If you don’t already, you know you’ll have an empty egg carton and leftover Easter candy in a few days. This is a great way to get a second life out of that carton and keep -at least some of- all that candy out of your kids’ bellies.

Materials

We just used a 30-egg carton and jellybeans. You could use a standard dozen egg carton and any kind of small candy you have on hand - or try this with dried beans.

How To

Jane was so excited to play this game while I was putting it together, we nearly didn’t have a finished board to play with. I have never neatly written numbers in a tiny space so quickly. When I broke out the jelly beans, she practically exploded with excitement.

First, she just threw any old combination of beans into the slots.

Then, she went according to number.

Finally, she started putting the jellybeans in according to number and color.

And then, she got into making her own patterns.

Eventually, she used the beans for storytelling. I didn’t quite follow along, so I don’t have any of the stories to share with you, but it was an interesting process to observe!

You could also use any leftover candy for some fun patterning with glue like we did with our Halloween candy!

LEARN! Math, counting, numbers, patterns, sorting, colors

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Chrissy – who has written 426 posts on The Outlaw Mom® Blog - Creative Living in a Conventional World.

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