Short on time, but looking for some fun centers for your 100th day celebration? Try out one or more of these candy math activities! They'll have your kiddos using their estimation skills in order to win some sweet prizes...
Which Bag Has 100 M&Ms?
[Above left] To set up the activity, fill three clear resealable bags with different amounts of M&Ms - making sure one has precicely 100 candies inside. Label the bags one through three, set them out (each with a small basket for voting), then provide students with a voting slip for each bag. First, have students identify and vote for the bag they think contains 100 candies, then invite them to estimate how many M&Ms are in the remaining two bags. For those students who correctly guessed which bag contains 100 candies - stick their voting slips in a bag, mix them up, and select one of the slips. This student gets to take the bag of M&Ms home! For the other two bags, award the bags of candies to the student with the closest guess.
Which "100" is 100 Mini M&Ms Long?
Use colorful butcher paper to create cutouts of the numeral, 100, in various sizes. Label the cutouts one through three then, drawing on their non-standard unit measuring skills, have students estimate and vote for which numeral cutout they think is 100 mini M&M candies long. For those students that guess correctly, place their voting slips in a bag, mix them up, and pull out a slip. This students gets to take a bag of 100 mini M&Ms home!
Which Cirlce Has an Area of 100 Mini M&Ms?
Draw (or print) three circles of various sizes onto colored paper - making sure that one of the circles has an area of 100 mini M&Ms. Label the circles one through three then have students estimate and vote for the circle they think has an area of 100 mini M&M candies and, like the previous activities, select a winner from the students who guessed correctly.
Which Bag Has a Weight Equal to 100 M&Ms?
[Above right] To set up the activity, fill three brown lunch sacks with different amounts of M&M candies - making sure that one contains precisely 100 M&Ms. Label the bags one through three, set them out (each with a small basket for voting), then provide students with voting slips. Based on weight, invite students to identify which bag they think contains 100 candies and make a guess as to how many candies are in the other two bags. Again, as with the previous activities, award the bag of 100 candies by drawing a voting slip from the pile of those who guessed correctly and the other two bags to the students with the closest guess.
We created some voting slips to go along with these fun activities;
The slip on the left goes well with the quantity and weight exercises, and the slip on the right goes well with the measuring and area activities!
