If you celebrate Halloween, or if your child gets candy from a Fall Festival, you are probably getting prepared for how to deal with the excess treats. While some candy is fun and a treat for all children, homeschoolers or not, massive amounts of treats children collect today can be overwhelming. What can you do to utilize the candy your homeschooler collects? Here are some ways to incorporate extra candy into your homeschool lessons, while still enjoying favorite treats that your child receives.

Science is a wonderful subject where candy can be experimented on. If you have a child's microscope prepare slides of various candy layers to examine and then journal your observations. Use a magnifying glass to view various candies up close, and record your data in a Science journal. If you have both tools, compare and contrast, using a Venn Diagram, how candy looks using each tool. Have fun with the candy by doing simple tests to check out how the properties of the candy changes when melted, frozen, or put in water. A wonderful website called "Candy Experiments" has ideas, experiment directions and more. Check it out for step by step instructions using specific candies.

Math can be sweeter with candy graphs! Using M&M's, Skittles or Reeses Pieces graph the colors in each bag. Before you start the project be sure to hypothesize how many of each color your child thinks a particular bag will contain. Ask your homeschooler which color they think is most popular, and how many more of that color they expect to find. Chart your information on simple graph paper, which you and your homeschooler can ready prior to the activity, listing colors contained in each bag. Try using at least three bags for this project, as that would be a fair assessment for color frequency. After recording the results on the graphs, conclude which colors were most popular. Use a circle graph to chart the percentages of color amounts. Find an average number for each color from three of the bags. For younger children have them count up each color and then create hands on problems for them to figure out using the candy as manipulatives.

Language Arts can be incorporated into extra candy by the use of creative writing. Have your child close their eyes, or use a blindfold, and examine a piece of candy using their other senses. Do this with the candy wrapped and unwrapped. Have them remove the blindfold or open their eyes and write a description of what they sensed, and what candy they thought it was. Next have your homeschooler write a paragraph or two on this experiment, and what they sensed along the way. Have them record whether they were surprised by what they thought the candy was, or if they were correct in what they sensed.

Using Halloween or Fall Festival candy in educational ways can be not only fun, but also homeschool friendly. As homeschoolers we have liberties that private and public schools cannot take, like candy in school! Take advantage of this opportunity by being creative with your stash of goodies- your waist will thank you too.

www.candyexperiments.com/