Valentine's Day Math Lesson Plans

Mathematics can be a challenging subject to learn and teach. Here are some Valentine's Day math lesson plans that can help to create more interest among students.

Solve Shopping-Related Math Problems
Create a worksheet that lists Valentine's Day gifts for sale with included prices. Base the worksheet on real merchandise listed in discount store catalogs and grocery store sales flyers. Make a list of ten questions related to the worksheet for students to answer. Pass out budgets, coupons or other related items that help to make this lesson fun for students. Allow the use of calculators for tough questions, if it is appropriate for the grade level that you teach.

Some Valentine's Day math lesson plan questions include "How many greeting cards can you buy with a budget of $8 and 65 cents?" or "What is the total price of a $12 box of candy and a $5 teddy bear after using your 75 cent coupon?". You can also give a different spending budget to each student and instruct him or her to list items that she can afford to buy in the store catalog. Younger students can be given basic counting lessons that incorporate pieces of Valentine's Day candy. These students may be inclined to eat the candy so keep a properly edible of taffy or other treats available for those who complete their work with correct answers. These Valentine's Day math lesson plans are useful for teachers who are seeking low-cost solutions for learning.

Valentine's Day Number Play
List math problems on your chalk board that total 2, 14, 28 or the current year (2009, 2010, etc). Give out Valentine's Day gifts to students who solve these problems correctly within a specific timeframe. You can also instruct students to develop a story that includes a set of related holiday numbers. The catch is for students to solve math problems in their story using these Valentine's Day numbers. There is an added bonus of language arts development with a story based activity. This is one of many Valentine's Day math lesson plans that can help students learn counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Keep Valentine's Day at the Forefront of Basic Lessons
The use of graphics is one of the simplest practices that add a little fun to your regular math lesson plans. Use hearts, teddy bears and chocolate on worksheets and in classroom lessons instead of regular numbers. Replace white worksheet paper with pink sheets during the Valentine's Day week. Hand out holiday gifts to students instead of stickers or high remarks on their incentive chart. Write a song that incorporates the multiplication table or count to 100 going forward and then in reverse.