What do you do when you are faced with even more candy than you started out with after Halloween? Well, you could eat it but that wouldn't really be healthy would it? So what'a a mama to do with all these sweets?
You can trade in your candy at a local dentist office who participates inOperation Gratitude - they send it overseas to our troops! Operation Shoebox is another organization who ships candy out to the troops. What a nice way to share our sweets with the men and women who are serving and protecting our country.
You can save some for Gingerbread House Decorating or even to use as stocking stuffers.
I couldn't pass up the opportunity to sneak a bit of fun and learning into our home with our Halloween loot.
We had some fun conducting a few simple
candy experiments
Which chocolate candy will float?
We gathered 1 of each of our chocolate candy bars (minis) and started experimenting by asking the question - will it skink or float? The Lil Divas touched each candy, feeling it's weight and we discussed what each candy contained inside - nuts, caramel, cookie, etc and used this information to make their predictions. They made their predictions on a dry erase board where I had written the names of all the chocolates we were testing.
To conduct the experiment I filled 2 small bowls with water and the Lil Divas took turns adding chocolate candies into the bowls. We observed whether each piece sunk or floated and they checked the results against their predictions.
If you do not want to know any results skip this section. Here's what we found - Milky Way, Kit Kat and 3 Musketeers float!
What happens when you put Skittles and M&M's in water?
This is a such a well known experiment and yet, we have never sat down and done it until now. The Lil Divas really enjoyed this one because reactions start happening pretty quickly. As the colors seep from the candies, it really is awesome to watch.
The Lil Divas were amazed at the colors and stayed over each bowl observing what happened for the duration of the experiment so when the first letters started to float - they were screaming with excitement at what they had seen occur.
Some letters were better than others to see, depending on how vivid they had been on the candy to begin with. So if you do this, I definitely suggest picking candies with well formed and well defined letters.
I was pretty surprised that the colors in the M&M water didn't turn brown due to the chocolate, especially after we could see the chocolate minus the outer shell. This was definitely the Lil Divas favorite experiment.
Candy Sorting
Then, since we still had loads of candy left I put the Lil Divas to work sorting it.
(sneaking in some math here!)
I left everything entirely up to them and working together they sorted by
chocolate vs. not chocolate
color
small, medium and large
and byshape.
Now, if your candy load was anything like ours the above really didn't even make a dent in it. So I asked some of my favorite bloggers for help and they didn't disappoint. Here are some more fun ways to make use of all that candy.
More Fun Candy Experiments
PlayDrMom had some fun with her son conducting a few candy experiments. My personal favorite and one I have to try with the Lil Divas is the Acid Test - they would love to see which candies fizz & bubble.
Mama Smiles had some fun conducting Gummy Candy Absorption Experiments. I can't wait to get my hands on some yummy bears to try this.
Mamas Like Me did a fun Hot vs Cold Dissolving Experiment and an Oil Test using one of my fave candies - Starburst!
A Mom with a Lesson Plananswered that age old question -How Many Licks Does it Take to Get to the Center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?
Loralee Levitt of candyexperiments.com shared some more fun science experiments over on Steve Spangler's Blog. I really want to try the one with Pop Rocks - I used to love eating those as a kid. Did you?
Candy Crafts
Blog Me Mom made a cute Candy Wrapper Butterfly & Flower Craft. Love how it worked on fine motor skills and turned leftover wrappers into art versus trash.
The Golden Gleam made a cute Candy Wreath using some of the candy they didn't want to eat.
Tinklerlab made some awesome Candy Sculptures using gumdrops.
Blondie and Brownies made some Edible Candy Necklaces - what a fun activity this would be to do at a party.
Parents.com had a fun Candy Sand Art Activity using skittles.
No Time for Flashcards used candy to encourage literacy and letter recognition with her Candy C Craft.
Painting with Candy
Housing a Forest painted with jellybeans - what a fun process for kids to experience.
Teach Preschool painted with m&m's - I love how vibrant the colors looked in the artwork and this must have been so much fun for the kids to do. I can't wait to try it with the Lil Divas.
Teach Preschool also painted with skittles - she has way too much fun with candy!
Yummy Candy Recipes
Have leftover candy corn? There's lots you can do with it! See Vanessa Craft made some yummy looking Candy Corn Butterfingers. For more ideas on what to do with leftover candy over candy corn check out this post from The Happy Home Fairy.
Mess for Less also used candy corn to make Candy Corn Lollipops.
Recipe Girl used Kit Kat and M&M's to make a yummy Kit Kat Cake - oh, how the Lil Divas would love to be on the receiving end of this sweet treat.
Life as a Lofthouse made Candy Bar Cupcakes - yum!
Learning with Candy
This Reading Mama shared 25 Ways to Learn with Candy and included a fab round-up of candy ideas too. Don't miss this post for lots of ideas on how to use that leftover candy.
Nurturestore used yummy chocolate chips to get her daughter counting and recognizing numbers in a yummy Muffin Tin Candy Math activity.
Mess for Less had fun with a Candy Color Sort using chocolate covered candy balls. Her daughters separated and sorted the candies by color - great way to practice sorting skills, color recognition and have a little fine motor practice too.
Toddler Approved played a Candy Dice Roll & Count Game that worked on counting, comparing, patterning and more. She also has a fun Candy Sequencing and Patterns Activity.
Here Come the Girls did some fun Candy Math that included counting, simple graphing and basic math facts.
The Lil Divas and Ihad some fun doing Candy Corn Math and Reading Activitiesand Skittles Math.
Homegrown Learners set up a Candy Shop - what a great way to learn about money.
What the Teacher Wants worked with her class on Candy Bar Measurement.
Playing with Candy
The Golden Gleam provided her daughter with a fun Candy Play activity by supplying various hard candies to scoop, shake, roll, pick up, and explore. A fun way to use candy if you can keep the kiddos from munching on it.
Teach Preschool provided her students with some fun Candy Corn Sensory Play.
Creative Connections for Kids had lots of fun playing and learning with M&M's including playing some M&M's Tic-Tac-Toe - the Lil Divas would love that!
Chica and Jo made a fun Candy Corn Toss Game - you could use any small candy you have on hand.
Hope you have some fun with all that leftover candy!
Bern
