Recommended ages: 3-6
This time of year, candy is everywhere. Why not use it to engage your child in some fun learning activities that can be repeated until the candy runs out?
Color Sort
Younger children can sort candy by color. To get your child started, select several pieces of candy with different colored wrappers. Ask your child to sort the rest of the candy by the color of the wrappers.
Pro Tip: Try sorting the candy in different ways: by size, type, or from your child’s favorite to least favorite.
Sound Scavenger Hunt
Children who are beginning to recognize letter sounds can use the candy to go on a Sound Scavenger Hunt. Let your child choose a piece of candy and call out its name (e.g., Butterfinger). Ask your child to look around the room or your home to find something that starts with the same sound (such as button).
Pro Tip: For an older child, ask him to put the candy in alphabetical order.
Positional Words
Use the candy to let your child practice listening to and applying positional words. For example, ask your child to, “Place the Milk Duds below the Skittles,” or “Put a chocolate candy to the left of a fruity candy.”
Examples of positional words: above, over, between, under, below, next to, close to, far from, near, beside, in, out, left, right.
Pro Tip: For an older child, give two positional prompts: “Place the Skittles next to the Milk Duds but below the Snickers.”
Estimating
Spread out all of the candy so it’s in a single layer. Ask your child to estimate (make an educated guess) to answer the following questions:
- Which type of candy do you have the most of?
- Which type of candy do you have the least of?
- Are there more Kit Kats than Almond Joys?
- Are there more blue packaged candies or yellow packaged candies?
Write down your child’s estimates. Then count the candies together to see how accurate the estimates were.
Pro Tip: For an older child, ask her to make a bar graph to represent how many types of candy she has.