14 Ways to Build Rapport with Kids Using Candy Hearts

Candy hearts can be the perfect tool to help break the ice, start a conversation, and build rapport with kids. Whether using candy hearts with your students at school or your children at home, playing and conversing through candy hearts can help you build rapport and strengthen your relationship.

Around Valentine’s Day, I like to stock up on candy hearts to use in my elementary school counseling office and with my two children at home. They are such a handy tool for building rapport with kids.

Candy hearts are so helpful in starting a conversation with little ones. After a few silly games using candy hearts, you are sure to have your children talking and problem-solving.

Below are fourteen ways I like to use candy hearts as part of my counseling program. My favorite is using candy hearts to teach students social skills and self-regulation strategies.

Pro Tip: Pre-sort the candy hearts and only have the appropriate ones available for use. Not all candy hearts are suitable for all age groups or settings.

Proceed with caution.

14 ways to use candy hearts to build rapport with kids:

Tracing Activity

Place candy hearts on a photocopy machine, creating a template for students to match real candy hearts.

Next, students are given a handful of conversation hearts and asked to match their candy hearts to the photocopied images based on each heart’s direction and orientation.

It is so fun watching children concentrate on matching up the hearts.

Download a free template of this candy hearts design center activity from my free resource library.

Silly Sentences

Give your kiddos sentence starters to match with their candy hearts, making silly sentences.

Then, spend your afternoon laughing over the hilarious sentences (and memories) you create.

Laughing together is a great way to build rapport together.

Evoked Feelings

As an icebreaker activity with a small group or class, pick a candy heart at random (pre-sort the candies and only have appropriate candy hearts available to choose).

Discuss what thoughts and feelings each statement brings to each person. Use this activity to demonstrate how others may feel differently than we do. Explain how the same sentence can evoke different thoughts and feelings for different people.

Showcase how they all heard the same sentence, yet all may have interpreted it differently.

This activity can be powerful when used with older children.

Heart Breathing

Have students breathe, regulate, and reset with heart breathing. Draw a heart on paper or download and laminate this heart breathing guide for repeated use.

Heart breathing goes as follows:

• Have students take a deep breath in for a three count as they hold their finger at the bottom part of the heart.
• Students exhale as they trace the outline of the heart with their finger. They finish at the original starting point at the bottom of the heart.
• Students again hold their finger at the bottom of the heart as they inhale for a three count. They repeat exhaling as they trace the heart with their finger a minimum of four times.

Once they have finished four rounds of heart breathing, let them snack on a conversation heart!

 Download the heart breathing guide from my TpT store.

Color Sort

Keep this activity COVID friendly with sanitizing wipes, napkins/paper towels, and separate sanitized sorting areas.

Once those candy hearts go on sale, stock up to create the perfect calming activities. Give students a bag of candy hearts and put them in charge of sorting them all by color.

So many children feel soothed by creating calm out of chaos. Giving your students a calming activity can help build trust and rapport with your kids.

This activity is perfect for helping calm nerves and relaxing tensions.

I’m interested in seeing if each of the different flavors/colors are skewed or distributed equally.

So, please get back to me on your results for this one. 

Science Experiments

Use candy hearts to spark a science-based conversation with your more curious and science-loving kids. Start by separating various liquids into a variety of clear containers.

Tupperware or clear disposable cups work best for this experiment.

Different liquids could include:

• Water
• Cooking Oil
• Vinegar
• Juice
• Milk
• Hydrogen Peroxide
• Baking Soda Mixed with White Vinegar

Have kids predict which liquid will make the hearts dissolve the fastest. Have kids predict the order in which the liquids will dissolve the candy hearts. Which do they think would be fastest? Which do they think will dissolve the slowest?

Set a timer and drop a candy heart into each container of liquid.

Pay attention to how long it takes for each candy heart to dissolve. Discuss with your kids what you are seeing.

Chart your results and converse about anything that surprised you.

This activity can take a bit of time and can get messy. Have extra napkins and cleaning supplies on hand just in case.

Create a Story

String the candy hearts together to create a story. If you are working with a small group, have everyone add one sentence at a time until they all run out of candy hearts.

Kids will find it hilarious to try and make the candy hearts match and make sense within the story.

