Estimating and Measuring with Candy Hearts

February 10, 2022 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

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.]

Have you read?

Sensory Fun and Learning with Ice Cream Inspired Activities

When it’s hot outside it’s fun to do any kinds of activities that involve ice, water or anything cold. Check out my water and ice activities here, and read on for sensory and science experiments using and inspired by ice cream, and maybe grab a sweet treat after you’re finished.

In the Playroom has a bunch of ice cream inspired STEM challenges that would be great for older kids. These include things like designing an ice cream cone holder that will hold cones upright, making the highest stack of “scoops” (using cotton balls) and making a cover that can keep ice cream from melting so quickly. The challenges and printable pages kids can use as they work on their experiments individually or in teams are included in a free download.

This ice cream water table from Happy Toddler Playtime doesn’t use real ice cream, but you could try chilling the shaving cream for the fake ice cream base (though cans of shaving cream should not be frozen). Or just throw some ice cubes in there while you play.

You could also make fluffy ice cream slime (not edible) with this recipe from STEAMsational Family and use that in a sensory tray or table if you like.

Happy Toddler Playtime also has an ice cream cone volcano idea, which is the classic baking soda and vinegar project with an ice cream twist.

Turn building an ice cream cone into a lesson about sharing with this idea from Extremely Good Parenting. Read the book Should I Share My Ice Cream? and then make paper into an ice cream ball you can share with someone else (or just make for fun).

Learn about states of matter and sequencing with a melting Popsicle experiment (you could also do with ice cream) from Mrs. Jones’ Creation Station. This is a good one if you have a sunny spot on the playground or in the yard where kids can observe and time the melting of a frozen treat, ideally while eating their own. There’s also a free printable for kids to record their observations if they didn’t get too sticky.

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