Cool Beans!

OK, so with my early childhood background, one would think I would have discovered the joy of playing with dried beans a long, long time ago.  Who knew it was so much fun for toddlers and preschoolers to dump and pour and wade through a bucket of beans?  I have seen it suggested several different places, and I just ignored it.  Too messy.  Too simple.  They'll lose interest.  Maybe just because I personally cannot stand to eat beans...

Then I saw this post, and it just looked like so much fun to dive into this tub of "Halloween" beans.  As an added bonus, it was something productive to do with all of the Halloween "junk" that accumulates after parties and such.  (The kind of junk I usually sneakily throw away when the kids have forgotten about it.) 

When I put this together and put it out, I realized, this not your ordinary tub of black beans.  I refer to them as magic beans.  Why are they magic, you ask?

Because my kids sat on the floor together with this bucket and played peacefully, for over half an hour!

No whining.  No teasing.  No fighting.

Just having fun with the magic beans.

No joke, a few hours after getting this out, my oldest actually asked me to get it out again while his brother was asleep.  He played by himself, making mountains and skyscrapers in the beans.

Clean up was a lot easier with a huge plastic tablecloth underneath.  It also gave the boys a "canvas" to spread their treasures out on.  A plastic kiddie pool would have been even better.

Life lesson learned:  It is so often the simplest of things that bring happiness.  Stop and enjoy those simple little moments.