Christmas STEAM: Grow a candy Christmas wreath

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This Christmas STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) activity combines art and science to “grow” a lovely holiday wreath.

If you haven’t done this activity before, I guarantee you the kids will LOVE it. (And some of the adults may not be able to get enough of this either!)

As your children make their candy wreaths, they will work on their fine motor skills (hello, pincer grasp!) and get to witness a bit of holiday “magic” (or, science disguised as magic).

Enjoy!

Note: For more Christmas activities your kids will love, see my Christmas Activities for Kids page.

To grow a candy wreath, you will need the following materials:

A plate
Green and red M&Ms (You’ll find plenty in this Christmas bag of M&Ms.)
Water

Begin by using the green and red M&Ms to make a circle around the outside edge of your plate.

Then grab a cup of water.

Slowly pour water in the middle of the circle until water is touching all of the M&Ms.

To see what happens next, check out this short video:

Amazing, right?

What’s the science behind growing a candy Christmas wreath?

The hard shell of the M&Ms is made with water soluble colors. When the water touches the M&Ms, the colors begin to dissolve off of the M&Ms and run into the water, filling in the candy Christmas wreath with red and green coloring.

Looking for more Christmas ideas that incorporate Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM)? Then you’ll love STEAM Kids Christmas.This e-book includes 25 days of holiday projects that will wow the boredom right out of kids!