their take-home books. Do they have a spelling list from school? I also have a free decoding assessment for one-syllable words in my TpT store that might be helpful.
You will need:
- selected pages
- crayons for coloring or jelly beans for covering
- pencil
Use the code to color the jelly bean words. Write the words in a sort. Don’t forget to read the words!
Check out the Jelly Bean Activities for Math and Literacy resource in my TpT store which includes this activity.
I hope you found a jelly bean activity or two for your child (or students) to enjoy! Let me know what else you need in the comments below.
Looking For More Resources…
Most of my blog posts include links to free resources. Use the search bar in the top right corner to take a look around. In addition, my TpT store includes a section of free resources.
Here are a few more jelly bean resources for learning available for purchase in my TpT store.
- Addition Facts to 20 – Jelly Bean Addition Fact Strategy Sort (1st-2nd)
- Make 10 Addition Fact Strategy Game With Spring Themes (K-2nd)
- Graphing With Data Collection Activity Spring Themes (1st-3rd)
The jelly bean photo in the title image is by Southern Light.
