Try incorporating traditional candy hearts into a fun and sweet graphing and estimation activity. Prepare and photocopy a blank grid graph, including a column for each color of candy heart. This will vary depending on the brand purchased. Label the columns with the color words and the rows with numbers to 20. Give each student a small bag or box of candy hearts and a blank graph. Encourage the students to shake the box and estimate how many hearts are inside. Have students record their estimations at the top of their pages. Allow students to open their boxes and count the candy hearts. Discuss the results. Then, guide students to graph their candy hearts by color. Encourage students to place the candy hearts in the boxes of the graph before coloring the bars. This will reduce the amount of error and frustration for students. Allow students to compare their bar graphs with their peers.
Most kindergarten classrooms incorporate an apple theme during the first few months of school. This estimation and graphing activity fits perfectly into an apple theme while also addressing key early math skills. Several days prior to the activity, ask families to send an apple to school with their students. Begin by allowing students to estimate how many seeds are inside their apples. Have each student record their estimation on a red apple cut-out. Create a class graph by dividing a large piece of construction paper into 12 columns and labeling them 1 through 12+ across the bottom. Allow students to attach their red apples to the graph in the appropriate column. Cut open the apples for students or help students use an apple corer. Allow each student to count the seeds inside her apple. Encourage students to discuss their findings with their peers. Have students write the number of seeds in their apples on a green apple cut-out. If desired, allow students to glue their seeds to the green apple, as well. Create a second class graph in the same fashion and allow students to attach their green apples. Discuss the results and compare the results graph with the estimation graph. Of course, allow students to eat their apples after the activity!
Kindergarten students love stickers. Using them in this math lesson makes graphing a fun and exciting activity. Find a set of stickers with six different types of stickers. Cut the stickers into small sheets, enough for each student. Each student will need a blank 6-by-6 bar graph, a small sheet of stickers and a blank wooden or plastic cube. Guide students to place one of each sticker on the six sides of the blank cubes to create dice. Have students predict which sticker they will "roll' the most. This is a great time to introduce basic probability to students. Allow students to roll their dice and place a matching sticker to what was rolled on the bar graph. Instead of coloring in boxes, the stickers will create the graph. Have students continue until one column reaches the top or they run out of stickers.
Once students are comfortable with graphing and estimating, allow them to create their own graphing assignment. This activity works best at an independent workstation or during small group instruction. Provide students with a clipboard, blank grid graph and crayons. Guide them to create their own graphing assignments and label the columns appropriately. For example, a student may want to find out how many chairs, windows and tables there are in the classroom, so he would label three columns with those items. Another student may want to find out if there are more brown eyes or blue eyes in the class, so she would label two columns with those colors. Encourage students to either estimate the amounts by writing a guess below each column or star the column they believe will have the most. Allow students to walk around the classroom with their clipboard and graph to record their findings. When they have completed the graph, discuss the findings with students and encourage them to share with the class.