How to Count Jelly Beans in a Jar

Many charity functions and parties offer a prize to the person who guesses the correct number of jelly beans in a jar. But first, someone must count out an exact number of jelly beans and then place them in a jar. Other people will take a guess at how many jelly beans they think are actually in there. Whoever is the closest to the number --- without going over --- wins the prize. The prize could be cash, a gift certificate, or a basket full of goodies.

Things You'll Need

• Jelly beans
• Jar
• Contestants

Instructions

Counting Out the Jelly Beans

1. Find a jar to use for your jelly beans. The larger the jar, the more jelly beans you are going to have to count.

2. Pour jelly beans into the jar until it is almost full.

3. Take the jelly beans back out and count them to get the exact number. Count them out by placing them in groups of 10. This is recommended so that you don't lose count half way through and have to start all over again.

4. Count how many groups of 10 you have made and multiply that number by 10. Add any singles that are left over. For example, if you have 15 groups of 10 and 4 single jelly beans left over your total would be 154 (15 x 10= 150 + 4=154).

5. Put the jelly beans back in the jar and close the lid. Make sure you write the number down somewhere so you don't forget what it was.

Guessing How Many Jelly Beans

1. Take a look at the jar size. This is important in making a guess.

2. Consider that each gallon jar can hold 930 jelly beans.

3. Guess 930 jelly beans if the jar is one gallon. If the jar is about the size of a half gallon then you will want to guess 465 jelly beans. If the jar is about the size of 1 quart, then you want to guess 234 jelly beans. It's easy to do the math for different sized jars when you know this formula.

4. Pick the jar up (if you are allowed to) and count how many jelly beans there are in one row. Then count how many rows of jelly beans there are (or how many jelly beans high the jar is). Multiply how many jelly beans there are in one row by the number of rows. Submit that amount as your official guess.

Tips & Warnings

• There is no way to guess with 100% accuracy how many jelly beans are in one jar. You can only make an educated guess.

• Count out the jelly beans twice if you are responsible for the accurate count of jelly beans for a contest.