Graph Math

What You Need: 

• Multicolored candy, like Smarties
• Pencil
• Paper
• Markers

What You Do:

1. Pull out several handfuls of candy. 
2. Have your child sort the candy into piles by color. 
3. Have them count how many pieces of candy are in each pile and write down the numbers.
4. Instruct your child to create a bar graph. Along the bottom line, which is referred to as the x-axis, you will need a section for each color. Along the vertical line, called the y-axis, write in numbers at increments of 5 or 10 depending on the amount of candy you've decided to use.
5. Have your child draw bars that show how many pieces of candy they have for each color.
6. Encourage them to use the markers to color the bars to emphasize the colors they represent and to make the graph more visually stimulating.
7. Your learner has just created a bar graph! In order to check their work, make sure that the height of the bar corresponds with the number of candy pieces in each pile.

Once you've verified that the graph is correct, you can celebrate with a bit of candy!