I hope you are enjoying this holiday season as much as I am. One of the things I love about doing the 12 Days of Christmas with my kids is I feel like am definitely making the most of our time together. When I put some time and effort into planning some fun things for us throughout December, I never wake up in January feeling like I missed out. I don’t have thoughts like, “Aw man, why didn’t we do that? When I sit down and start planning, I get all sorts of ideas for activities and events I want us to participate in and usually we end up having quite the merry little Christmas. I am so thankful for all the various resources out there. Aren’t you? Thanks to sites like Pinterest and Instagram, I am flooded with a whole host of ideas for activities and holiday treats that we incorporate into our Christmas celebrating. We can’t all be creative so thank goodness for those who are and who are willing to share! That is one of the main reasons I started my blog. To share the great ideas that I have run across that my kids have enjoyed. From there, I take those and create themed days that add so much joy and holiday fun all month long. That brings me to today’s theme: Candy Canes!
To me, candy canes have pros and cons. Honestly, I am not a huge fan of peppermint. The original round peppermint discs have been around forever, and I realized at some point, I am just not a fan. I grabbed them when little bowls of mints were offered at various places and found myself spitting them out after a minute or two. Something about the flavor. It’s just too much for me. Insert Bob’s Sweet Stripes Soft Peppermint Candy for the win. The soft candy ones that melt in your mouth are the best. They don’t have as strong a peppermint flavor and the overall texture is just better. Then Chick-Fil-A started including a similar version which is just one other reason I love them so. Another candy cane negative is that they are sticky. Children always want one but rarely commit to finishing it. That is a dangerous combination for moms everywhere. You know what I’m talking about. Every mom out there has discovered a half-eaten candy cane at one time or another. The table where they just set it down and now it’s stuck. Your car floorboard. A rug in your house, or worse, someone else’s. Then there’s my personal favorite, the back of their pants or dress because they put it down and then sat on it.
The pros, to me, are the iconic shape and color pattern. The familiar red and white swirl just makes me happy. It makes me think of all things North Pole and Dr. Seuss at the same time which is pretty awesome. Certainly, a happy and festive theme for kids which is why I thought about incorporating it into our 12 days of Christmas this year.
Given the fact that I am not a huge fan of peppermint, I checked out some alternative flavors. There are some great options. I confess, I did not know, for example, that there was an Oreo flavored candy cane. Some, like, lemon or cinnamon, I knew about, but the selection these days is quite eclectic. There are raspberry and cherry flavored candy canes. Nothing super crazy there, but did you know there also flavors like mac and cheese and rotisserie chicken? You can even pick up pizza or pickle flavored candy canes if want. There is also a coffee flavored one. I grabbed raspberry and sour patch kids candy canes. We love our patch kids, so I had to give that a try. I also plan on getting some Oreo and maybe either jolly rancher or starburst. Some added fun for the kids and maybe a treat for a stocking or two.
One additional thing we did was each come up with our own idea for a candy cane flavor. Then vote on who’s is the best. Our team came up with butterscotch, chocolate cupcake, extreme sour, and I threw in red velvet. What would you choose?
Peppermint Merriment
Try saying that 5 times fast. Did you know you can make a bowl out of peppermints? Is there such a thing as a win-win-win? This little project is super easy, the only cost is the bag of assorted discs, and you now have something to do with the peppermint discs in the bag, because if you are like, me, you weren’t going to eat them. I followed the instructions in the article at the link provided and it worked exactly as described. The first bowl I did was a bit wonky because my oven apparently cooked fast. All I did was watch the second bowl and take it out at the moment they started to melt. I was shocked. I did not think melting candy to make a bowl would be so easy and take so little time. You could add some treats, throw a plastic bag and a ribbon around it all and have a unique teacher’s gift or little ‘happy’ as we say in the south for a friend.
Another fun idea for the kids is an edible sledding snowman. Candy canes make very festive sleds. You just need marshmallows, pretzels for the arms, black icing and I used a piece of red licorice with some chocolate frosting on the back of the sled to anchor little frosty in place. Because kids love marshmallows, these little cuties, much like real snowmen, will not last long.
I have read that the candy cane originated back in the 1600s when a choirmaster in Germany passed out sugar sticks to keep the children quiet during a service. They were all white at the time and at some point, were bent to add the hook to their shape. It was not until the 20th century here in the U.S. that the red stripes and peppermint flavor were added. I wonder if the original ones would have stuck to the pews like the candy canes we know and love today. I wonder if those kids got them stuck to their pants.
Did the choirmaster turn out to be a genius or did he have a monumental mess to clean up when it was over? Well, at least we know the candy itself certainly took off.
To keep the focus on how grateful we are at Christmas to celebrate Jesus’ birth, you can share this little poem with your kids as you do these fun candy cane activities. It walks through the colors and their meaning along with the shape.
In honor of a beloved character in A Charlie Brown Christmas, we made Oreo Peppermint bark. Now, as stated, I am not a fan of peppermint, but I wanted to pay tribute to Peppermint Patty, so I chose this recipe that had chocolate, more chocolate, and a little peppermint. I will say, I doubled the amount of Oreos it called for and bought the crushed peppermint sprinkles to lightly shake over the top. This recipe is very quick and easy. A bonus is that I loved it! Peppermint and all.
I love A Charlie Brown Christmas. I hope you will watch it together this year with your little ones. It is wonderfully nostalgic from start to finish with the music, goofy dancing, the famous Charlie Brown Christmas tree, all the wonderful characters, and of course Charlie Brown trying to understand the meaning of Christmas. Thank goodness Linus is always there to keep everyone straight. Everyone else keeps us laughing, especially Peppermint Patty. Here are a couple of my favorite Peppermint Patty moments:
When Marcie points out to Peppermint Patty that lunch is in an hour, (because she started eating), she promptly replies, “I know that Marcie. This is a practice doughnut.”
Another one involves Peppermint Patty in class asking the teacher what kind of test they are going to take that day. After the teacher responds, she says, “Multiple choice?” “Good! I choose not to take it.”
My kind of girl.
Enjoy that wasabi flavored candy cane. Yep, they have those too.
Stay tuned for more of the 12 Days of Christmas!
Thanks for cute ideas and the ‘laugh out louds’… great way to start my day. Any leftover sweets, you can send them my way!! 👍