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I just finished preparing all of my Candy Cane printables yesterday! I actually created more than I had planned (you’ll see below) and I’m so excited to do them with my kids on Monday (December 4th, 2023) 🙂
Are you visiting for the first time? You are still able to grab my free Christmas school calendar! You can download it below and you can also join our Christmas School FB group here 🙂 It is full of the most wonderful mommas!
Each special day on the calendar will get it’s own blog post – full of activity directions, printables, YouTube audiobook stories, and anything else to help make this EASY on you. Because the whole point of Christmas School is to pick what your kids would enjoy the most and then just have fun together. Don’t plan to do EVERYTHING (unless you guys are feeling ambitious that day 😉 ).
Now onto Candy Cane Day….!
Day #2. Candy Cane Day!
Here is what we are planning to do on Monday 🙂
Just a reminder that my kids are in 4th, 2nd, and PreK grades. If you have different ages and feel like what we are doing isn’t something your kids would be interested in, feel free to scroll below! I’ll add more activity ideas at the bottom of each blog post.
Activities
Today I have FOUR different activities for you to choose from!
My plan is to have my kids do this candy cane writing activity. Then we are going to follow that up by painting a candy cane pattern that represents the flavors they chose for their writing project! I decided last minute to add the writing project, so you won’t see it on the calendar. Just a little bonus printable for today 🙂
After that, we’ll be using this worksheet to do this Dissolving Candy Cane science experiment 🙂
If you feel like leaving a review at my TPT shop afterwards, I’d greatly appreciate it! THANK YOU!!
#1. Design Your Own Candy Cane Flavor – Writing Activity
Kids can make this as realistic or crazy as they want, depending on where their imagination takes them. Want to make a pepperoni pizza candy cane? Banana split? Strawberry pancakes? Go wild 🙂
As they complete each sentence, encourage them to draw a picture of each food as it is added to the mixing bowl.
#2. Create a Candy Cane Pattern – Painting Activity
Whether or not you do the writing activity, this candy cane template will be fun for the kiddos to paint! Or, if you prefer, color with markers, crayons, colored pencils, etc.
You could also use crumpled crepe paper and glue to create a pretty 3D candy cane! You would just need to grab three different colors of crepe paper and cut it into small pieces. Let the kids crumple each piece up and then glue the pieces next to each other on the page, keeping it within the lines.
If you’ve never seen this kind of crepe + glue craft before, look at some of the pictures on my sunflower blog post for an example!
Make sure to print this out on cardstock if you are planning to paint!
#3. Melting Candy Cane Science Activity
This activity idea is from Messy Little Monster and is super easy! We did it last year, so we’ll probably skip it this year. My kids loved doing it though. It was cool to see how bendy and soft the candy canes get. They really enjoyed creating different shapes with them.
All you will need are candy canes, parchment paper, and a baking sheet. You can discuss beforehand with your kiddos about what they think will happen when they bake them. Will they burst, melt, get crunchy, etc?
Directions: Heat your oven to 250 F/120 C. Grab a baking sheet and some parchment paper. Place several candy canes on it. Put the pan in the oven for 3-4 minutes. Remove it from the oven and let it cool slightly for a few minutes. They will be HOT, so be careful. Use mitts or utensils, if needed when handling them. See what happens when you try to pick up or move the candy canes. Challenge them to create a unique one-of-a-kind shape 🙂
#4. Dissolving Candy Cane Science Experiment
We’ll be doing this experiment and using this dissolving candy cane worksheet that I made just for it!
It’s super simple! You’ll only need 3 glass containers, 3 candy canes, water, vinegar, and baby oil.
I found this video that demonstrates and explains how to do this 🙂
Snack
I found this cute healthy candy cane snack idea at Healthy Little Foodies! You’ll only need to slice up some strawberries and bananas – easy!
Or you could also do this chocolate marshmallow topped with crushed candy canes!
Books
(Note: I only skimmed these books, so be sure to skim it also if you want to make sure it’s something your family values align with).
We’ll be reading “The Legend of the Candy Cane” by Lori Walburg today. I also wanted to listen to, “The Candy Cane Rain” on YouTube!
In case you don’t make it to the library, here are the YouTube Read Aloud links for these books 🙂
Do You Have More Time? Here Are Some Extra Ideas!
#1. Hide some candy canes around the house and send your kids on a scavenger hunt!
#2. Try a candy cane balance game. See who can balance a candy cane on their forehead the longest while doing some exercises (walking in place, jumping jacks, squats)!
#3. Do some of these fun candy cane games from Play Party Plan!
#4. Watch this video on how candy canes are made!
#5. You could even try making candy canes at home, if you have the ingredients 🙂
I hope you guys have a wonderful day! I can’t wait to see everything you and your kids create and do! Check back soon for my Polar Express Day post 🙂
PS: If you haven’t grabbed my Christmas School calendar yet, you can download it below for free!
