Estimating and Measuring with Candy Hearts

Candy hearts are a fun and familiar part of Valentine’s Day celebrations, but did you know that they can also be used as a teaching tool for math? This printable math activity from Buggy and Buddy is a great example of how conversation hearts can be used to teach math concepts in a fun and engaging way.

Grab the printable and details from Buggy and Buddy.

In this activity, kids are asked to estimate and measure the number of candy hearts for each flower. They can then use this information to practice math skills such as counting, measuring, and estimating. This activity is a good one for reinforcing these concepts, and it is also a great way to get kids excited about math.

If you are looking for other ways to use candy hearts to teach math, here are a few suggestions:

Sort the candy hearts by color and have kids practice counting and graphing the results.
Use the candy hearts to practice skip counting and other arithmetic skills.
Create a math scavenger hunt using the candy hearts as clues.
Use the candy hearts to practice measurement concepts such as size, weight, and volume.

Overall, candy hearts are a fun and versatile tool for teaching math to kids. Whether you use them in a structured activity or as a casual learning tool, they are sure to be a hit with kids of all ages. So, this printable math activity from Buggy and Buddy is a good one for estimating and measuring and it uses candy hearts.

The picture includes heart flowers of different heights. Kids can estimate how many hearts tall each one is, then use hearts to see how close their estimate was.

This is a great reminder to kids that you don’t have to always measure with a ruler. You can even extend the activity to measure items in the house or classroom, as long as you have enough candy.

[Photo: Buggy and Buddy.]

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Valentine's Day Themed Math Activities

One of my favorite things in the little kid classrooms my daughter was in when she was younger (besides pretend play) was the science center. This space pretty much always had magnifying glasses (and probably binoculars because it was in front of a window), tweezers and other basic tools, but the content of the things they were studying would change every so often.

It might be the table was covered with rocks. Or flowers the kids picked when they were outside. Or fall leaves. Once they had tadpoles harvested from a puddle outside.

Because there’s so much to explore when you’re little, the ideas for science tables are almost endless. It could be about any kind of animal you’re learning about in class, the weather, parts of a plant, space, holiday related activities like weighing and measuring pumpkins, it goes on and on. If you’re doing this at home (or even in a classroom) you can let the interests of the child/children drive what’s on the table and how often it changes.

If you need help with what to put on your science table, or if you’re wondering why having one is a great idea, at home or in the classroom, check out this post from Little Bins for Little Hands.

They happen to have a whole series of printables for science centers that you can buy, but there’s also a free printable of basic science tools in this post, and it’s full of good information on the hows and whys of science tables, even if you don’t buy anything.

The article notes there are all sorts of great things kids learn at science tables in preschool, including a basic understanding of science tools and the scientific method, ways of measuring and classifying things, observation, problem solving, teamwork and more. Lots of these skills have applications outside of science, as they can also help improve vocabulary, critical thinking skills and more.

Check out the post for more great information on science tables and why you might want to set one up today. Have you ever had a science table in the classroom or at home? I’d love to hear about it!

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