8 Creative Ways to Use Halloween Candy For Learning

Gathering as much Halloween candy while trick-or-treating can be loads of fun and eating it can be a blast but there are plenty of creative ways to use Halloween candy for learning! So grab the kiddos and belly up to the table for a whole lot of learning fun!

Play Sink or Float – This is always a favorite with the young ones. Grab a small Rubbermaid tote, large bowl or a cake pan and fill it up with water. Have different pieces of candy picked out because it is time to see does it sink or does it float!?? Make sure you take the wrappers off the candy for the best experience and drop it into the water. Document on a tablet whether the candy sinks or floats. Remember to remind them that once you begin playing with the candy you will no longer be able to eat it. Yuck…… nobody wants soggy candy!

Have a Sorting Party – There are many different ways to sort your Halloween candy for learning. You can start off by sorting it by candy types. Then change it up a bit and begin sorting them in order by their size. †You can also work on colors at this time or start a big long line of candy starting with the smallest first and ending with the largest.

Following Directions – This is one of my favorite creative ways to use Halloween candy for learning. See how well your child can follow directions and make a game of how quickly they can complete each task. Start by having them put a snicker bar on top of a package of M&M’s. You can also work on learning their right from their left and top from their bottom. You might say Jimmy can you place the Skittles on the right side of the Mars bar.

Money Games – The kiddos might really like this one because it involves money! Grab some coins and set up a candy store. Have your children purchase the candy they want to eat. Make sure that you include some prices that will require them to get some change back so they can work on their addition and subtraction.

Math Games – There are quite a few ways you can incorporate math games into your creative ways to use Halloween candy for learning. Begin by counting each type of candy and logging it into a notebook. Once you have everything counted you can again work on addition and subtraction with them. I’m sure they would be pleased to be able to do a little subtraction if it includes getting to eat a piece of candy. If John has 6 Snickers bars and he eats 2 then how many Snickers bars will John have left??

Paint with Candy – This works really well with a few different colored packages of Nerd candies. Pour a little water into a cup and dump a different colored box of Nerds into each one. There are so many different colors of Nerds available that you should be able to make a rainbow of colors. Use a paint brush and dip it into the colored water and paint away!

Identifying Letters – Candy wrappers are full of letters. Grab up a few candy wrappers and work on learning the shapes of letters with your little ones. We always start with the first letter of their name and work on from there. You might also want to work on their shapes and colors at this time also.

Learning Patters – I absolutely loved working on patterns when I was a kid. Group the candy into matching categories and start with a simple pattern. 1 Snicker bar….. 1 package of pretzels…. 1 snicker bar…. 1 package of pretzels. Once they master that you can start working on more difficult patterns for them to try.

Can you think of any other creative ways to use Halloween candy for learning?