Materials

• Construction paper: yellow, blue, green, brown, red, and orange
• Scissors
• Small zip-lock plastic bags (one per child)
• Markers or crayons
• Dice
• Game number spinner

M&M's Math Activities

Fun with The M&M Counting Book

1. Pre-cut small circles to represent m&m's (make 10 of each recommended colors).
2. Invite 3–4 children to a table or floor area. Ask the children to use the paper m&m's and the book to make the same patterns, shapes, and number groupings depicted in the book.
3. Encourage the children to take turns choosing the pages. Engage the children in conversations about how their groupings and patterns change. How many brown m&m's are in your grouping? Can you keep the same number of m&m's but change the color pattern?
4. Put the book and paper m&m's in a large zip-lock bag and place it in your math area.
5. Encourage children to continue to use the book and paper m&m's to practice and develop their math and creative thinking skills.

1. Place a pile of paper m&ms and a number spinner in the center of the table.
2. Ask each child to choose 10 m&ms.
3. Tell the children that they will spin the spinner and the number the spinner stops on will determine the amount of m&ms they must give to the child seated beside them.
4. After everyone has a turn count the m&ms to determine who has the most. Who has the least?
5. The criteria for each game can change i.e. who has the most brown m&ms, who has the least yellow m&ms.
6. Engage the children in deciding the rules for each game.

1. Invite 4–5 children to play this small group math game.
2. Provide the children their own plastic bag filled with paper m&m's and a pair of dice.
3. Explain to the children that they will toss the dice first and, using their paper m&m's, create the same pattern that appears on the dice.
4. Ask each child to count how many m&m's appear on their pattern before giving the dice to the next child.

1. Provide the children with a sheet of construction paper, glue, and their paper m&m's.
2. Encourage the children to explore the different ways they can manipulate the m&m's.
3. Ask the children to glue their m&m's onto a sheet of paper, creating a favorite pattern, shape, or number grouping. Invite the children to share their work with the class.
4. Encourage the children to notice how each child used their paper m&m's. Discuss similarities and differences.