Grow a candy jack-o-lantern {Halloween STEAM activity for kids}

Growing a candy jack-o-lantern is a great way to put all those Halloween M&Ms to good use. If you haven’t done this activity before, I guarantee you the kids will LOVE it. (And some of the adults won’t be able to look away either!)

This Halloween STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) activity combines art and science. Plus, kids exercise their creativity as they design their jack-o-lanterns, develop fine motor skills as they place M&Ms on the plate, and get to witness a bit of “magic” (well, science disguised as magic) in the process.

Enjoy!

Note: For more kid-friendly Halloween activities, see my Halloween activities for Kids page.

To grow a candy jack-o-lantern, you will need the following materials:

• A plate
• Orange and brown M&Ms
• Water

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

Then use some brown M&Ms to add a stem and face.

Slowly pour water in the middle of the jack-o-lantern 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 jack-o-lantern?

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 jack-o-lantern with orange and brown coloring.

Looking for more Halloween projects that incorporate Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM)? Then you’ll love STEAM Kids Halloween. This e-book includes 50+ pages of spooky fun STEAM activities that will wow the boredom right out of kids!

More Halloween resources

More Halloween posts from Gift of Curiosity:

• Flying teabag ghosts
• Mason jar jack-o-lantern
• Candy experiments
• Halloween Montessori activities
• Toilet paper mummies
• Pumpkin decomposition experiment
• Describe a pumpkin using all five senses
• Jack-o-lantern Printables Pack

You can find more Halloween activities and printables on my Halloween Activities for Kids page and Halloween Activities for Kids Pinterest board.