The good folks at Minitab just released a sweet little article about using M&M’s to teach statistics. It’s called Sweetening Statistics and is written by Michelle Paret and Eston Martz.

If you’ve been through traditional classroom Black Belt training you’ve probably already done these exercises yourself as they have been a part of the traditional Black Belt curriculum for years. I sure remember them from my Black Belt training days… Break out a few bags of M&M’s during a moment like thisand the class goes wild.

The article shows how you can use the measurable qualities of M&M’s to teach many statistical tests including: 1-sample t, paired t, proportion, Chi Square, and Correlation. They are even good forteaching Gage R&R. I’d plan on at least on bag per test, M&M’s have a way of disappearing faster than they can be measured…

So the next time one of your friends asks what it is you do for a living, make a party out of it and invite a group over for dessert, then FIRE UP MINITAB!