Christmas Candy Chemistry Science Experiments

Everywhere you go at the holidays, you see candy! Candy canes, chocolates, peppermints, dreams of sugar plum fairies :)  How about using all that candy for a little bit of learning?  Specifically some Christmas Candy Chemistry Science Experiments.  It’s another project where STEM gets delicious! This post contains affiliate links.

Christmas Candy Chemistry Experiments

There are a bunch of fun ways you can learn with candy this December.  We started by exploring states of matter and melting points by making Peppermint Ornaments (or maybe I should just call them Ornamints!) by melting candy in the oven.  Here are the easy steps (my preschooler did almost every step by herself!):

1. Preheat oven to 350 ºF.
2. Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper. Pick your cookie cutters and spray with non-stick spray and place on cookie sheet.
3. Fill cookie cutters with candies (they don’t have to be totally full).

4. Bake for 10-15 minutes but watch carefully because timing depends upon the cutters you are using.
5. Let cool for a couple minutes and punch hole for hanging with a bamboo skewer.  Once cooled completely, remove from cutters, add ribbon or twine and hang!

Chocolate States of Matter

You can also teach the kiddos about melting points while making a batch of delicious chocolate holiday bark. I love these Double Chocolate Star Bark (from Lil Luna) for a change on the typical bark.

Dissolving Candy Canes || Lemon Lime Adventures

Explore solubility with this festive dissolving candy cane experiment.

Peppermint Oobleck || Little Bins for Little Hands

Feel science with a non-Newtonian fluid (It’s a solid! It’s a liquid!) when you make this minty fresh goop.

Chocolate Truffle Experiments || Relish

This science experiment may be more for the grown-ups…  Explore how different ingredients change your decadent holiday chocolate truffles.

Bend Candy Canes || The Artful Parent

I love these creative candy cane sculpture where science helps you change the candy cane’s form.

Mint Fireworks || Playdough to Plato

The melting stripes of a star mint make a gorgeous pattern. Find out how and the science behind it.

Christmas Candy Books

We love combining story time with our science.  Here are a few fun Christmas candy books to read.

The Candy Cane Who Lost His Stripe {affiliate} – A young candy cane wakes up one day to find he has lost his stripes.  The family travels the world for a year in search of them, meeting interesting people and animals along the way.

Katie the Candy Cane Fairy {affiliate} – This is another lost stripe adventure with Katie using her creative magic to save the show.  From the makers of Camilla the Cupcake Fairy (one of my daughter’s favorites!).

I Spy a Candy Cane {affiliate} – Kiddos love eye spy games! Here’s a whole book of festive-themed finds.

More Christmas STEAM Activities

STE(A)M’s our game here at Left Brain Craft Brain, so we’ve got lots of holiday invitations to learn.  Check out Christmas Tree STEM.

Christmas Science, Tech, Engineering, Art, and Math Fun for Kids

Looking for some more holiday STEAM inspiration that use can use right now? Instant gratification style? Check out STEAM Kids Christmas EBook! It’s packed with 25 days of festive projects (plus an adorable printable advent calendar!) that will wow the boredom right out of your kids.