Lyndsey Ditch the screens and get your kids moving with a fun candy cane hunt!
My son always has a hard time deciding if he prefers Easter or Christmas. He loves Christmas time with all the holiday cheer, but he really enjoys the thrill of hunting for Easter eggs. This fun activity provides a combinations of his favorite holiday activities. It’s super cheap and super easy to set your kids up with a fun candy cane hunt adventure!
On top of that, what a great way to help the kids burn off some energy during a time of year where outside isn’t always the nicest option (at least where we live). Indoor energy busting activities are always a golden opportunity!
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What is a Candy Cane Hunt?
This activity is very straight forward, and is exactly what it sounds like. A candy cane hunt is similar to an Easter egg hunt, but with candy canes instead. Someone is the designated “hider”, usually a parent. Once all the candy canes are hidden, the kids race to find them!
If you have older kids, it could be very fun to do a competition of who can find theirs the fastest, or who finds more candy canes. My kids are younger currently, so I actually did different colors of candy canes for each kid. This way my youngest, who is not old enough to really search for things on her own, still gets an opportunity to hunt down just as many candy canes.
Make this activity as easy or as hard as you would like. I hid some in easier places, and some of them in harder places. The older my kids get, the less obvious the hiding spots will be.
Supplies
- Candy Canes (you can do assorted colors and assign colors to each kid)
- Creative hiding spots
- A timer (if you want to make it a race)
How To Set Up a Candy Cane Hunt
- Determine how the hunt will be done. Will each kid get a color they are searching for? Maybe each kid will have a number they are allowed to find? Will it be a race to determine who can find the most, or who can find all of theirs the fastest?
- Hide the candy canes in creative spots. The older your kids are, the harder the hiding spots should be. I have listed just a few ideas below to get you started, but the possibilities are endless!
- On door knobs
- Window sills
- Drawer handles
- Pencil cups
- Hanging on boot edges
- Hanging on vase edges
- On top of picture frames
- Hanging from a light fixture (if your kids are gentle enough)
- Handrails
- Make sure your kids are distracted, sleeping, or gone when you hide them.
- Let the candy cane hunt begin!
This candy cane hunt is just one of the many Christmas activity ideas that I have listed in my Christmas Activity post.
For a list of over 40 Christmas Activity Ideas, see my post here: 40+ of the Best Fun Christmas Activities for Families.
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Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions in the comments below!
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[…] Candy Cane Hunt | A Fun Christmas Activity for Kids […]
[…] enjoyed it, and we got a warm cozy treat out of it! Also, we actually used our candy canes from the Candy Cane Hunt to be a part of our DIY hot cocoa bar. You can check out the candy cane hunt post […]
What a great idea! I think all the kids would love this activity!