Painting with candy

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It’s the time of year when candy is plentiful. Like way too plentiful. Like so glad I lost all of that baby weight only to eat my weight in sugar. And, I probably will because my sweet tooth is strong! But, what about all of that candy from various school activities, holidays and parties? We had some fun with alternate activities with our delicious candy (don’t get me wrong, we ate our fair share, too) like sorting candy and painting with candy.

paint with candy

For the toddler in your house, set up some containers and let them sort the candy by color. We used old baby food jars which were perfect for putting a lid on and seeing the progress.

Sorting candy for painting

Not only is sorting good for recognizing colors and similarities, but using these small pieces is great for coordination, too! Our candy this time was Chewy lemon head and friends. They provided the perfect color rainbow.

Sorting candy for painting

Once sorted, we took it a step further. I used an electric kettle and heated the water to boiling. Then, poured it over the candy and let it sit to extract the colors. (Our craft expert daughter decided that we needed to fill the containers with water. I would recommend only putting the water to just above the candy line to have more rich colors).

painting with candy

We let them sit, and occasionally stirred over the course of about 15 minutes. This also allowed time for the water to cool off.

Paint-with-candy

Then decided the water was colorful enough to get started.

painting-with-candy.png

This almost 6 year old was so excited to own this project. The only part I did was take pictures and pour the hot water.

Painting with candy

She sat and painted and painted. First a house scene with family.

And then a solar system. I didn’t even know she knows all of the planets in order and their color!

painting with candy the solar system

This was such a fun craft for her to own. And, the best part about using the baby food jars is that we put lids on the “paint” and she pulled it out the next day when her friend came over to play. The pulled them outside and filled up a coloring book with their artwork.

Paint with candy

This would work with many other varieties of candy, so don’t limit it to lemon heads because I’m sure you will have a ton of candy laying around very soon! Just depends on the holiday!

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75 Comments

  1. stephanie m says:

    I love me some chocolate!!!

  2. I like Reese’s dark peanut butter cups.

  3. April Farley says:

    I love Shock Tarts! They are sour and sweet! That is my fav way to have a treat. A little sour.

  4. I love Jolly Ranchers and Snickers!!!

  5. Veronica G says:

    My favorite candy has got to be Rolos. Such good memories of my dad.

  6. Ann Fantom says:

    I like Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate bars

  7. trisha kilpatrick says:

    I think my favorite candy might be sour gummy worms.

  8. Danielle D says:

    anything sweet with chocolate

  9. Amy Pratt says:

    I love dark chocolate.

  10. Larry Fullhart II says:

    My favorite candy is Dark Chocolate M&M’s.

    1. Thank you! I don’t hear that often about my pictures at all!

  11. Julie Waldron says:

    My favorite candy is Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.

  12. April Brenay says:

    my favorite candy is peanut butter cups!

  13. My favorite is Peanut M&M’s!

  14. I like fruit chews and bottle caps

  15. Mary Cloud says:

    I would probably choose Lifesavers Gummies as my favorite
    annabella @ centurytel dot net

  16. I absolutely love Peanut Butter Smoothies — butterscotch covered peanut butter cups

  17. Jamie Anders Martin says:

    love the colors.

  18. wendi watson says:

    im a twizzler girl! I’m addicted lol

  19. Tanya White says:

    I love Candy corn and Lemonhead and friends.

  20. Tamra Phelps says:

    My favorite candy depends on my mood! Of course, chocolate is always my friend, lol, but sometimes I want something like chewy Lemonheads or Skittles.

    1. Yes! You can totally do this! And your son can definitely help and own it. I swear because it was “her thing” she was like nine million times more interested and engaged!

  21. I like a good caramel. I’m not sure painting would work with that but this is a pretty cool craft.

  22. I really love chocolate…
    but you know my latest addiction (the last 2 years?)
    Lemonheads… I have NO CLUE what took 33 years to get them on my radar…but I am hooked now.

  23. The colors are gorgeous! Kind of scary they’re so artificially flavored, but I am still a lemon head fan. Everything in moderation!

  24. My favorite candy is Kit Kat, especially out of the fridge.

  25. Melissa J says:

    I’ve been really into Kit-Kats lately.

  26. Reese Peanut Butter cups are my favorite candy!

  27. Lisa Williams says:

    I love sweet and sour candy like sweet tarts,lemon drops and yes lemonheads,I love the how sour they get and make me pucker but I can’t get enough of them!

  28. One of my favorites is Twizzlers.

  29. My favorite candy depends on my mood. I love caramel and taffy this time of year, I’m not sure why but I associate taffy with fall, Halloween probably =)

  30. Sarah Matos says:

    I am a sucker for nerds

  31. Susan Chester says:

    I love Marshmallow Peeps! And Reeses Peanut Butter Cups!

  32. Susan Chester says:

    I love Marshmallow Peeps! And Reeses Peanut Butter Cups!

  33. My favorite is Hot Tamales.

  34. Katherine says:

    Starburst jelly beans

  35. I love dark chocolate, but my kids LOVE lemonheads!

  36. Kimberly Schotz says:

    My favorite candy is Rolo’s

  37. Gloria McKellar says:

    Hershey’s Chocolate Bars!

  38. Cassandra says:

    Fannie May Trinidads and Cadbury Eggs

  39. Tara Liebing says:

    My favorite candy is gummy worms.

  40. I love Junior Mints!

  41. My favorite candy is Bit O Honey.

  42. I love to have Gummy Bears.

  43. I love jelly beans!

  44. I am addicted to Swedish Fish.

  45. M&M’s are my favorite. I like trying all the new flavors they are coming out with, but peanut are still my favorite.

  46. Madison Frady says:

    I love skittles. The red skittles have got to be my favorite though.

    leevimommy2014(at)gmail.com

  47. Jill Myrick says:

    I love gummy worms and peach rings.

    jweezie43[at]gmail[dot]com

  48. Brittney House says:

    I love sour patch kids.

  49. Karen Drake says:

    My favorite candy is Tootsie Rolls.

  50. Candice N says:

    I’m a huge fan of hot tamales!

  51. Nicole C. says:

    My favorite candy is Atomic Fireballs.

  52. Leslie L Stanziani says:

    I love caramel cremes the most.

  53. I would have to say Reeses or Gummy Bears/Worms.

  54. Amy Deeter says:

    my favorite candy is snickers

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