Bag of Beans is an innovative numeracy and storytelling programme for years 3 and 4 based on Jack and the Beanstalk. It provides opportunities for practising and developing numeracy skills within a stimulating piece of theatre-in-education.

Pupils meet journeying storytellers who have discovered a document which intrigues and baffles them.  The book seems to tell a version of the well known story of Jack and the Beanstalk, however it is incomplete and the storytellers need help to unlock its riddles, puzzles and the secrets within its pages.

Pupils will interact with a dynamically designed set which provides the characters with numerous problems to solve and an exciting place to tell their story.  The programme seeks to encourage imaginative processes which are at the heart of solving many mathematical problems. Only by making discoveries and building the final parts of a perplexing machine will the true story finally be told.

To create the programme, we have worked with the Artistic Director of HamFisted! Johnny O’Hanlon as creative consultant, designer and maker.

We hope that you find the following resources helpful in terms of further exploring the learning opportunities presented by the programme.

Thanks to he_boden via Flickr for the banner image