We have mostly unwanted candy now, but a week or two ago, here's what we did with all our, I mean Lawton's :), loot. ha!
Here's what you need: Candy. Lots and lots of candy. (or any other sortable stuff.) Possibly paper and markers if your child is old enough.
Here's why you should do it: Excellent math activity. . . sorting, classifying, counting and graphing. And hey, you should have sorted through all the candy to make sure no dangerous things got thrown in the bag (I actually found two very questionable pieces this time). Oh, and OF COURSE you made sure that you found all the dark chocolate Mounds, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Snickers because, um, of course, YOU wouldn't want your child to have an allergic reaction or anything to nuts . . . even if your child isn't allergic. ahem. :) Here's how you do it: Sort away! And you know what's ODD? When we were sorting, there wasn't a single Snickers or Reese's to be found! Hmmm. . . I sure did think that I had seen a few in there on Halloween night . . .
Note to all the grandparents: Lawton loves Starbursts, Twix, and Kit Kat. (those are usually his first choices anyways.)
If you have a younger child, you might want to choose just two or three different types and then ask a few questions.
The finished product . . . notice we only graphed three kinds . . . he ran out of steam the day we were doing it and then we somehow ran out of candy by the time he felt like finishing. ha!
Oh, and I won't tell if all you have left is dum-dum suckers and boxes of raisins to graph. :)
Note to all the grandparents: Lawton loves Starbursts, Twix, and Kit Kat. (those are usually his first choices anyways.)
If you have a younger child, you might want to choose just two or three different types and then ask a few questions.- Count how many in each group
- Which group has the most?
- Which group has the least?
- Are there any groups that have the same amount?
- You could sort by color, size, or flavors, too.
We picked out a few of his favorites and I drew out a graph and let him write the words on it. He liked writing . . . but the coloring in of the boxes? Not so much. Have I ever said on this blog that he does not like anything crafty? AT ALL? Coloring in the boxes was not his idea of fun . . .
First we laid out the candy on top of the paper, and then we colored in the boxes.
The finished product . . . notice we only graphed three kinds . . . he ran out of steam the day we were doing it and then we somehow ran out of candy by the time he felt like finishing. ha!Oh, and I won't tell if all you have left is dum-dum suckers and boxes of raisins to graph. :) 
Great math activity! Did you also count the calories from all of that candy??? Never mind...that wouldn't be any fun. :)
ReplyDeleteLove this idea! We have so much candy that we are going to have to use it for something!
ReplyDeleteLove the idea. I did this when I taught kindergarten. The kids loved graphing. I taught at a Montessori school too. I absolutely love it. My children all went to the school I taught at & my last baby is attending their now. I did a post today about parent night there. The same teachers that I taught with 20 years ago are still there. The owner just bought & built their first school building this past year. So exciting.
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