Simply spread the beans out on some newspaper – preferably outside, then spray them with Gold metallic spray. This can be bought for under £5 from Wilkinson’s or any craft/hobby shop or hardware store. They must be left to dry fully for a few hours or even better – overnight. They can be turned over and sprayed both sides, or left golden on one side and plain on the other. You could use a Sharpie and write numbers and dots on the plain side so that they are multi-functional. Or you could write the letters of the alphabet on them – capitals on some, lowercase on others for children to match and order correctly.

Here, they are being used by Year 2s on ten frames to work out number bonds (they flip them over as one side of the beans are plain). They are also used for number counting in F2 & Year 1. The children often select them in their Active Learning sessions as they are so appealing. They are used however they choose – for instance as magic beans – in role play, re-enacting Jack and the Beanstalk, currency (shopping), precious jewels or paving/decoration within their block-building constructions, counting and sorting and of course they are perfect for loose part play.