FUN Learning Activities with Chocolate

In preparation for Valentine's Day, my kids are diving into chocolate lessons head first with their mouths wide open. There is something magical when you mix food with learning, and chocolate seems to be the best teaching tool I have found so far!


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 new pep in my step.

I was so into the chocolate unit study this week that I was sporting my  Teacher Powered by Chocolate T-shirt  this week!
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.
This photo and fingerpainting with chocolate post is a blast from the past (perhaps 7 years old).

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.
Source: rowdyinfirstgradeWe 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.)
Source: Teachers Notebook This teacher  had her student create this chocolate acrostic poem. I was impressed by her creativity and descriptive wording to describe chocolate. Source: www.brighthubeducation.com
We read books about Milton Hershey.
Milton Hershey: More than Chocolate (Heroes of History)
Who was Milton Hershey?
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!
Hershey's Fractions Book  
Hershey's Multiplication Book
Hershey's Addition Book
Hershey's Subtraction Book
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!
The M&M's Counting Book
More M&M's Math
Some chocolate-filled fiction books are:
Chocolate Fever (A classic that I absolutely enjoy reading aloud to my kids.)
The Chocolate Touch (I haven't read this book yet but it is on my list.)
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.)
My husband prefers watching the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory as it was his favorite movie growing up (but I still prefer the book).
Roald Dahl's Site  has tons of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory lesson plans and quizzes.
We read about the history of chocolate in Smart about Chocolate- A Sweet History
The Story of Chocolate
We watch some videos about the story of chocolate and how it is made .



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 that had them matching shapes. It was also great practice for them using the mouse on the computer.
Make Your Own Chocolate Kit 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. My kids don't seem to mind a bit.) We ended our chocolate study with some science by watching liquids turns to solids in 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!
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 .