Kids Crafts With Candy

Making crafts from candy is great fun for kids and encourages creativity.

Making craft from candy should be most kids' idea of the perfect activity. It's creative, tasty and maybe just a little messy too. Keep candy crafts simple, but encourage children to experiment with color, shape and design depending on their age and ability so that they can learn while they make their candy objects.

Candy Masks

For masks they can make, wear, then eat, all kids need are paper plates, mixed candy and tubs of read-made royal icing. Help children cut out eye holes in their paper plates and glue lollipop sticks on the back (the sticks should protrude below the bottom of the mask as handles for holding the mask to the face). They can then decorate their mask faces by "gluing" on candy round the eye-holes and as eyebrow, nose, mouth and cheek shapes with icing. Red licorice sticks are great for mouth shapes. Leave icing to dry, then the masks are ready to wear and eat.

Candy necklaces

These simple necklaces require use of needle and thread so supervision is required and they are not suitable for very small children. Simply give the children a selection of soft candies and get them to thread them to thick thread by passing a threaded needle through the center of the candies. The thread should be long enough that when its two ends are tied together it is big enough to pass over a child's head without being untied. When there are enough candies on the thread, help them knot together the two ends.

Candy Hedgehogs

For colorful candy creations with a healthy fruity center, turn an orange into a hedgehog. Help children slice a layer of skin from one side of an orange with a thick rind. The slice should be thick enough to create a flat edge, but don't cut so deep that you cut into the orange's flesh. Balance the orange on its flattened edge, and help children stick in cocktail sticks around the hedgehog's "back" topped with different soft candies as spikes. Use cocktail sticks cut in half to skewer in two candy eyes and a candy nose to make a face.

Edible Tic Tac Toe

Tic Tac Toe, also known as Noughts and Crosses, is a popular kids game. Help them create an entirely edible version, by using a ready-made royal icing to affix sticks of liquorish onto a sheet of edible paper in a grid pattern. Lay the paper (use the thickest your confectionery store offers) on a tray. Help children lay two liquorish sticks vertically across it and two horizontally across those, to create a nine-square grid. Secure in place with icing. Give the children small round candies (a different color for each child) to play the game with.

References

• Disney Family Fun: Candy Masks
• Disney Family Fun: Tick Tack Toe