Use masking tape on the floor or carpet to make three rows about 5 feet long with about 1 foot in between. Collect enough apples, bananas and oranges for each child in the class to choose their favorite. Designate each row of the tape on the floor for one of the fruits by putting a piece of each fruit on the left side of each row. Have the children come up, one at a time, and place their favorite fruit in the row where it matches. When all the children have had a turn, count as a group to determine how much fruit there is in each row. Help the children answer the questions of which row had the most and least and what was the favorite fruit in the classroom.
Divide a poster board into two columns. At the top of one column, put a picture of a car. At the top of the other column, put a picture of a school bus. Provide each student with a picture of a car or bus. Have each student come up and place the picture in the appropriate column for how they get to school each day. When each child has had a turn, count the number of both columns. Help the children answer questions about which has the most and least. This type of graph is good for teaching children the more abstract concepts of data collection, since you can't actually bring a car or bus for each child into the classroom.
Give each child a piece of paper with a line drawn down the middle vertically. Show the children a variety of cereal box labels and have them choose two. Make some of the choices ones that children wouldn't naturally choose. The children need to pick two labels and glue one at the top of each of the columns on their paper. Have the children walk around the classroom, with their paper, and ask each classmate which is their favorite type of cereal. For each answer, they make one tally mark in the appropriate column. When finished, they add the marks and put a total number at the bottom of each column. Help the children answer questions like which cereal was more popular and whether one kind was always, sometimes or never chosen.