Exciting and Educational Candy Cane Activities

October 27, 2025
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Candy canes are a hallmark of the Christmas season. If you love the peppermint taste or beauty of these red and white candy canes, you’ll love these educational and fun Candy Cane Activities. Use these activities in your homeschool to learn more about candy canes and to learn math, patterns, reading, name recognition, and more! These are also a great way to celebrate Candy Cane Day on December 26th.  We have lots of candy cane activity ideas for preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and 4th grade students.

educational and fun Candy Cane Activities. Use these activities in your homeschool to learn more about candy canes and to learn math, patterns, reading, name recognition, and more! These are also a great way to celebrate Candy Cane Day on December 26th.  We have lots of candy cane activity ideas for preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and 4th grade students.

Candy Cane activities

Candy canes are much more than just a festive treat; they are a beloved symbol of the Christmas season! Their iconic red and white stripes and delightful peppermint flavor evoke warm holiday memories for many. But did you know these sweet confections can also be a fantastic educational resource?

Candy cane activities are a perfect way to blend fun and learning into your homeschool curriculum. Whether you’re teaching math through candy cane counting, exploring patterns with their striped design, or enhancing reading skills with candy cane-themed stories, there’s something for every age. Imagine your preschooler making candy cane shapes to practice fine motor skills, or your second grader using them to explore basic math concepts like addition and subtraction through hands-on activities!

Plus, December 26th is Candy Cane Day, making this a great time to celebrate and explore creative candy cane activities. From crafts to science experiments, there’s an opportunity to engage students from preschool through fourth grade in learning with these festive treats.

Research shows that learning through play promotes better understanding and retention of information for young learners. So, why not make the most of this holiday season by incorporating these sweet activities into your lessons? We have tons of candy cane activity ideas that are sure to delight and educate your students.

We have lots more Christmas activities to choose from! Plus don’t miss December crafts for kids, beautiful melted crayon ornaments, free christmas mazes, easy red and green christmas cookies, and candy cane cookies

Candy Cane Activity

Learn with candy canes as your manipulatives in these adorable holiday-friendly activities. These candy cane activities for preschoolers are sure to make your days playful and fun in addition to sneaking in some hands-on learning!

  • Candy Cane Towers – Join us for a festive candy cane STEM building challenge where creativity meets fun!
  • Candy Cane Play Dough – Create a festive and fun Christmas activity for kids with this easy edible peppermint playdough recipe, perfect for celebrating the holiday season!
  • Candy Cane Name Ornaments – Preschoolers can create their own beaded candy cane ornaments personalized with their names for a fun and festive craft!
  • Candy Cane Play Gel – Check out our new festive candy cane twist on the fun squishy sensory material, Play Gel!
  • Peppermint Oobleck – Get into the holiday spirit with a fun twist on science by trying peppermint oobleck, a Non-Newtonian fluid that illustrates the exciting properties of solids and liquids—be sure to add it to your Christmas activities!
  • Candy Cane Math – fun math activities with candy canes that can be used during circle time, guided math, or as busy bag activities after the initial introduction.
  • Growing Candy Canes activity – Looking for a fun Christmas activity for kids? Check out this magical experience where they can learn to grow candy canes with a free printable seed template, perfect for toddlers to 2nd graders and a great way to kick off the holiday season!
These candy cane craft preschool will delight your kids and most make adorable Christmas ornaments, too!

Candy Cane Craft Ideas

These candy cane craft preschool will delight your kids and most make adorable Christmas ornaments, too!

  • Candy Cane Puzzle Ornament – This December, kids can enjoy making a cute and easy candy cane ornament using stray puzzle pieces for a fun and non-breakable Christmas craft!
  • Candy Cane Soap – Learn to create Candy Cane Play Dough Soaps and Bubble Bath, a fun activity for all ages that makes wonderful gifts!
  • Candy Cane Finger Paint – Introducing our festive candy cane finger paint that smells minty and adds fun to sensory play this holiday season!
  • Paint Chip Candy Canes – Make festive Paint Chip Candy Canes with toddlers and preschoolers this December, a fun craft that helps them learn to use scissors while recycling paint samples!
  • Marble Candy Canes – We love the shaving cream marbling technique for decorations year-round, and our latest project, scented marbled candy canes for Christmas, turned out amazing!
Dive into holiday science with these fun candy cane science experiments.

Candy Cane Science Experiments

Dive into holiday science with these fun candy cane science experiments.

