Free Candy Cane Seeds Printable + Candy Cane Day Ideas
With the Christmas season just a few short weeks away, many teachers are looking for activities to keep students learning even amid the holiday excitement. One of my favorite ways to combine academics with the magic of Christmas is to celebrate Candy Cane Day in my classroom. It is so much fun for everyone and packed full of learning!
In this blog post, I’ll share some great hands-on activities you can use to host your own Candy Cane Day along with a free candy cane seeds printable that will really get your students into the spirit! (Some links in this post are affiliate links and may earn us a small commission.)
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What Is Candy Cane Day?
Candy Cane Day in my room is a full day of hands-on centers and activities featuring candy canes! It is a great way to extend learning across different subject areas by incorporating a variety of math, science, and reading skills. These aren’t really Christmas activities, but they work well in December because candy canes are associated with the holidays.
I always include a couple of fun, non-academic activities in our Candy Cane Day to make extra special. I’m also sure to talk it up for a week or two ahead of time so the kids are really excited when the big day arrives!
Because plants are a major part of our science curriculum, I always start by telling the class that we’re going to grow candy canes in our classroom garden. This gives us a great opportunity to review science concepts like how plants reproduce (seeds or spores) and what they need to grow. I try to time this activity with our lesson on seeds and how they germinate.
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How to Grow Candy Canes
Next, it’s time to plant our candy cane seeds and find out what happens! I like to use the red and white Tics Tacs that come out around the holidays as our “seeds”, but plain white ones work too.
To do this, you’ll need one pack of Tic Tacs for each student. If you can’t swing this extra cost (hello teacher pay), you can give each student just one Tic Tac or use starlight mints, mint gumdrops, red jelly beans, or any other candy that fits the theme.
If you teach little ones (Pre-K through 1st grade), they will likely believe they are really going to grow candy canes. Grades 2 and up will know this isn’t possible, but they’ll go along with the fun – well, because it’s FUN!
Once you decide on what to use as your candy cane seeds, you need a growing medium. Soil will work, but if you want to let students eat the candy canes they grow, you should choose something else.
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A great idea is to crush up Oreo cookies to make chocolate dirt. Give each student a cup full of “soil” to plant their seeds in. Let them sprinkle a bit of water on top and then set the cups on a sunny windowsill to grow. Another fun idea is to use colorful cookie sprinkles as fertilizer.
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After a couple of days, stick a starlight mint in each cup. Push it into the soil so just the top peeks out. When the kids see it, they will be so excited that their candy cane garden has sprouted! Wait a few more days and replace the mints with an actual candy candy. When students arrive at school, let them harvest their candy canes and enjoy a sweet treat! I like to time this to coincide with our Candy Cane Day. It makes for a great kickoff!
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Candy Cane Seeds Printable
If you want to try this in your classroom, download this set of candy cane seeds printable labels. These are PDF files, free for personal use, that include printable Tic Tac labels and bag toppers. The labels can be printed on a sheet of sticker paper and then attached to your Tic Tac boxes.
If you’d rather use mints or gumdrops as seeds, the candy cane seeds bag topper can be printed on white card stock and attached to a zip-loc bag to create a cute seed packet.
To get these free printables, click the image below:
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Candy Cane Day Activities
After you’ve grown candy canes with your class, it’s time for Candy Cane Day! This takes a bit of planning ahead, but it’s so worth it. You’ll want to come up with some activities that incorporate candy canes in creative ways and let students practice skills you’ve taught. This isn’t the time to introduce new skills. It’s an opportunity for your students to practice what they’ve learned.
Here are some ideas:
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Candy Cane Reading
One of my favorite literacy activities for Candy Cane Day is the poetry station. I’m actually not a big poetry fan and don’t particularly like teaching it. But on Candy Cane Day, my students create a candy cane poem and it’s always fun to see what they come up with!
