Fun Christmas Candy Cane Craft for Kids

This fun and easy Christmas candy cane craft is so much more than just a craft. It’s a portal to a world of imagination as you create stories for the little candy cane characters to act out. We made traditional red and white candy canes, but you can change up the stripes to your favorite colors. Or simply skip the stripes all together and draw unique patterns and images on the candy cane before adding some arms and legs to bring him to life.

If you enjoy making this simple candy cane craft, you’re also going to want to create this reindeer craft, this elf craft and this Santa card.

I bet you’ve never heard of craft flashcards…Of course you haven’t…because I totally made it up 🙂 As a pediatric Occupational Therapist, I’ve witnessed kids struggle to complete multi-step activities. So, I came up with this brilliant (if I do say so myself) way to break down crafts into bite-sized pieces in the form of flashcards. And the bonus is that there isn’t a screen in sight!

These are especially perfect for those kiddos who have limited attention spans.

Crafts are such a great developmental tool for kids (improves motor planning, attention span, executive functioning, fine motor skills, language development and more), and using flashcards makes planning crafts for your kids to enjoy even easier.

Just print out a few of your favorites onto cardstock, cut them into the cards with a hole in the corner and place them on a keyring that you can connect to your craft supply bag (which you can fill using our master list of supplies that we stick to for every single one of the projects in the flashcard collection). It’s so simple.

And the best part is that there’s not a screen in sight. Technology is such a great thing, but it’s also nice to take a break from it once in awhile and let the brain explore in other ways. Click the image to learn more about our collection of 100 Craft Flashcards for Kids.

Fun Facts About Candy Canes

• Turning a candy stick into something that looks like a shepherd’s hook was initiated in Germany.
• The custom was then introduced to America by a German immigrant in 1847.
• In the beginning they weren’t striped, but all white.
• There are about 1.2 billion candy canes made each year.
• December 26 is National Candy Cane Day.

You can learn more about candy canes in this article by The Fact Site.

Save this Easy Candy Cane craft for later. Pin it to your favorite Pinterest board…

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How to make a Candy Cane Craft

This candy cane craft is perfect for kids of any age. For little ones, just precut the candy cane. Even preschoolers will enjoy coloring their very own special candy cane.

SUPPLIES FROM THE BAG

• Paper plate (9-inch coated)
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Crayons or markers
• Tape
• Googly eyes (self-adhesive)
• Black Sharpie marker
• Pipe cleaners
• Candy cane template (optional)

Kids craft ideas are no good if they only sit exist on the internet but are never actually made by kids. We want to make crafting with your kids something that you do regularly and enjoy together. So, we’re removing some of the roadblocks, like too much prep time, lots of mess and hefty pricetags.

Fill your bag using our master list of craft supplies, and you’ll be ready to make any of the fun and simple crafts you see here. We stick to this list so that you can get right to the good stuff. Grab these items and fill your bag so that you’re ready to craft some memories at a moment’s notice whenever the opportunity strikes.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

Step 1: Draw Your Candy Cane

• On the front side of the paper plate, draw a wide candy cane in the center. You can free-hand draw or use the free candy cane templates.

Step 2: Cut Out the Candy Cane Shape

• Cut out your candy cane outline.

Step 3: Draw the Stripes

• Turn the candy cane over so that the matte side of the paper plate is facing up.
• Use your crayons or markers to draw the stripes onto your candy cane. We chose to use red, but you can choose whatever colors you like.

Step 4: Give the Candy Cane a Face

• Grab your black Sharpie markers and add some details to the candy cane craft. We just added an outline.
• Now give your candy cane an adorable face with some googly eyes and a drawn smile.

*You can also grab the free printable “googly” eyes, cut out a set and glue them in place.

Step 5: Add Arms and Legs

• Time to add some arms and legs to really bring your candy cane character to life.
• Turn the candy cane over to the back and place a pipe cleaner across the center. Use some tape to secure it in place.
• Fold another pipe cleaner in half and tape it to the bottom of the candy cane for the legs.

Step 6: Finish Off the Candy Canes

• To create the feet, roll up the ends of the pipe cleaner until the legs are the desired length. Fold them out to a 90 degree angle.
• Repeat this process for the hands. You may need to trim down the arms by an inch on each side first.

Turn This Into a Christmas Ornament

This candy cane craft will make an absolutely adorable ornament. All you need to do is punch a hole in the top and tie on a string or add a hanger. It’s that simple. Now hang it on the Christmas tree.

Here are even more Christmas Crafts to try

Christmas Frames

Newspaper Christmas Stockings

Rudolph the Reindeer Craft