  • Dissolving Candy Canes – Explore the fun of Christmas science with kids by witnessing the fascinating process of dissolving candy canes!
  • Fizzing Candy Canes – We conducted a fun and exciting fizzing candy canes experiment this weekend using candy canes, baking soda, vinegar, and food coloring that your kids will love!
  • Red Candy Cane Slime – Check out these two easy Candy Cane Slime Recipes, perfect for your holiday fun!
  • Dancing Candy Canes – This quick prep kids’ science experiment is a must-try for winter! Just grab a bag of candy canes and a bowl of warm water and you’re ready to make candy cane stripes magically disappear.
  • Disappearing Candy Cane Stripes – Try this fun winter science experiment with kids by using candy canes and warm water to watch the stripes disappear!
  • Help remind kids what the real meaning of Christmas is with this free printable J is for Jesus Candy Cane Scavenger Hunt. This is Christmas scavenger hunt for kids is fun for the whole family as an advent activities for families. Use this christmas activity for kids with toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, and 2nd grade students. Simply download pdf file with candy cane printable and you are ready to play!
  • Do you have a child learning simple math equations for numbers 1-10? This Candy Cane Math Equation Puzzle set is the perfect way to help them strengthen their math skills. They can work on any number combination that they need to with this candy cane printables. This christmas math activity is perfect for preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, and first grade students. Simply download pdf file with christmas activities for kindergartners and you are ready to play and learn.
  • Gingerbread pritnables
  • Christmas tracing printables
  • Grab these super cute christmas dauber printables for keep kids engaged and having fun in December. These do a dot christmas printables are perfect for helping preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, and first grade students work on fine motor skills while learning holiday vocabulary! This set of 25 christmas do a dot free printables pages include images of an angel, ornament, bells, bow, candle, candy cane, chimney, tree, fireplace, gift, gingerbread, poinsettia, reindeer, Santa, sleigh, snowman, star, stocking, and more! Simply download and print free christmas dot to dot printables pdf and you are ready for a fun activity!
  • Number sense is an important skill for children to learn. This is the foundation for math in their future. This doesn’t have to be overwhelming or boring, though! Kids can have fun learning and practicing skills with activities like this candy cane math! This candy cane activity helps preschool, pre-k and kindergarten age children work on counting this December. Simply print the candy cane printables to count and identifying numbers 1-10 this Christmas.
  • Kids will have fun practicing sight words with Candy Cane Sight words! Print the christmas sight words cards and then make the letters to form the kindergarten sight words on the Christmas tree spelling mat. This Kindergarten Christmas Activities is such a fun way for preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, and first grade kids to practice literacy in December.

Candy Cane Printables

Books About Candy Canes

Once you’ve had your fill of candy cane crafts and candy cane math, cuddle up on the couch and read one of these great books together with your children:

  • These Christmas Word Searches are fun, engaging activity for kids during December. These christmas word search printable pages have varying degrees of difficulty making these holiday word search fun for children in preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, and 5th graders too. Simply print the free printable christmas word search for kids to play and learn while finding words to do with December 25th like wreath, tree, bow, sleigh, Santa, gifts, cookies, carols, and more!
  • Kids will have fun practicing math and literacy skills in December using these super cute, free twas the night before christmas worksheet pages. Use these Christmas worksheets with preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten age students filled with cute holiday clipart and practice with shapes, numbesr, patterns, letters, and more! Simply print the twas the night before christmas activity printables and you are ready to play and learn!
  • Christmas-Scavenger-Hunt
  • FREE Christmas Mazes - included in these Christmas printables are 8 different holiday themed mazes kids will have making. This is perfect for Christmas parties, Christmas centers, fun Christmas worksheets or over Christmas break for elementary age kids. #christmasprintables #christmas #printablemazes
  • FREE Christmas Worksheets for toddler, preschool, prek, kindergarten, and first grade kids to practice math, literacy, alphabet, and more during december. #christmasworksheets #prek #kindergarten
  • free-Christmas-Game
  • FREE-Christmas-Around-the-World
  • Celebrate the holiday season this December with these super cute, free Christmas coloring pages. These simple Christmas coloring sheets are a fun, no-prep Christmas worksheet for toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, and first grade students. Kids can color the ornament, holly, wreath, stocking, candle, candy canes, present, bells, Christmas tree, and Merry Christmas greeting for a fun Christmas Activity. 
  • nutcracker printables
  • Celebrate the holiday seasons with these super cute, free printable Christmas Coloring Pages. This pack of free Christmas coloring sheets are all about Santa Clause and his helpers the Elves, Soldiers, toys, and Santa's workshop. Toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, and first grade children will have fun strengthening fine motor skills as they decorate and colour these simple coloring pages in December.  Simply download the Christmas Coloring Pages PDF and you are ready for fun!
  • Polar Express Worksheets
  • FREE ELf on the Shelf Printables- take the work out of planning your Chrsitmas Elf's antics with these fun elf on the shelf ideas, Welcome Back Letter, and Elf on the Shelf Jokes! #elfontheshelf #elfontheshelfprintables #christmasprintables
  • These Christmas Emotions Sorting Mats are the perfect activity to get learners introduced to emotions and the different feelings that they have. This center is perfect for Christmas activities for Kindergarten, preschool to learn about the different emotions that they experience. The Emotions Sorting Game is also a great way to practice visual discrimination with your learners as they have to sort the emotions based on the different faces displayed on the objects. Simply download, print and prep the christmas printables  and let your learners have a fun and hands-on SEL activity exploring and sorting emotions!
  • Looking for a fun christmas activity that is no-prep because it uses free printable christmas worksheets? This super cute Christmas I Spy is a great way to have fun, work on visual discrimination, and work on counting too. This I spy Christmas printable is great for preschool, pre-k, kindergarten and even first grade and 2nd grdaers. Simply print free Christmas printables and you are ready to play and learn!
  • Kids are going to love these interactive, Free printable Christmas Playdough Mats! Let their creativity soar as they play, learn, and strengthen their fine motor skills while helping decorate the Christmas tree, decorating the gingerbread man, helping Santa Claus getting on his iconic red suit, and more!  Simply download the pdf file with the 10 different free Christmas playdough mats to have fun with toddler, preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten age students this December!

