Candy Cane Class

Have you ever licked a candy cane and wondered how it came to be?  If not, you're suffering from a serious lack of curiosity. Learning about the little things we take for granted can provide us with rich educational experiences and really broaden our base of knowledge. Anything can be turned into a lesson (or unit study)--even a candy cane!

Open a box of candy canes and disperse to each family member. As you open the canes and enjoy the sweet, tasty, mint-flavored confection, discuss if anyone knows where the mint flavor comes from. Mint is a plant and we get our mint flavoring from extracting oils from the plant.  Here you can see how the process is done:

Once there is mint extract, there are lots of things that can be done with it.  Since we're talking candy canes, look on the box that held the ones you're eating and find the location of the factory on a map. You can watch here to see how canes like the ones in your hands are made in factories these days:

Automation is amazing, but it begs the question, how were candy canes made BEFORE all these machines were invented?  Watch this to see an old-fashioned candy maker in action:

If you live in a place with a large candy factory, or a small candy-making window shop, it would be worth a field trip for a tour.  If you're wanting to go all out, follow this recipe to make your own homemade candy canes. A good discussion would be the pros and cons of candy made by hand versus candy made by machines.

Now that you know how candy canes are made, what can you do with them?  What else can you learn?

There is this lovely book you could read, or you could memorize this poem:

Another great short story to read together is "The Candy Cane Queen" by Janice A. Sperry.

Put two candy canes together to make a heart. You could glue these on cardboard, write a note, and deliver to people you love or want to cheer up.

A fun craft is to make candy cane reindeer.

And if, along the way, interest is piqued to learn more about any particulars, follow the interest! Maybe someone wants to know how many kinds of mints there are and experiment with growing mint or baking with mint. Perhaps someone wants to learn more about making other types of candy. Maybe automation/machinery will become a point of fascination. Embrace the curiosity and learn all you can!

May I suggest one last lesson to finish with?  Learn the economics of supply and demand. Price candy canes of different brands at different stores before Christmas. Just keeping a list is sufficient. You can add graphs if you'd like. After Christmas, check the stores to see how many candy canes are left and what they cost. Compare the after Christmas price with the before Christmas price and discuss why candy canes went from being, say, $1.00/box to $0.10/box. This lesson will teach not only the basic principle of supply and demand but will also show brand and store differences.

Learning is sweet!