Candy Heart Math Activities

Use candy hearts in a number of different math activities.

For Valentine's Day, there are few sweet treats more symbolic of the holiday than candy conversation hearts. To keep your student lessons on theme with the holiday, try working candy heart into math activities. There are many different lessons that you can teach with the help of these colorful candies, and students will enjoy it even more when they get to eat the hearts at the end of class. Many lessons can be catered to match any grade level.

Probability

For older elementary and middle school-aged students, probability is a very important unit that is often seen on standardized tests and benchmark reviews. You can demonstrate possibility with an activity focused on candy hearts. On each heart, a printed message says something romantic such as "be mine," "call me" or "U R cute." Give each student a box of candy hearts and tell them to look at each one's message. Group like messages together and count how many of each are in the box. Use this number to assess the probability that each message would be pulled. Instead of messages, you could also choose to analyze candy colors.

Graphs

Students can create three-dimensional line graphs with the help of these colorful candies. These graphs can go hand in hand with the above unit on probability. For example, glue hearts to a piece of poster board to create a graph that demonstrates the number of times the hearts were pulled. Create line graphs using the different colors. Another graphing project would be to poll students on their favorite candy heart flavor. Demonstrate each color on a piece of poster board and hang up in the classroom.

Counting

For younger children, candy hearts can enforce even the most basic lessons, such as numbers and counting. For example, you can have students line up. Designate the first student in line as the leader and give him a candy heart. Have the leader give the student next in line a heart, and so on, counting off as you go. To merge a unit on art and numbers, have students decorate a piece of poster board with glued on candy hearts. Ask each student to make her favorite or "lucky" number or numbers on the poster board with the conversation hearts.

Letter Value

For older students, you can teach a math lesson that uses secret codes created with the letters on classic candy heart messages. Give the students a key to follow that translates every letter of the alphabet to a numerical value. For example, the letter "A" could stand for "1." Ask students to translate the messages on the hearts to their numerical value, then add all of the values together. The students can play a game to find out which message has the most value.

References

• Googol Learning: Valentine's Day Math
• Teachnology: Valentines Day Lesson Plans
• ABC Teach: Valentine's Day Theme Unit
• Mathwire: February Math Activities