Learn how to bend and shape candy canes by heating them up. This is a great project to do at Christmas with all of those candy canes!
Updated November 2024
Did you know that you can bend and shape candy canes? This festive candy, usually so hard and brittle, becomes soft and bendable after just a few minutes in the oven.
Our founder, Jean, did this activity with her girls many years ago and we tried it this year for the first time and wow, was it fun!
It was hard to resist taking a bite out of the candy canes as we worked, but we did it!
How to Bend and Shape Candy Canes
MATERIALS
- Candy canes
- Parchment paper
- Cookie sheet
INSTRUCTIONS
- Unwrap candy canes
Start by taking the plastic wrapper off the candy canes and placing them on a parchment-paper covered cookie sheet.
- Heat up
Then place the cookie sheet in a 250F oven for 3-4 minutes. They should look slightly puffy but still holding their shape. Be sure to keep an eye on them because they melt fast!
- Bend!
We carefully pulled the parchment paper off the cookie sheet and the kids bended and shaped the candy canes into a variety of shapes.
When the candy canes started to firm up a little, making it difficult to shape, we put them back in the oven to soften again.
This was so fun! We’re already planning to do it again with a variety of candy canes—small ones, big ones, even different colors.
We highly recommend giving this a try and bending some candy canes with your kids! It’s so easy and quick, yet super satisfying.
Besides, what else are you going to do with all those candy canes?
More Holiday Cooking Ideas for Kids
- Easy Gingerbread House with Graham Crackers
- How To Make Candy Cane Lollipops
- How to Make Chocolate Pretzel Trees
- 5 Christmas Baking Ideas for Kids
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