Halloween Candy Budget Challenge for 4th Grade Math
A student-friendly team project of about 6 to 8 pages that asks 4th graders to plan candy bags for 180 students within a $250 budget. Students practice multiplication with area models and partial products, division-style bag counting, place value, and subtraction and addition to check their totals, then explain their reasoning in writing. It is designed for a multi-day small-group project or a long math block.
“# 🎃 Halloween Candy Budget Challenge **Team Members:** ______________________________________ **Classroom:** ___________________ **Date:** ______________ ## Our Mission Our school has 180 students in grades 3–5. There are 9 classrooms with 20 students in each classroom. Our job is to choose five candies and buy enough to give every student one piece or treat pack of each candy. **Our budget is $250. Can we create our treat bags without going over budget?** ## Part 1: Choose Your Candy Choose five different candies from the menu. | Candy | Pieces per bag | Price per bag | |---|---:|---:| | M&M’s | 55 | $8 | | Skittles | 50 | $10 | | Sour Patch Kids | 40 | $6 | | Haribo Goldbears treat packs | 24 | $4 | | Starburst | 28 | $4 | | Airheads | 28 | $3 | | Snickers | 10 | $5 | | Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups | 25 | $6 | | Nerds | 30 | $6 | | Hershey’s Miniatures | 55 | $8 | ## Part 2: Calculate Your Candy Needs You need at least 180 pieces or treat packs of each candy. | My candy choice | Pieces per bag | Price per bag | Bags needed | |---|---:|---:|---:| | 1. __________________ | _____ | $_____ | _____ | | 2. __________________ | _____ | $_____ | _____ | | 3. __________________ | _____ | $_____ | _____ | | 4. __________________ | _____ | $_____ | _____ | | 5. __________________ | _____ | $_____ | _____ | **Remember:** If 3 bags are not enough, you must buy 4. You cannot buy part of a bag! ## Part 3: Show Your Multiplication Models For each candy, calculate the total cost. Use an area model, partial products, or expanded form. ### Candy 1: ______________________ Bags needed: _____ × Price per bag: $_____ = Total cost: $_____ My equation: __________________________________________ My model or work: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ### Candy 2: ______________________ Bags needed: _____ × Price per bag: $_____ = Total cost: $_____ My equation: __________________________________________ My model or work: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ### Candy 3: ______________________ Bags needed: _____ × Price per bag: $_____ = Total cost: $_____ My equation: __________________________________________ My model or work: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ### Candy 4: ______________________ Bags needed: _____ × Price per bag: $_____ = Total cost: $_____ My equation: __________________________________________ My model or work: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ### Candy 5: ______________________ Bags needed: _____ × Price per bag: $_____ = Total cost: $_____ My equation: __________________________________________ My model or work: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ## Part 4: How Much Extra Candy Will We Have? Multiply the number of bags by the number of pieces in each bag. Then subtract 180. | Candy | Total pieces purchased | Pieces needed | Extra pieces | |---|---:|---:|---:| | 1. __________ | _____ | 180 | _____ | | 2. __________ | _____ | 180 | _____ | | 3. __________ | _____ | 180 | _____ | | 4. __________ | _____ | 180 | _____ | | 5. __________ | _____ | 180 | _____ | **Total extra pieces:** __________ Show one subtraction equation: ______________________________________________________ ## Part 5: Calculate Our Grand Total | Candy | Total cost | |---|---:| | Candy 1 | $_____ | | Candy 2 | $_____ | | Candy 3 | $_____ | | Candy 4 | $_____ | | Candy 5 | $_____ | | **Grand total** | **$_____** | Addition equation: ______________________________________________________ Our budget: $250 Did we stay within budget? Circle one: **YES / NO** If yes, how much money is left? $250 − $________ = $________ If no, how much over budget are we? $________ − $250 = $________ ## Part 6: Explain Your Thinking 1. Why did your team choose these five candies? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 2. Which candy required the most bags? Why? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 3. How did you use place value strategies to calculate a candy's total cost? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 4. How did subtraction help your team determine the extra candy? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 5. If you had to lower your total cost, what would you change and why? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ **Our team can explain our math!** 🎃 put into a studnet friendly printable”
Teacher Guide & Tips
- Introduce the mission as a real-world budgeting problem, then have teams read the menu together and discuss what "at least 180 pieces" means before they start calculating.
- Discussion question: Why can't a team buy part of a bag, and how does that change the total cost compared to dividing exactly?
- Scaffold for struggling readers: Pre-compute the total number of students (9 × 20 = 180) with them, and provide a partially completed area model for the first candy so they can see the pattern before doing the rest independently.
- Extension for advanced students: Ask them to find the cheapest combination of five candies that stays under budget while leaving the most extra pieces, and justify the choice with a multiplication model.
- Plan about 3 to 4 class periods of 45 minutes each, with the final Part 6 written explanations completed individually or as a team reflection.
