Winter Math Activities: Marshmallow Math

If you are looking for fun and engaging winter math activities, Marshmallow Math will not disappoint. In this post, I will share one of my favorite cold weather craftivities that your kids will love!

One of my favorite Winter Math Activities: Marshmallow Math

My kindergarteners love this hot cocoa marshmallow math activity each year. There are two versions included, which are shown below. The first version includes blank lines for numbers as well as a number sentence on the bottom. The second version includes spaces for a number AND a color word. I prefer to do the second because it’s great practice for writing color words AND using two different colors helps the kids see the addends better.

This year, however, I could not find the colored mini marshmallows anywhere, so we did the first version. The kids loved it!

New EDITABLE Templates!

I had a number of requests from teachers in upper grade asking for an editable template. As of November 2022, I have updated this resource to now include 4 editable mug templates where you may type your own story problem. One teacher who reached out wanted to create a subtraction story problem, so that is now an option!

If you already own this resource, simply download it again to receive the updated version!

Prepping Your Marshmallow Math

Prepping this winter math activity is simple:

Choose the format you like best. Print the mug and handles onto bright paper.
Copy the cocoa onto brown construction paper.
Print the whipped cream onto white cardstock.

The Lesson

You can do this as a whole group or in small groups. Give students a number of marshmallows. Have them glue them to the cocoa with Elmer’s Glue. I have them hold each marshmallow onto the glue dot for ten seconds. Teach students how to decompose the number. Model examples and provide prompting and support as needed as students complete their cocoa addition on the mug.

This is a great lesson for teaching making a ten. You could provide all students with ten marshmallows and discuss the different combinations that make a ten.