For being the shortest month of the year, February sure is busy! There are so many themes you can cover such as Groundhog's Day, presidents, dental health, Black History month and Valentine's Day! One thing that has helped me incorporate all the themes I want to teach is combining them with math. If you are looking for some fun February math activities that incorporate Valentine's Day, you are in the right place. Whether you want your students to make a cute Valentine math craft, work on some Valentine addition, or just want to find Valentine math bulletin board ideas, you’ll be sure to find just the right February math activity here!
Valentine Day Cards Math Activity
Did you know that Valentine cards make for the perfect math talk? When February hits, students get excited about giving Valentine cards out to their peers.
A few weeks before the big day, I like to do the following math talk with my class:
“Mathematicians, in a few weeks, we will celebrate Valentine’s Day in our classroom. As part of your homework, I’d like you to write a Valentine card for each student in our class. However, I need your help solving a few math mysteries before then. Let’s begin!”
- “How can we find out how many students are in our class?” I have the class come up with a system for how we can count each student. This helps determine how many Valentine cards they will need to write.
- “Let’s look at the February calendar, how many school days are there until Valentine's day?” Once we have figured this out, I tell my students that they will be writing a few cards each day as part of their homework.
- “If we want to start writing our Valentine cards on February 1st, how many cards do you need to write each day in order to finish in time?” I have students take out math cubes to represent each student in our class. Then, working in pairs or small groups, students come up with a strategy to solve. During this time, I circulate the room and listen in on student strategies.
- Once students are done, I have them share their strategy with the group. I time this math talk ahead of time so students will only have to write 2-4 Valentine cards a day. If you have a big class, you may want to have students start working on their cards at the end of January.
- Once we determine how many cards they must complete each night for homework, I send out a list of student names and instructions in their homework folder.
Valentine’s Day Math Graphing Activity
Did you know that Valentine’s day is the second biggest holiday after Christmas for exchanging greeting cards in the U.S.? In addition to cards, sales increase on gifts such as flowers, candy, jewelry, and stuffed animals. It is believed that people give stuffed animals as a token of affection because they can provide a hug and a feeling of warmth and love. That’s probably why so many children love receiving stuffed animals!
One of my favorite February math activities is having my students make a Valentine’s Day math graph. I poll students by asking them which Valentine’s stuffed animal would they choose-a unicorn, teddy bear, or penguin. Students love to interact with the Valentine graph and see the selection of their peers.
Once our class graph is complete, I have my first graders engage in data math talks. During this time, we focus on questions related to statistical analysis. I remind my students that data is collected for a purpose. I try to incorporate questions on how this data could be used in the real world.
Then, students make this Valentine math graph. There are two versions of the graph so you can easily differentiate based on the needs of your students. This allows K-2 students to work on the same content at their just right level.
Students enjoy making their stuffed animal topper and these graphs make for a cute Valentine’s day bulletin board! You can grab this Valentine graphing activity here!
Valentine’s Day Math Word Problems
Another easy way to incorporate Valentine’s day during your math block is through word problems. If you do a problem a day, this is a perfect way to tie in the various themes of the month. When coming up with word problems for the class, try to use the names of your current students. Additionally, you can offer 2-3 differentiated number sets for students to choose from. You can provide a number set that is on grade level and either below or above grade level for your class.
When doing the problem of the day, I follow this format:
- Unpack the problem- we read the problem and discuss it. I want to make sure students understand what is happening and what is being asked.
- Students select their “just right” number set.
- Students solve using a strategy of their choice
- Once the class has finished solving the problem, I select a few students to share their strategies and we go over the answers for each number set.
Valentine math activities can be lots of fun and easy to do! Hopefully this post will give you ideas of how you can incorporate your monthly themes into your math block. If you give some of these ideas a try, let me know which one you tried and how it went in the comments. I’d love to hear about it!
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