Math Play: Halloween Edition

by | Oct 1, 2025 | Guest Contributor, Informal Mathematics, Math at Home, Math Games, Mathematical Moments, Prompt

Back in March I wrote a blog post about using “candy holidays” as a great opportunity for engaging with counting collections. Halloween is just about the biggest candy holiday there is, so I thought I’d link back to that post and also share our Halloween postcard. The postcard is available as a print-ready file and makes a great handout at Halloween events.

Of course, math play opportunities abound at this time of year, just like they do at anytime–not just on Halloween itself. Pumpkins are another great opportunity to engage in some fun math conversations, especially since they are piled up in front of grocery stores all month long. You could play any of our math games with pumpkins.

Two pumpkins? Play Same or Different?

Four pumpkins? Play Which One Doesn’t Belong?

A big group of pumpkins like the photo above? Play Find This Many, How Many, Find Shapes or explore size relationships with questions like:

  • Big or Small?
  • Which one is the biggest?
  • Which one is the smallest?
  • How did you measure?
  • Can you find a pumpkin smaller than your head?
  • Can you find a pumpkin taller than your knee?

Halloween is also rich with children’s books and movies that can be conducive to early math learning. One example that comes to mind is the book Big Pumpkin (one of my oldest son’s favorites when he was in preschool). On the face, the book isn’t ‘about math’, but it has a repeating element that ties in nicely with noticing patterns.

What are your favorite Halloween math activities? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Candy negotiations in full swing in my house after one Halloween. You can see that some kids love to sort and count their candy obsessively, while others are happy with just a big ol’ pile.

Melissa Burt

Melissa Burt

Guest Contributor

Melissa is an award-winning Senior Graphic Designer & Content Strategist at Educational Service District 112 who provides design for Math Anywhere's printed and online materials. She is also the mother of four math-curious kiddos.

Counting Collections

by | Mar 28, 2025 | Guest Contributor, Informal Mathematics, Math at Home, Mathematical Moments, Notice, Prompt

Featured image photo by Alan Rodriguez on Unsplash.

Easter is approaching, which is an exciting holiday in the early mathematics world. Afterall, we use plastic easter eggs year-round at our Pop-Up Play booth. Those colorful eggs are great for playing “How Many”, “What Repeats”, and more. But today’s post is about a different early math concept: counting collections.

A counting collection can be just about anything, but candy is a particularly rich subject. In my family, Easter, Halloween, and Valentine’s Day are “candy holidays”, and they offer the perfect opportunity to explore the wonderful questions that can be posed with a counting collection. In my experience as a mom, after the initial frenzied burst of candy consumption, little tummies start to feel a bit queasy and yet there is still SO MUCH candy. (Let’s face it, these holidays are not great for our health, but they are great for early math fun.) My kids want to revel in the sheer amount of sugary delight that is all theirs for one glorious day, and counting and sorting activities with candy let them do just that.

My family made an impromptu counting collection after dyeing our eggs. Clearly blue is the most popular color in our household.

For the most part, making counting collections out of an abundance of candy is something that many kids do on their own with zero adult intervention. I have fond memories of Easters with my cousins sorting, counting, and comparing our “loot”. At Halloween, as the oldest of three, I would sort my Halloween candy into the “good candy” and the “okay candy”, saving the latter for a few months to sell back to my desperate younger siblings when they’d eaten through their supply. My oldest child does the exact same thing!

Playing candy store brings up great math learning about pricing structures: Do you charge more for a tootsie roll to the sibling who you know loves them? Or do you charge based on age, since the younger siblings rarely have much money? Perhaps you keep your candies to barter with for services from your siblings? The economics of sibling groups are ever-changing and fascinating. But I digress.

For those kids who might need a bit of prompting to see their candy as a counting collection, we have some standard prompts. You can find these prompts in action on the back of our Trunk or Treat postcard, and there are even more in the booklet below that we published in kindergarten kits during the pandemic (the kits also included beads).

t

Basic Counting Collection Prompts

  • Can you count ALL of the {items} in your collection?
  • How many {items} have you counted?
  • How many are left?
  • How do you keep track? (or How do you know?)
  • Can you put your {items} in groups?
  • Can you group them by…
    • color?
    • shape?
    • size?
    • your own way?

Whether you find yourself faced with kids with too much candy on their hands, you are doing some spring cleaning, or you’re at the beach collecting treasures, slipping a counting collection prompt into the conversation is sure to spark some fun math play.  A good counting collection can be irresistible for children, teens, and adults alike!

Melissa Burt

Melissa Burt

Guest Contributor

Melissa is an award-winning Senior Graphic Designer & Content Strategist at Educational Service District 112 who provides design for Math Anywhere's printed and online materials. She is also the mother of four math-curious kiddos.