Combine your Halloween and math lessons with this hands-on candy counting lesson. Perfect for developing students’ critical thinking skills, this Halloween activity offers practice with data collection, graphing, and algebraic thinking. Try this candy math activity for classroom centers or a Halloween party idea. Candy graphing is sure to be a hit with students!

Materials

Plastic bags with assortment of Halloween candy: 8 varieties in random amounts

Crayons (up to ten colors)

Student record sheet (download your free copy here)

Directions

1. Each student receives a record sheet, crayons, and bag of assorted candy (decide ahead of time the rules for eating/keeping candy).
2. Students sort and record the amount of candy they have in their bag.
3. On the back of their record sheet, have students’ record information that can be learned from their graphs.

Extension

Have students compare two types of candy with their neighbor. Who had more of a specific type? Have them write a number sentence on the back of their record sheet.

For more Halloween lesson ideas, see Halloween Lessons and Activities for the Classroom.

For more higher-order-thinking activities check out Hands-on Thinking Activities: Centers Through the Year

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Heather Foudy is a certified elementary teacher with over 7 years’ experience as an educator and volunteer in the classroom. She enjoys creating lessons that are meaningful and creative for students. She is currently working for Evan-Moor’s marketing and communications team and enjoys building learning opportunities that are both meaningful and creative for students and teachers alike.