Christmas Printables

  • Get ready to unleash your creativity this holiday season with our Marbleized Melted Crayon Ornaments! These stunning crayon Christmas ornament craft is not only a blast for kids to make, but they also turn out absolutely gorgeous! This Christmas ornaments crafts for kids is fun for all ages—from preschool to elementary. All you need are a few simple materials and a little imagination! Grab your little ones and let the fun begin!
  • This No Stick Gingerbread Slime Recipe is not only fun to play with, but it smells amazing too!  This easy Gingerbread Slime is perfect for strengthening and engaging little hands for some sensory play in December. Make a gingerbread man out of slime, stretch, mold, oooooz and have lots of fun with this Christmas activity for kids! We love this Gingerbread activities with toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, and 2nd grade students!
  • Easy-to-make bauble ornament crafts are beautiful! Use free printable template & construction paper! Christmas craft for preschoolers!
  • This Christmas wreath craft may be quick and EASY, but WOW is it beautiful! Children of all ages from preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd graders, and up will love making these construction paper Christmas crafts as decorations for home or the classroom. So grab some pretty paper and start making this pretty paper plate wreath as a holiday craft for December!
  • how-to-grow-a-candy-cane-christmas-kids-activity
  • adorable fingerprint reindeer craft
  • Star Christmas Ornament Craft for Preschoolers
  • Celebrate the season by making a cute, one-of-a-kind reindeer craft with your kids. This simple to make reindeer handprint craft is a fun extension to a story about Christmas reindeer or the most famous reindeer of all - Rudolph! Plus you'll love that this reindeer footprint craft helps create a priceless keepsake by preserving the size of your kids precious hands and feet.  Try this Christmas craft with toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd graders this December!
  • Kids will love this fun, silly Christmas Slime Recipe for Play. Use this Christmas activity for kids of all ages from toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, and up! Plus lots of Christmas slime ideas too!
  • Jingling Silver Bells Christmas Craft
  • Gingerbread-Christmas-Craft-for-Kids

Christmas Activities

  • This magical Melting Christmas tree project is sure to bring some magic and fun into your day this holiday seasons! Try this simple, easy Christmas Science Experiments with preschoolers, kindergartners, toddlers, and grade 1 students to sneak in some fun Christmas Learning! This Chemistry Christmas tree is such a fun Christmas activity for kids to try this holiday season!
  • White paper cut Balloon Markers Cotton balls, Marshmallows, or white pompoms Ruler
  • If you are looking for a fun, simple way for kids to learn about the life cycle of a reindeer, then you will love these fun and free Reindeer  Worksheets.  Use these reindeer printables in December for science or anytime when learning about reindeer life cycles with elementayr age students in first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, and 6th graders too.
  • This fun Rudolph Race Game is both an outrageously fun Christmas game for kids and a chance to sneak in  Christmas STEM Activities! This easy-to-set-up Rudolph Races is a Christmas Activity for toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, and 6th grade students that teaches a little physics while having FUN! This Christmas science experiment is perfect for the whole family!
  • Kids are going to flip when they make they make their own spinning Christmas tree science project. This easy electronics project is perfect for December because it combines a Christmas craft and a Christmas science experiment to make one EPIC Christmas STEM project for kinderarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th grade students. This festive, holiday Christmas activity for kids is a must try this year!
  • Want to add a little more magic into your Christmas holiday season this year? Your kids eyes will get wide with this fun Christmas science experiment. The best part? This Magic Melting peppermint science experiment takes literally 2 minutes to set it up! This Christmas science is perfect for toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, and first grade students to try in December.

