Bean Game

This game works well in developing a range of communication skills.

• Participants are either static or moving around in a defined area.
• The leader will communicate to the group the name of a type of bean. The participants must do an action to represent that type of bean. For example:

Baked Bean: Sunbathing (spread out).
Tinned Bean: All close together in a can (perhaps in a marked area or mat).
Runner Bean: Jogging on the spot.

• Your Sports Leaders can be inventive here with the types of beans for example Jumping Beans, French Beans.

The key message of playing a game like this is about varying the methods of communicating to the group, they could be:

• Say it (volume and clarity).
• Demonstrate the action (can everyone see you?).
• Link it to a colour (using different coloured bean bags or markers that could be held up by the leader).
• Using flash cards with a word, photo of a demonstration or picture of the bean.
• Make a sound cue, for example "Brrrr" = Chilli Bean.

Debrief for your leaders:

Why are the use of demonstrations, good clarity, and positioning so essential for a game like this?

View a video clip illustrating how the Bean Game could work.

Download a copy of the Bean Game to print out and use.