Write the story out on chart paper to help students keep track of the plot lines. Tape or glue the candy hearts into place on the page.

Questions vs. Statements

Have students sort each candy heart into two categories: questions or statements.

Questions:

• Help us to ask permission
• Ask opinions
• Learn more about others

Statements:

• Help us to express our likes/dislikes
• Help us express needs
• Ask for help
• Tell others how we feel or what we want

Highlight the key differences between questions and statements to your group of children.

Conversation Heart Bracelets

These bracelets are the perfect craft for breaking the ice with a small group of kids. This activity helps students to get comfortable and engage in conversations.

You can use snap bracelets or cut-out slips of construction paper that fit the child’s wrist. Decorate the bracelets and glue the hearts to the snap bracelet/paper.

If you use paper instead of snap bracelets, secure the bracelet to their wrist with tape.

If you want to be super *extra* you could even grind up the hearts and add a bit of water to make paint. Use your candy paint to decorate your bracelets.

Make a Candy Heart Pattern

I use this one in my counseling office often to help break the ice and build rapport with kids.

This is a novel calming strategy for most students that catches their attention quickly. It serves as an excellent distraction for students dealing with big emotions.

This activity allows students the time needed to calm their minds before explaining what happened or facing any possible consequences.

I give students a handful of candy hearts and ask them to sort the hearts by color.

Once sorted, I ask them to create a pattern that works with all the included pieces. Challenge students to come up with as complex a pattern as desired.

After students are calm from making patterns, you can start the necessary conversations.

Make Your Initials

Challenge kids to create their initials out of a handful of candy hearts. Set the guideline for making their initials as small as possible while still legible.

Mega Hearts

Add all of the candy hearts together on a piece of paper to create one big mosaic mega candy heart.

Start by drawing a large heart on a piece of paper. Next, give each student a handful of candy hearts. Have students work as a team to figure out how to add all their candy heart pieces together, creating a beautiful heart mosaic masterpiece.

For COVID/germ purposes, glue the candy hearts to the paper to remove the ability to eat the hearts and spread the germs.

Safe vs. Unsafe Statements

Let’s be honest. Candy hearts don’t always have child-appropriate messages on them. Use candy hearts to start the conversation about safe and unsafe statements. This conversation could be your opening to talking about safe and unsafe people.

Use this activity with older children. Talk about how the different statements on the candy hearts can take on different meanings based on who says them.

On various paper strips, write different people children might encounter during their daily lives. Put the strips of paper inside of a container or paper bag.

Reach in the bag and pick out a strip of paper. Then, pick up a candy heart and read it out loud.

Discuss children’s answers to the following questions:

• Would it be appropriate if the person you picked said what is written on the candy heart to you?
• Would it be considered a safe or an unsafe statement? Why?
• What could you do if this was said to you?

I would be very cautious using this activity at school and would only use this with older students. Make sure to build rapport with your kids before you try to implement this activity.

Download the free candy heart statement sort chart from my TpT store to use with your children.

Make Your Own Conversation Hearts

Have students draw different-sized hearts on a piece of paper. Advise children to draw the hearts large enough for words to be written inside the hearts.

Ask your kids, “If you were in charge of designing candy hearts, what would you write on them?”

Their answers might surprise you!

You can do these activities, too!

Download these free candy heart design templates from my TpT store.

Build Rapport with Your Students

How would you use candy hearts to get the conversation started with your students? Let me know what you would add to this list in the comments below! I love collaborating and sharing new ideas!

You may also want to check out my valentine’s day wall display and my valentine’s day flipbooks. If you’re in need of calming strategies and coping skills resources, I’ve got you covered.

Check out my Crafty Counselor website for more SEL craftivities.  

Thanks for spending some time with me today. I’m so happy you are here.

If you like what you saw, check out the rest of my blog or connect with me on TpT, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, or TikTok @mrsbellthecraftycounselor.

If you’re loving the Valentine’s Day ideas I’ve shared with you, check out some of the other craftivities I’ve used in my counseling office and other activities I use to help build rapport with students.

Discover how I use pipe cleaners with my students, see how broken heart crayons are shared with kindergarten, explore girl’s group resources, and learn more about taming anger monsters!

I hope to connect on more topics in the near future.

Looking forward to seeing you again soon!