Conversation hearts are everywhere around Valentine's Day. I can't stand the taste of them, but my hubby and kids love them. Recently, I saw these large conversation hearts at Walmart that came with a food safe pen so you could personalize the hearts with your own messages. Immediately, I thought of how I could use these to help my girls learn to read and recognize words and letters. I created two matching games that the kids loved playing...and eating. Read more to see how we made a Conversation Hearts Word Matching Game.
Conversation Hearts Word Matching Game
You will need:
- Larger conversation heart candy without writing on them (I get nothing for mentioning Brach's Conversation Hearts, just something I saw at the store that I thought was cool) You can also use large hearts with writing and just write your words on the other side.
- Food safe marker
Lay out your conversation hearts candy and write some simple words on them with your food safe marker. You will want to have 2 hearts for each word. The number of hearts you use for your game will depend on the age of your child. You will want to use more pieces if your child is older to make the game more challenging.
My three year old is not reading yet, but she has been learning her letters, so I made a matching game with letters for her. You can really tailor this game to a number of ages and skill levels.
The rules are the same as a typical matching or memory game. Children take turns turning over two hearts at a time until they find a match. They then get to keep those hearts.
I didn't want my kids eating a bunch of these candy hearts at once, so I told them before we started playing that they could choose one pair to eat. I thought they would put up a fuss about how they wanted to eat all the hearts, but they were happy with the two. I think it helped that I set up expectations before we started playing.
We had lots of hearts left over and I am not a fan of the taste, but don't worry, my husband was nice enough to take one for the team and have a bunch. What a guy!
If you want more activities for kids, take a look at Green Kid Crafts, an earth friendly subscription box for kids that provides plenty of craft ideas and supplies.
If you liked this Conversation Hearts Word Matching Game, you'll love:
Boy Mama Teacher Mama
These are fantastic! What a find! Pinning! Thanks for sharing at After School!
Rebecca English
What a brilliant activity.
I wish we had this in the UK!
Thanks for linking to The Sunday Showcase. I've pinned to our board.
pauline@lessonslearntjournal.com
Hi Vicky,
Love this fab and yummy idea. I'll be featuring this as part of my Learning to Read roundup from the Weekly Kids' Co-op. xoxo P
pauline@lessonslearntjournal.com
Hi Vicky,
Love this fab (and yummy) idea. I'll be featuring this as part of my Learning to Read roundup at the Weekly Kids' Co-op. xoxo P
RedTedArt
Oooh and the best bit is you get to eat them when you win!! 🙂 funny how your conversation hearts look so different from ours!
Thanks for sharing on Kids Get Crafty.
Maggy
Kirstylee
These are so cute. I'll have to keep my eyes open for these kind of conversation hearts.
Shannon Conner
Great idea! I didn't even know there was such a thing as blank conversation hearts!
Shannon
fixingforfriday.blogspot.com
Jeni
I love this! I have not seen these candies! I need to look for them!
Katie @ Gift of Curiosity
Very cute! I love the taste of the candy hearts so this would be a super yummy game for me to play with my kids. 🙂
Diana - FreeStyleMama
I've never seen those. FUN idea!!
We-Made-That.com
What a great idea! My oldest is in Kindergarten this year and this would be a great way to work on her site words. I would love for you to share this on our Linky at http://wemadethat.blogspot.com/2013/01/we-made-that-linky-23.html
Alexis AKA MOM
I've never seen the ones that you can write on! How fun!!
Danavee
This is fun! I have my students use the silly phrases to write a poem! They are hysterical.
I will ONLY eat the yellow (banana) ones.
Larissa@Just Another Day in Paradise
That is awesome! I need to go to Walmart now and find those conversation hearts. Great idea. Thanks for sharing!
School Sparks Renee
I've never seem these large "write your own" hearts before. They look like so much fun. Thanks for sharing this idea. Renee
Vicky @ Mess For Less
It was fun and yummy!
Cranberry Morning
How fun! Can I play??!