Candy Heart Math

If your kids are anything like mine, they end up with way too many candy hearts after Valentine's Day. Here are a few fun activities to make good use of all those candy hearts.

Estimating Jar
Fill a small jar with the candy hearts. Have each person write down their guess on a piece of paper. Once everyone has taken their turn, empty the jar and count the hearts. You can count by 1's, 2's, 5's...however you like. This is a great way to practice counting and estimating.

Candy Heart Graph
Using a white piece of paper (or graph paper) make a quick graph for each child. Number the left side 1-6 and then write the different colors on the bottom of the graph. Show each child how to graph his/her candy hearts by placing them in the correct column. Once they have graphed all of their hearts, they can go back and color in the graph and eat the candy hearts. :)


Candy Heart Math Facts
This activity is my favorite! It's a great way for kids to practice their math facts. You take small brown paper bags and label each bag on the outside with a letter (A, B, C, D). Inside each bag, put different amounts of two different colored hearts. For example, in bag A, I am going to put in 2 pink hearts and 1 orange heart. For bag B, I am going to put in 3 yellow hearts and 1 white heart. After you have filled all of the bags, fold them closed and give each child a piece of paper and pencil and have them open each bag and form a math problem based on the hearts that are inside. For example, in bag A, a math problem could be 2+1=3. You could also add 3 different colored hearts to make it more challenging. This activity can easily be modified to meet any child's instructional level.