You can modify this depending on the grade level you teach. Sometimes I have students write an acrostic poem with a focus on adjectives. Sometimes I use a partially written poem and have them fill in their own words at the end of each line to make it rhyme. For younger students, you can have them find the rhyming pattern or highlight the rhyming words.
Here is a candy cane poem I have used in the past:
Candy canes, red and white,
Twisting, turning, what a sight!
Sweet and minty, cool and fun,
A holiday treat for everyone!So grab a cane and take a spin,
Let the minty magic begin!
Candy canes, so sweet and bright,
make the holidays a pure delight!
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If you teach in a Christian school or homeschool, you might prefer to use this poem:
Look at the candy cane. What do you see?
Red for His blood that was shed for me.
White for my savior, who is sinless and pure,
“J” is for Jesus, my Lord, that’s for sure!
Turn it around, a shepherd’s staff you will see.
Jesus Christ, my shepherd, is coming for me!
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Candy Cane Math
There is so much math you can do with candy canes. My go-to centers are estimation and measurement.
Candy cane estimation is a quick, easy one. I just fill a jar with candy canes (or you could use starlight mints) and let students guess how many there are.
Whoever’s guess is closest to the correct number gets to take the whole jar home!
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Candy cane measurement is great because it can be modified for any grade level. Students can use candy canes to measure objects around the room. I like to have them guess and then check. This is a great way to practice measuring in non-standard units.
Older students can measure and convert to standard units. For example, if a desk is 7 candy canes long and each candy cane measures 4 inches, students would need to multiply to find the actual length of the desk.
Another fun measurement activity for 3rd grade and up is estimating the distance to the North Pole using candy canes. This also involves map skills. For this activity, you’ll need either a world map. Mark your location on the map and also the North Pole. Students use Starlight mints (the round red and white ones) to measure from one point to the other. Then, they’ll use math skills to calculate the real distance using the scale. This is something you’ll need to work out ahead of time.
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Candy Cane Science
A favorite candy cane activity in my class is candy science lab. This is a hands-on station where students explore the properties of matter, changes in matter, and refraction.
First, we fill clear plastic cups with various liquids – plain water, salt water, and vinegar. I ask students to predict which liquid will cause a candy cane to dissolve the fastest. If you teach older grades, you can talk about the pH of these liquids and how that might affect the outcome.
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Next, we put a candy cane in each cup and observe how the candy looks through the side of the cup.
Because of refraction, the stick will appear broken. This fits right into our study of light energy. I have students draw a picture and write an explanation of what they observe.
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While our candy canes are soaking in the different liquids, we talk about properties of matter. The students describe the physical characteristics of a candy cane. Then, I use a rolling pin to smash one up. This leads to a discussion about how it’s still a solid, just much smaller pieces. At the end of the day, we come back to our cups and see what’s happened and why. This is a good time to talk about mixtures vs. solutions if that’s part of your curriculum.
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Candy Cane Fun
I always include a couple of “just for fun” activities in my Candy Cane Day to make it extra special.
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Hot chocolate with candy cane stirrers is something the kids love no matter what grade you teach!
I make a big batch in my crock pot and keep it warm during Candy Cane Day. If fills the room with a wonderful smell that adds to the festive vibe! Let students top their cocoa with marshmallows and a candy cane stirrer.
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Another fun idea is to set up a station where students can make winter holiday gifts for their families. It can be as simple as a handmade card or a cute little candy cane ornament. More complicated crafts here are fine if you have a parent volunteer who can help.
Be sure to have a pack of gift bags on hand so the kids can wrap their DIY gifts and carry them home safely to put under the Christmas tree.
These are just a few fun ways to set up a Candy Cane Day event!
If you want to try this in your classroom without all the planning, check out this set of centers that includes everything you need:
Candy Cane Day Activities Math Science and Literacy Stations
$4.00
Plan a fun Candy Cane Day learning experience for your students with these candy cane themed stations and activities!
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