Creative Family Fun

Your one-stop shop for kids activities and family fun

Terri Thompson

10 Ways to Play This Weekend: Week 18

By

Candy Making Play Date

By

In the spirit of our Creative Family Fun Nights, I’m going to start sharing some ideas for creative play dates. These are designed for as few as 1 or 2 kids or to as many as you want. Many of these would also be fun ideas for family nights. And, to kick off our first play date idea, I’ve also got a giveaway at the end. Let’s get started making some candy at our candy making play date!

Disclosure: I receive a free copies of the book from the publisher for review and to giveaway. This post also contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more details.

When I first saw the book, Candy Making for Kids by Courtney Dial Whitmore, I knew it would be the perfect way to spend an afternoon with the girls. Courtney is the blogger behind Pizzazzarie, a fun entertaining and party blog.

The projects in the book are so much fun and all are kid-friendly. You can choose from such things as Rudolph the Reindeer Pops, S’Mores Truffles, or Candy Pizza. We chose to make Coconut Snowballs and Peppermint Patties.

Both of the recipes are no-cook recipes, so we brought everything over to the kitchen table.

The girls helped me measure, pour, and stir.

They were able to participate in every step of the way. There was also plenty of opportunity for getting their hands messy.

The directions in the book were easy to follow and the candy turned out to be delicious!

Many of the recipes are also easily adapted for groups of kids. You could have small groups around the table each working on different types of candy or you could choose a project, like the candy pizzas, where the kids can work on decorating individually.

Tips for having a successful candy making play date:

Make sure to have one adult for every 3-4 kids

Pre-measure the ingredients if making candy with younger kids

Make sure you know the recipe well before you get started. You won’t have much opportunity for consulting your recipe!

Have take-home containers available. The kids will want to share all of their yummy candy.

Don’t be afraid of a mess! Have aprons or smocks for the kids and work on a easy-to-clean surface.

And don’t forget to have fun! The candy doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s the experience the kids will remember the most.

We had so much fun making candy (and eating it too)! I’m certain we’ll be using this book again and again and again.

Kid’s Co-op: Christmas Fun

By

It’s Kid’s Co-op time! Link up your favorite kid-related posts and then check out all the fun that has been linked up from other bloggers.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Last week there were so many great ideas linked up to the Co-op. Since we’re already deep into Christmas at the Creative Family household, I wanted to highlight three fabulous holiday ideas that were linked up last week.

Please join up and share your favorite post. (And, we’d love you forever if you’d link back to us!) Your link will show up on all of the hosts’ blogs. It’s time to link up, visit some new blogs, and have a lot of fun!

 

 

Crayon Resist Candy Canes

By

At the end of my candy cane round-up, I promised you our own candy cane project. And, here it is – our crayon resist candy canes.

After a short art lesson and a little bit of magic, we had a pretty new Christmas decoration.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Supplies Needed:

White paper
White oil pastels or crayons
Red liquid water color
Scissors
Glue stick
Green paper (or color of your choice)

To prep this project, I drew a simple candy cane shape on white paper. We used white copy paper because that is what I had on hand. Thicker drawing paper or watercolor paper will give you a much crisper image.

I then gave the girls the white oil pastels and had them color in some stripes. After a few cries of “I can’t see it Mommy,” and a promise that the stripes wouldn’t stay invisible for too long, they started working. Make sure to apply the oil pastels or crayons thick. I gave the girls free reign on this project, so some of their white stripes were lighter than they should have been.

After the stripes were done, it was time to paint. This is where the magic happens.

We used our red liquid water colors and started painting. It was fun to see the paint bead up over the white stripes and disappear!

After the paint had dried, the girls cut out their candy canes and glued them onto green paper.

They added embellishments with gold paint pens and we hung them up to enjoy them all season long.

Have you been doing any Christmas crafts yet?

10 Candy Cane Crafts & Activities

By

It’s easy to get lost in the wealth of Christmas activities around the blogosphere and Pinterest.

In order to help you find the best projects, I’ll be posting more roundups than usual this month.

This first roundup is all about candy canes. Crafts, treats, learning & fun!

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Make paper candy canes with The Chocolate Muffin Tree. They’re fun, easy, and you won’t need to go shopping for special supplies.

You can find a free printable Candy Cane Unit and Tot Pack at 2 Teaching Mommies. Counting cards, pre-writing exercises, size sorting, and more!

Make and Takes shows you how to make chocolate-dipped candy canes. Pair them with hot chocolate for a fun neighbor gift.

Turn your candy canes into reindeer! A Pumpkin & A Princess shows you how to make this classic craft.

Make a scented marbled candy cane garland with Growing a Jeweled Rose. It uses homemade candy cane paint. Fun and messy!

Dress up your candy canes with these free printable wildlife candy cane clingers from Wildlife Fun 4 Kids. It would make a great decoration or gift!

Use your candy canes to do math. Teach Preschool gives you some fun ideas.

All it takes are a few simple supplies to make adorable button candy cane ornaments. Hop on over to The Activity Mom to find out how.

Make beautiful fingerprint candy canes with Leapfrog & Ladybugs. They would be a perfect gift for the kids to make themselves.

Happy Hooligans shows you how to make these simple tissue paper candy canes. They are a great last-minute craft that would look beautiful hanging on the tree.

And, stay tuned tomorrow for our own candy cane craft!