In preparation for Valentine's Day, my kids are diving into chocolate lessons head first with their mouths wide open. There's something magical when you mix food with learning, and chocolate seems to be one of the best teaching tools I've used!
No worries if Valentine's Day has already passed when you find this post. Chocolate can been incorporated into many other lessons, such as when learning about rain forests or to celebrate Chocolate Week in March. Yes, there is such a week! My family occasionally declares a Chocolate Day to spice things up when our lessons (or myself) may need a little pep in my step.
So how do we incorporate chocolate into our lessons?
When my kids are little, we use chocolate syrup to fingerpaint letters, shapes, numbers, and spelling words. Just squirt same chocolate syrup on fingerpaint paper and let your kids play.
For a variation, squirt some chocolate syrup into a small baggie, seal it tight, and let your kids write with their fingers on the side of the baggie for a sensory activity.
For some writing activities with chocolate, we wrote a Five Senses Poem on chocolate using this lesson plan. What a great writing activity that was!
My blogging friend, Jennifer, has a cute sensory poem template to use with the above poetry lesson for young children.
A few years ago, my boys memorized by favorite poem about chocolate-
My Mother's Chocolate Valentine by Jack Prelutsky. HERE is the poem and the video.
We wrote step-by-step directions on how to make hot chocolate and then made it exactly according to their instructions. (You'd be surprised how kids can miss out on important steps.)
Hershey's site offers lots of free lesson plans and activities.
We used Hershey bars and kisses for addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and fractions. We picked these books up from our local library. Trust me, your kids will not forget these math lessons!
My little ones LOVE using M &M's for math manipulatives as well as graphing. I had to purchase this book (even though it is at my local library) because my kids want to read it at least once a month. I don't blame them a bit- it is pure fun!
Who doesn't like chocolate chips cookies? Reading The Doorbell Rang is a wonderful way to demonstrate division to young children. You can make some homemade chocolate chip cookies to use with this lesson.
You can also use Cookie Crisp cereal for math manipulatives for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Some chocolate-filled fiction books are:
Chocolate Fever (A classic that I absolutely enjoy reading aloud to my kids.)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Kids are mesmerized by this read-aloud. My former students were begging for more. That is why Roald Dahl is known as the world's number one storyteller.)
This is the best chocolate unit study I have used and it is FREE. You have to print off a copy for yourself. So much good stuff!
Teaching Ideas offers several fantastic chocolate activities.
My favorite activity from Teaching Tips was their chocolate fact cards.
My little ones played chocolate games on the computer, which had them matching shapes. It was also great practice for them using the mouse on the computer.
I have not tried out this kit but have read such great reviews about it on homeschool blogs that I have it on my Amazon wish list for a future gift for my kids. (Yes, I am one of "those moms" who likes to give educational gifts. Shhh! My kids don't seem to mind a bit.)
We ended our chocolate study with some science by watching liquids turn to solids within seconds right before our eyes by making chocolate covered strawberries as well as homemade magic shell poured on ice cream. If you haven't tried this easy magic shell recipe, you have to make it. I even bottled it up in mason jars one year for Christmas gifts because it was so delicious!
In the past, we have visited local candy shops that demonstrate how to make fudge. The kids really like those field trips.
Then on Valentine's Day we received a very sweet treat from Grandma in the mail- her homemade fudge (which is seriously the best fudge EVER). Thanks Grandma!
UPDATE: After attending the FPEA Homeschool Convention this year, we stopped by Chocolate Kingdom for an interactive tour that demonstrates how the cocoa bean becomes a chocolate bar.
It includes the history of chocolate, hands-on activities, and even making your own chocolate bar. This tour was one of the best educational tours I've ever been on! It completely surpassed my expectations. My children were very attentive and soaking up all the facts like sponges. How could they not be with tasting different samples and playing trivia games along the way? You have to stop by Chocolate Kingdom the next time you are in the Orlando area.
Lessons with chocolate ensure sweet learning success- from geography to history to science to math to writing to spelling to reading. Unit studies can involve every subject area and the entire family, including myself! (Someone has to taste test the chocolate to make sure it is safe to eat, right?)
Have FUN making sweet memories with your kids,
To read more of my posts on FUN Valentine's Day activities,
click on the image below and keep scrolling down.
For more ways to incorporate food into math lessons, click here.
.jpg)
