Candy Cane Fun!

I wanted to share some fun candy cane ideas with you!

I absolutely love crayon resist painting. I think it's because the kids get SO excited.  This was such a fun activity.   As the children discovered a word and read it, I could check that they knew it.  And if someone read it wrong, a friend was quick to correct it.  There was so much learning and review of sight words going on, all under the guise of fun!  WIN!



 

I cut out candy cane shapes, outlined them, and wrote red sight words in every other space.  I wrote white crayon sight words in the white spaces.  The children had to read the red word, then paint the white section with red watercolor.  This was actually a really good activity for following directions, too.  The kids did great!

 They turned out really cute!  

The homework tonight was part of my Holiday Homework packet.  I choose one or two activities a week during December for the children to do.  Tonight, they had to eat a candy cane and think of a sweet surprise to do for someone.   Tomorrow, they will report back during morning rug time. We will write about our sweet surprises at writing time. 

Here are some other fun candycane ideas that I love to make!

Jenny Spencer at Ignite Learning posted this idea on Pre-K and K Sharing. I loved it and tried it right away. It was so easy and a HUGE hit! I cut simple candy cane shapes from plain white paper, added mint extract to the red paint and popped in two marbles. The room smelled wonderful, and the kids had so much fun.

  

For this candy cane activity, I cut lots of large, medium, and small red and white circles. I had each size on its own table. The kids could make whichever sizes they wanted. This was a lot of fun for them because they made these all on their own and had choices. My camera battery had died at this point...so here are my samples.     I didn't even make them write sight words or anything on them- nope! JUST for fun.

This simple little paper is fun for a whole class writing activity, or to send home for extra practice. Just click on the top picture if you would like a copy of this worksheet.

Learning with Mrs. Leeby shared a great Candy Cane Investigation activity at her TPT store!

Here is another sight word candy cane idea I have made.  I cut some red and white candy cane shapes.

I printed out our sight words on both red and white paper. I cut them into strips. You could have the kids cut them out, but my objective for this activity was for the kids to choose sight words, read them, and write them- not cutting- so I had them already cut apart.

This was an independent center. I had one table set up with red candy canes and white words- and another set up with white candy canes and red words. The children chose which one they wanted to make.

The children chose ten different word stripes to add to their candy cane. After they made their candy cane, they read their words to a friend at their table. Then, they wrote their words on a recording sheet.  I had some of the children that I wanted to quickly assess read the words to me.

(I had each child put a scrap piece of paper under the candy cane cut-out so the glue didn't go all over the table when they glued on the strips.)

After they glued on the strips, I turned the candy cane over and helped the children trim the edges.

When they finished this center, they got a mini candy cane to take home and eat as they read their candy cane words to a grown up.

Here is a copy of the sight word sheet I used and the recording sheet. Just click on the picture if you would like a copy.

Here is a fun video of Santa making candy canes!

                           



And don't forget the peppermint smelling playdough!  That's always a winner, too!

Have a wonderful week! Thank you for stopping by!