Multisensory Monday: Conversation Hearts

Conversation hearts are so much more than a sweet treat! These heart-shaped, sugary concoctions are a fantastic multisensory tool. Below are multiple activities you can do with them to incorporate some learning fun while celebrating Valentine’s Day.

Silly Sentences

Provide each child with 3-5 different candy hearts and have them construct silly sentences with them.

Sentence Starters

Have each child read the word(s) on the candy and then use it in a sentence. To extend this activity further, add the element of writing. After reading the word(s) on the candy heart, write a sentence containing the word, then glue the heart where that word would go in the sentence. create a

Conversation Starter: Text Talk or Real Words?

Some of these candies have real words such as “yes” or “maybe,” others will say “I Love U” or “xoxo.”

Use this as a teachable moment to distinguish between real words and symbols or abbreviations. Discuss the meaning of the symbols and when it might be appropriate to use them. For instance, have they ever seen a card signed by a relative that had “xoxo” written at the bottom? What does this stand for? Elicit responses, and if they do not know, tell them that the x’s represent kisses, and the o’s are hugs.

Instruct your students to provide the correct spelling for the word “you” if they come across a candy with it spelled “u.” Again, discuss that they might see this type of spelling in text messages. Tell them that people often do this to save space or when they are in a hurry to communicate via text. Let them know that this is not appropriate when writing papers, completing classwork, or sending professional emails.

Candy Sort

Provide students with a handful of hearts and have them sort them out by color or by how many words are written on them.

After sorting the hearts, have students create a bar graph by arranging the same-colored hearts in columns. How many yellow ones do they have? Which one has the least amount? How many do they have total? They can also use their graphs to do simple math by adding or subtracting the quantities of two or more columns.

Written by Julie Palermo.

Julie is a Reading Interventionist and Brainspring tutor.