Children sort and count M&M's in this activity. Each child is given a small bowl of the candy as well as a color chart. The chart will be on paper with squares labeled with each of the candy colors. The students will sort all the M&M's onto the chart by color then count each color. The results will be recorded on a separate piece of paper. This activity provides counting skills as well as pre-charting skills.
Students love to guess. Place a small jar of M&M's in front of the students. Tell each student to write down a guess as to how many candies are in the jar. After each student writes down the answer, count out the candies together and determine whose answer was closest. This activity is adjusted for age, as the amount of candies cannot exceed the counting abilities of the class. The activity helps students practice estimation skills and pre-hypothesis skills.
Children will build multiplication skills through this activity for older elementary students. The M&M's are paired in two's. The children record the number of M&M groups then write "times two equals" next to the number. The students then write the number 2 next the first group, 4 next to the second and so on. When the final group is recorded, the children have a multiplication problem. For example, there are five groups of M&M's. The child writes, "Five times two equals." They then write "ten" after writing out the numbers next to the groups.
Younger students use M&M's for a beginning addition activity. The M&M's are grouped by color after the teacher has distributed a very low amount of the candies to each student. The colors are counted and recorded. After the colors are counted separately, they are combined again and counted. The student will record all the numbers and add the proper math terms to create an addition problem.