Christmas Science

  • Sneak in some practice telling time to the hour, half hour, quarter after, and quarter till this December with a cute time activity! This polar express activity uses no-prep telling time worksheets to make holiday math. Use these free worksheets with kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd grade students. Just print the pages that your student needs to work on. 
  • FREE Christmas Dot-to-dot Coloring Pages - prek and kindergarten age kids will have fun practicing counting to 10 and 15 with these holiday math worksheets Christmas connect the dots make learning fun in december for preschoolers and kindergartners #dottodot #christmas #prek
  • Make practicing math fun in December using this Christmas addition printable! This addition math craft helps children in pre-k, kindergarten, and first grade gain fluency and keep focused on learning during the holiday season. Simply print the Chrsitmas math and you are ready to play and learn with this Christmas math activity. 
  • Celebrate the holiday season this December with these super cute, free printable, Polar Express Color by Number. These Christmas worksheets are perfect for toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, and first grade students to work on number recognition. Simply download pdf file for this coloring pages pack of no-prep Christmas Math pages to make learning fun!
  • Looking for a fun way to practice 2D shapes identification and recognition? These Christmas 2D Shape Puzzles are the perfect way to practice shape recognition and identification with your learners. This hands-on activity of matching 2D shapes to complete the puzzle are such a hands-on way to get learners learning and recognizing their 2D shapes. With a fun Christmas theme, as learners recognize the shapes of the Christmas ornaments, this activity is perfect for a Kindergarten Christmas Math Center! Simple download, print and prep the printable for your learners to use over and over again for an engaging 2D shape activity!
  • Are you looking for a fun Christmas math activity to sneak in some fun learning during the holidays? If you are working with 2nd grade and 3rd graders, you will love this Christmas Multiplication free printable! For this Christmas math games children will solve simple multiplication problems to complete the puzzle.
  • Math-Christmas-Tree
  • Christmas Cut and Paste Math Worksheets
  • Hands on Christmas Fact Families Activity
  • christmas word problems
  • gingerbread-addition-puzzles
  • This fun, hands-on Christmas counting idea allows preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten age children to sneak in some fun holiday math in December! These Christmas counting activities also help strengthen fine motor skills too! Simply print the Christmas math and you are ready for an engaging math center or Christmas activity for kindergarten!
  • Stocking-Three-Digit-Addition-Game
  • Christmas-Skip-Counting-Puzzles-PIN2_thumb25255B125255D
  • christmas-solve-and-stamp-math-worksheets

Math Christmas Activities

  • Are you looking for fun, playful, and educational gingerbread activities for preschoolers? Grab our free gingerbread printable set with gingerbread men each featuring a different uppercase letter along with a recording sheet to trace and write the capital letters. This letter recognition activities for preschoolers is perfect for December!
  • gingerbread-man-reading-comprehension-worksheets
  • Are you looking for a fun, educational Christmas activity for kindergarten? This fun long o sound printable lets children put together Christmas tree puzzles while working on long o vowel teams. Simply print and you are ready to play and learn in December.
  • This week we have dived into the vowel team with eigh sound words. And with Christmas right around the corner, I knew we needed a fun, educational Christmas game to work on our new eigh words. I hope you enjoy this free printable vowel team game as much as my first graders have.
  • free printable christmas rhymes worksheets
  • FREE Christmas Tree ABC Game - kids will have fun practicing sorting Christmas presents under the correct alphabet Christmas tree by listening for the beginning sound. Great literacy activity for prek, kindergarten and first grade for some fun Christmas learning or center in December #christmasphonics #christmaskindergarten #christmasprintable
  • Help children practice their alphabet letters with these super cute, and FREE polar express worksheets. These polar express printables allow preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten to  practicing to identify both uppercase and lowercase letters with a festive letter find activity perfect for December. These fun, educational Christmas worksheets are a fun, engaging way to work on letter recognition this holiday season.
  • alphabetical order christmas lights printable activity
  • Free-Christmas-Sight-Words-Coloring-Pages
  • Christmas Phonics
  • If you are looking for some fun ideas to get your child writing more during the month of December? You will love these free printable Christmas Writing Prompts for kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and 4th grade students.  There are over 30 pages of December writing prompts, letters to Santa templates, and more with both smaller and wider ruled lines! 

Language Arts Christmas Activities

Beth Gorden is the creative multi-tasking creator of 123 Homeschool 4 Me. As a busy homeschooling mother of six, she strives to create hands-on learning activities and worksheets that kids will love to make learning FUN! With over 20 years educating children, she has created over 1 million pages of printables to help teach kids alphabet, math, science, English grammar, history, and so much more! Beth is also the creator of 2 additional sites with even more educational activities and FREE printables - www.kindergartenworksheetsandgames.com and www.preschoolplayandlearn.com. Beth studied at the University of Northwestern where she got a double major to make her effective at teaching children while making education FUN!

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