How to play the Bean Game

I thought what we’d do is play a quick game.

This is something that you can do at home

so I want to see you all moving around

so we’re going to play the bean game

we’ve played this one before

I’m going to call out some beans

and there’s going to be some actions for you to do

so if I say runner bean you’re going to run on the spot

like this – runner bean

Great!

If I say string bean you’re going to make yourself

like a piece of string, like a thin string bean

so let’s try that

string bean

and runner bean

string bean

OK – if I say broad bean you’re going to make yourself

really big – are you ready?

broad bean

Great! If I say to you French bean

you’re going to say ‘ooh la la’

let’s try that together

French bean

ooh la la

should we try those all together

and see if we can remember

OK – runner bean

string bean

broad bean

French bean

ooh la la

Great, if I say baked bean you’re going to lie on the floor

hopefully you’re still going to see me

but we’re going to lie on the floor

baked bean

and then you’re going to jump back up like that

OK – if I say Mexican bean you’re going to go

‘feeling hot hot hot’

OK – Mexican bean

‘feeling hot hot hot’

and finally if I say jelly bean you’re going to go

[blu – blu – blu – blu – blu – blu – blu]

jelly bean

[blu – blu – blu – blu – blu – blu – blu]

OK – do you think you can remember

all of those beans?

Great! So I’m going to tell you a story now

I’m going to look into my story book

and if you hear any of those beans

I want you to do the actions

OK – so I’ll give you some help as well

so when one day I went to have a look in my cupboard

to see what I could have for dinner

so I looked in the cupboard

and there was nothing but a tin of baked beans left

baked beans – lie on the floor!

I looked into the other cupboard

and there was nothing but a packet of jelly beans

blu – blu – blu – blu – blu – blu – blu]

I thought I can’t have baked beans

and I can’t have jelly beans

blu – blu – blu – blu – blu – blu – blu]

for dinner

that’s no good

so I walked out into the garden

and I looked to see what was growing in my garden

now there was a few string beans

and there was a few runner beans

but there was definitely no broad beans

and there wasn’t enough to have for dinner

so I decided to go to the shop

I got in my car

and I got to the supermarket

and I got my shopping trolley

and I went round

and the first thing I bought was some French beans

ooh la la

and then I got some more broad beans

and I got some more string beans

and some more runner beans

and then I carried on shopping

ooh – and I stocked up on some more tins of baked beans

because they’re my favourite

let’s get some of them

so I’ve got my baked beans

and then – aah – Mexican beans!

maybe I’ll have some fajitas

OK so I’ve got some Mexican beans

feeling hot hot hot

got some Mexican beans

and finally stocked up on lots more jelly beans

[blu – blu – blu – blu – blu – blu – blu]

so I paid for my shopping – there you go

and I went home with my bags

put them in my car

got home, unloaded my shopping

and put it all in the cupboards

and then I go a huge pot

and I put it on my stove

and in that pot I put some

baked beans

and I put some

string beans

and I put some

broad beans

and I put some more

baked beans

and some

French beans

ooh la la

and some Mexican beans

feeling hot hot hot

and finally I put some jelly

aah no I don’t want to put jelly beans

in my dinner

I’ll save them for desert

and I stirred up all the beans together

gave them a big stir

until finally I think it was ready

then I got a spoon

then I got a spoon to test the beans

[euh yuk] [euh]

it turns out all those beans do not go well together

oh no!

luckily I’ve got lots of packets of jelly beans

that I can eat instead

[blu – blu – blu – blu – blu – blu – blu]

well done everyone!

give yourselves a little clap at home

that was fab!

-ends-

Can you play the Bean Game?

Sophie from Bristol’s Travelling Light Theatre Company has a great ‘bean themed’ game for younger children,  children with disabilities and children with additional needs.