Chocolate kisses make excellent math manipulatives. There are so many ways to use them to practice a lot of math skills. As part of our Valentine’s Day theme we’re going to be sharing a lot of fun math activities that you can do with a bag of chocolate kisses. Up first is this simple graphing chocolate kisses activity. Preschoolers and kindergarteners can create real graphs using chocolate kisses and the free printable graphing page. Then spend some time analyzing the data they’ve collected.
FIND EVEN MORE VALENTINE’S DAY ACTIVITIES IN OUR PRINTABLE LESSON PLANS
ABOUT VALENTINE’S DAY AND HEARTS.
Graphing Chocolate Kisses Valentine’s Day Activities
As kids are able to sort and count sets of objects they are ready to begin creating real graphs. A real graph is a way to represent data using real objects. In this case we’re creating a real graph using chocolate kisses.
As kids create real graphs they are practicing early math skills like:
- sorting
- counting
- one-to-one correspondence
- comparing
- using math vocabulary like most, least, greater than, less than, and equal to
- combining sets
To prepare for the activity I placed a small dish of valentine chocolate kisses next to the free printable available at the end of this post. There are a few different options. Choose the version that best matches the chocolate kisses you have available.
If you’re doing this activity with multiple children it is helpful to put together bags of kisses for them to use. That way they won’t end up having more kisses than will fit in the graph.
I like to use zip top bags or small plastic containers. I number each container.
If you choose to have kids color in their data when they are finished creating the real graph, they can write the number of the container they were using to create their graph on the top their paper.
Extend the Learning with a Math Discussion
After kids create their real graphs be sure to help them make those important math connections by taking time to discuss their data. Discuss topics like:
- how many of each kind of kisses are in each column
- which type of kisses had the most (or least)
- which kinds the same amount
- how many kisses there are in all
- and if you are working with one more than one child who has a graph, compare the amounts of each kind of kisses with one another (ie, who has the most silver kisses)
Quick Tip: If you’re worried about kids eating the candy, you might choose to offer a piece of candy once kids are finished (or give it to them beforehand as a quick taste test).
If you aren’t comfortable with or allowed to use food items because of school guidelines, then you could also use colored pom poms, mini erasers or glass gems for this graphing chocolate kisses activity.
You could also color in the graph once the kids are done to record the data. We did not do that at this time.
Instead I plan to leave this activity out as a learning tray to be repeated with different sets of kisses over the next couple of weeks.
If you want to include the written recording component and still have the activity be reusable, you could laminate the pages and use dry erase markers to record the date. Then erase the information and start fresh next time.
GET YOUR COPY OF THIS FREE PRINTABLE VALENTINE’S DAY ACTIVITY
Complete the form below to get a free printable copy Chocolate Kisses Graphing pages.
More Valentine’s Day Math Activities
Get more hands-on math fun with our 28-page roll and color hearts math set. Practice early math skills with these fun games kids love.
~~ Click Here to Get the Roll and Color Heart Math Set ~~
PRINTABLE VALENTINE’S DAY THEME LESSON PLANS
Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.
VALENTINE’S DAY THEME
GET YOUR VALENTINE’S DAY THEME LESSON PLANS
Also available on Teachers Pay Teachers.
HEART THEME
Learn about healthy hearts, symmetry and more in this week-long lesson plan set full of hands-on math, reading, & science learning activities for a preschool heart theme that’s perfect for Valentine’s Day. Watch this short video to see just a few examples of the types of activities and printables included in this set:
GET YOUR HEART THEME LESSON PLANS
Also available on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Originally published February 2014.
Updated January 2019.
Emma
Learning with chocolate is always better. Fact. 🙂