by Rachel Wells

 

Valentines Day is right around the corner, and no Valentine’s Day would be complete without candy conversation hearts!

You can’t possibly eat them all, but luckily these cute little treats are perfect for graphing, sorting, counting, crafting and lots of opportunities to make learning fun. So whether you’re looking for science experiments, literacy activities, or problem-solving opportunities we’ve got you covered.

 

Story Writing

Supplies Needed:

• Paper
• Pencil
• Conversation heart candies

Challenge students to write sentences that include at least one of the candy heart words or phrases in them. Older students can write a short story using as many conversation heart words as they can.

 

Guess How Many Will Fit

Supplies Needed:

• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Conversation heart candies
• Paper and pencil

Cut hearts of various sizes out of construction paper. Have children predict how many candy hearts they think it will take to cover the surface of each paper heart and write down their guesses. After they’ve made predictions have them use candy hearts to find the actual amount needed.

 

Balancing Act

Supplies Needed:

• Cardstock
• Scissors
• Blocks or plastic cup
• Cardstock
• Conversation heart candies

Pre cut paper hearts out of cardstock. Have your child make a small stack of blocks if applicable and place the paper heart on top of the stack. Challenge your child to see how many candy hearts they can balance on top without it tipping over!

 

Dissolving Candy

Supplies Needed:

• Clear bowls or cups
• Various liquids – soda, vinegar, water, rubbing alcohol, etc.
• Conversation heart candies

Pour each liquid into a different clear glass or bowl. Place a few conversation hearts into each liquid and watch to see which one dissolves the candies first.

 

Partner Battleship

Supplies Needed:

• 10 Conversation heart candies for each child
• Printable 100 chart
• Folder or another divider
• Pencils or writing utensils

Print a 100 chart for each child. They will need to shield their board from the other player by using a folder standing up (a large book may work too.) Each child will need to put their hearts on 10 spaces of their 100 chart (any 10 spaces they want) and take turns guessing numbers to find the other player’s hearts. If they miss, they put an X on that spot of their chart and the first player to clear their opponents board (find all their hearts) wins!

 

Dancing Hearts

Supplies Needed:

• Clear cups
• Conversation heart candies
• Sprite or another clear carbonated liquid

Place a few conversation hearts into a clear glass and slowly add your Sprite. The carbon dioxide bubbles from the soda will cause the hearts to float up and dance around the cup. Feel free to join the dance party as well!

 

Measuring Hearts

Supplies Needed:

• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Black marker
• Pencil
• Conversation heart candies

Cut hearts of different sizes out of construction paper. Draw a line on each heart from one side to the other using the black marker. Have your child use conversation hearts to measure the width of each heart by placing the candies along the black line. Use a pencil to record your results.

 

Make a Scale

Supplies Needed:

• Popsicle sticks
• Paper cups
• Boxes of conversation heart candies

Talk about what a balance is, and that the objects on both sides of a balance need to be equal in order for the scale to stay balanced and not tip over. The challenge of this activity is for students to use one cup and one popsicle stick to create a balance and get their entire box of candy hearts balanced on the sides of the stick at one time. It may take some time at first for kids to figure out they need to stack equal amounts on both sides as they go so the stack doesn’t fall over. Once they are successful, you can challenge them to stack higher.