MO1: Jelly Bean Guessing Contest

1. Overview

The “Jelly Bean Guessing Contest” develops basic estimation skills and practices counting from 1 to 100.

“Guess how many!”

2. Materials

3. Activity

Place around 100 buttons into a jar. This game works best with several players, such as your family, a group of friends, or students. Ask a group of players to guess how many buttons are in the jar.

Referee: How many buttons are in this jar?
Child: Fifty!
Mom: Sixty-six!
Dad: Seventy-one!

Take out all the buttons, tell your child to count them, and ask whose guess wins.

Referee: [Takes out all buttons] How many buttons are in this jar?
Child: One, two, three…eighty-three!
Referee: Good job! Whose number is closest to eighty-three?
Child: Dad!
Referee: Dad wins!

Give the winner a prize to motivate careful guessing. Repeat the game with a different number of items.