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Try Diffit for free“# 🎃 Halloween Candy Budget Challenge **Team Members:** ______________________________________ **Classroom:** ___________________ **Date:** ______________ ## Our Mission Our school has 180 students in grades 3–5. There are 9 classrooms with 20 students in each classroom. Our job is to choose five candies and buy enough to give every student one piece or treat pack of each candy. **Our budget is $250. Can we create our treat bags without going over budget?** ## Part 1: Choose Your Candy Choose five different candies from the menu. | Candy | Pieces per bag | Price per bag | |---|---:|---:| | M&M’s | 55 | $8 | | Skittles | 50 | $10 | | Sour Patch Kids | 40 | $6 | | Haribo Goldbears treat packs | 24 | $4 | | Starburst | 28 | $4 | | Airheads | 28 | $3 | | Snickers | 10 | $5 | | Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups | 25 | $6 | | Nerds | 30 | $6 | | Hershey’s Miniatures | 55 | $8 | ## Part 2: Calculate Your Candy Needs You need at least 180 pieces or treat packs of each candy. | My candy choice | Pieces per bag | Price per bag | Bags needed | |---|---:|---:|---:| | 1. __________________ | _____ | $_____ | _____ | | 2. __________________ | _____ | $_____ | _____ | | 3. __________________ | _____ | $_____ | _____ | | 4. __________________ | _____ | $_____ | _____ | | 5. __________________ | _____ | $_____ | _____ | **Remember:** If 3 bags are not enough, you must buy 4. You cannot buy part of a bag! ## Part 3: Show Your Multiplication Models For each candy, calculate the total cost. Use an area model, partial products, or expanded form. ### Candy 1: ______________________ Bags needed: _____ × Price per bag: $_____ = Total cost: $_____ My equation: __________________________________________ My model or work: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ### Candy 2: ______________________ Bags needed: _____ × Price per bag: $_____ = Total cost: $_____ My equation: __________________________________________ My model or work: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ### Candy 3: ______________________ Bags needed: _____ × Price per bag: $_____ = Total cost: $_____ My equation: __________________________________________ My model or work: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ### Candy 4: ______________________ Bags needed: _____ × Price per bag: $_____ = Total cost: $_____ My equation: __________________________________________ My model or work: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ### Candy 5: ______________________ Bags needed: _____ × Price per bag: $_____ = Total cost: $_____ My equation: __________________________________________ My model or work: ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ## Part 4: How Much Extra Candy Will We Have? Multiply the number of bags by the number of pieces in each bag. Then subtract 180. | Candy | Total pieces purchased | Pieces needed | Extra pieces | |---|---:|---:|---:| | 1. __________ | _____ | 180 | _____ | | 2. __________ | _____ | 180 | _____ | | 3. __________ | _____ | 180 | _____ | | 4. __________ | _____ | 180 | _____ | | 5. __________ | _____ | 180 | _____ | **Total extra pieces:** __________ Show one subtraction equation: ______________________________________________________ ## Part 5: Calculate Our Grand Total | Candy | Total cost | |---|---:| | Candy 1 | $_____ | | Candy 2 | $_____ | | Candy 3 | $_____ | | Candy 4 | $_____ | | Candy 5 | $_____ | | **Grand total** | **$_____** | Addition equation: ______________________________________________________ Our budget: $250 Did we stay within budget? Circle one: **YES / NO** If yes, how much money is left? $250 − $________ = $________ If no, how much over budget are we? $________ − $250 = $________ ## Part 6: Explain Your Thinking 1. Why did your team choose these five candies? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 2. Which candy required the most bags? Why? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 3. How did you use place value strategies to calculate a candy's total cost? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 4. How did subtraction help your team determine the extra candy? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 5. If you had to lower your total cost, what would you change and why? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ **Our team can explain our math!** 🎃 put into a studnet friendly printable”
Teacher Guide & Tips
- Introduce the mission as a real-world budgeting problem, then have teams read the menu together and discuss what "at least 180 pieces" means before they start calculating.
- Discussion question: Why can't a team buy part of a bag, and how does that change the total cost compared to dividing exactly?
- Scaffold for struggling readers: Pre-compute the total number of students (9 × 20 = 180) with them, and provide a partially completed area model for the first candy so they can see the pattern before doing the rest independently.
- Extension for advanced students: Ask them to find the cheapest combination of five candies that stays under budget while leaving the most extra pieces, and justify the choice with a multiplication model.
- Plan about 3 to 4 class periods of 45 minutes each, with the final Part 6 written explanations completed individually or as a team reflection.
Halloween Candy Budget Challenge for 4th Grade Math
A student-friendly team project of about 6 to 8 pages that asks 4th graders to plan candy bags for 180 students within a $250 budget. Students practice multiplication with area models and partial products, division-style bag counting, place value, and subtraction and addition to check their totals, then explain their reasoning in writing. It is designed for a multi-day small-group project or a long math block.
What is Diffit?
Teachers use Diffit to get quality materials for their unique classrooms. Adjust difficulty, add scaffolds, or change the topic to get started.
Try Diffit for free