5 Things You Can Do With Conversation Hearts!

Oh the joys of Conversation Hearts. No Valentine’s Day is complete without seeing these edible hearts literally everywhere.

Side Thought: Does anyone ever use them for their purpose? Like, is there anyone out there that gives their loved one a candy heart that says “Be Mine”? Or does someone hand a stranger the heart that says “Call Me”? Just curious.

But I digress.

Yes, I know. Eating conversation hearts is probably to most important thing you should do with them. But, there are some people in the world that do not like these yummy Valentine’s treats (Gasp!) I know, right? This blog post is for those people. But if I’m honest, it’s also for the rest of us who have eaten our fair share and need to find a way to get rid of them. 🙂

When you find yourself having way too many Conversation Hearts laying around the house, here are some fun activities to do with your little one. Oh, and they may learn something in the process! That is, if you can be patient enough to not eat all the hearts first. 😉

1. Sort by Color & Quotes

Here are two activities that can be used with the younger kids and then with the older ones as well. Start with a handful of candy hearts. Help your child sort the hearts by color or by quotes. To take it a step further, draw different colored circles on a sheet of paper to help provide a visual for your child as they sort by color. (The same can be done when sorting by quotes. Just write the “Be Mine”, etc. in the circles.) Don’t forget to talk about and name the colors while doing this task!

2. Use to Cover & Uncover

Can you think of a better reinforcement than candy? I sure can’t. (Well, maybe coffee. Coffee is a good reinforcement.) Conversation Hearts can be used to motivate kids to work on tasks that require repetition or drilling of a skill. This activity is as simple as covering (hiding) a picture or word using the candy, then pick-up the heart, revealing the picture. Or how about the opposite way: starting with no hearts of the paper, then hide items one-at-a-time as they are named. This is a great way to practice naming letters, pictures, shapes, and so-forth and so-on.

3. Make Sentences

How about we use the Conversation Hearts for their actual purpose: To have conversation! This task would be for kids that are little older. The ones who are using sentences and learning to play around with words. (But don’t limit your child if they’re not doing this yet. If you think they’re ready, then go-on with your bad self!) To do this activity, sort through a handful of Conversation Hearts and pick out some of your favorites. Take the quote on the heart and add words before and after to form a sentence. Make it a fun challenge to see how many different quotes you can use in a sentence (and it still makes sense)! Here’s mine, just for kicks and giggles: “Although I Love You, these chicken nuggets are All Mine.”  

4. Use Tools to Pick-Up & Move

Two words: Fine Motor. This activity will make every occupational therapist smile, because you, my friend, are helping improve the strength and coordination of the wee-little muscles in your child’s fingers and hand. As with many of these tasks, the options are endless with this activity. Choose a “utensil” or “tool”, then just move Conversation Hearts from one area to another. Easy-As-Pie. You can use spoons, tongs, tweezers, clothespins, or even just your fingers! Step it up a notch, and have your child use these fine motor tools while sorting them by color or quotes. Pick up all the yellows, and put them in a separate cup from the whites… you get the idea.

5. Make Patterns

Depending on which brand of Conversation Hearts you purchase, there are typically 6-7 different colors of hearts. I’m no math major, but that’s a lot of different patterns you can make! To do this task, start a pattern using 4-5 hearts. Have your child finish the pattern using the remaining stack of Conversation Hearts. If you feel like jazzing it up a bit, draw simple shapes on a piece of paper (heart, circle, square…) and complete the pattern on top of the shape outline. Boom. You have found a way to entertain your child for at least 5 minutes 😉