Christmas Math Activities with Peppermints

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Have fun learning with these easy Christmas math activities using peppermints! Kids can count, sort, and pattern with festive hands-on activities for daycare.

Why Use Peppermints for Math at Christmas

Peppermints are inexpensive, festive, and easy to find during the holiday season. Their bright red-and-white stripes instantly bring Christmas cheer, and they’re just the right size for little hands to pick up, move around, and count.

Using peppermints for math activities gives preschoolers a fun sensory experience while also reinforcing important skills like counting, sorting, patterning, and early addition. These activities make learning playful, and children are often more engaged when manipulatives are tied to something seasonal and exciting.

Counting with Peppermints

Give each child a small pile of peppermints and practice counting one by one. Start with smaller numbers and build up as children become more confident. For younger children, lay the peppermints in a row and count aloud together.

For older preschoolers, ask them to place a certain number of peppermints into a cup or onto a holiday-themed mat. You can even use Christmas cookie cutters as counting trays, children can place two peppermints inside a star, three inside a tree, and so on.

Measuring with Peppermints

Line up peppermints to measure classroom items like blocks, books, or even each child’s shoe. Ask questions like “How many peppermints long is this block?” or “Is your shoe longer or shorter than your friend’s?” Non-standard measurement activities like this help children understand the concept of length before they are introduced to rulers and inches.

Sorting Peppermints by Color and Shape

Peppermints come in a variety of colors and styles from classic red-and-white, green-and-white, swirled, or striped. Offer a bowl of mixed candies and let children sort them into groups. Sorting is one of the first steps toward classification in math, and the bright colors make it extra fun. Encourage children to notice details: “Which pile has more? Which has fewer?” This builds early vocabulary for math comparison.

Making Patterns with Peppermints

Use peppermints to create simple patterns on a tray or table. Start with an AB pattern, such as red-white-red-white, and encourage children to continue it. For more challenge, introduce ABC or AABB patterns.

Children can also make candy cane shapes by lining up peppermints in repeating colors. Once they understand how patterns work, invite them to create their own peppermint designs to show the group.

Peppermint Addition and Subtraction

For older preschoolers who are ready for simple addition, peppermints are a perfect tool. Place two groups of peppermints in front of a child and ask them to count how many there are altogether.

For subtraction, give them a group of candies and “take away” a few, then count what’s left. Keep the numbers small so the activity feels fun and manageable. You can even make story problems with a holiday twist, such as “If Santa eats one peppermint, how many are left?”

Building Shapes with Peppermints

Arrange peppermints into simple shapes like circles, squares, or triangles. Have children count how many peppermints it takes to make each shape. Compare the number needed for small shapes versus larger ones.

This activity introduces geometry concepts in a hands-on way. Children also enjoy making Christmas shapes like trees, stars, or candy canes, which ties learning into seasonal creativity.

Peppermint Weight Experiment

Give kids a scale, a pile of peppermints, and objects to weigh. Find out how many peppermints heavy an orange is, or a toy.

Graphing with Peppermints

Give each child a handful of different colored peppermints and create a simple bar graph on chart paper or a mat with columns. Children can place their candies in the correct columns, showing how many of each color they have.

As a group, compare which color has the most, least, or the same amount. Graphing is an early math skill that encourages children to organize and interpret information visually.

Estimation with Peppermints

Fill a small jar with peppermints and let children guess how many are inside. After making predictions, pour the candies out and count together as a group. Estimation builds number sense and helps children begin to understand quantity in a fun and low-pressure way.

Christmas math activities with peppermints are engaging, educational, and festive. They use a familiar seasonal item to bring math concepts to life for young children, making skills like counting, sorting, patterning, and graphing more exciting.

With just a bag of peppermints, you can create a full set of holiday learning activities that keep children busy, curious, and having fun. These activities are flexible enough for home, daycare, or preschool classrooms, and they’re easy to adapt for different ages and abilities. Best of all, they bring the joy of the season right into your math lessons.

Christmas Activities

For more ideas for Christmas activities with your kids, check these out:

• Candy Cane Math and Science Activities for Preschool
• Christmas Themed Breakfasts for Daycare
• Daycare Lesson Plans on Gingerbread
• Popsicle Stick Snowflake Ornament
• Shrinky Dink Christmas Ornaments with Free Printable Patterns
• Twig Star Ornaments for Kids to Make
• Special Days, Parties, and Holidays in Daycare