Christmas Sensory Activity – How to Make Candy Cane Oobleck

christmas sensory activity candy can oobleck

Candy Cane Oobleck is such a fun Christmas sensory activity. Plus, add tongs to pick out candy canes to strengthen hand muscles! Keep on reading to find out how to make it yourself in minutes!

Sensory Play During Holiday Time!

Oobleck is fun to play with anytime of year, but there is something extra special when you add some holiday twists!

By making the oobleck look like candy cane colors, adding a peppermint scent, and small candy canes to be plucked out, this combination is sensory packed and great for fine motor skills too!

For more info about oobleck, check out this article where we share everything you need to know about it!

All activities should be supervised by an adult. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This post may contain affiliate links.

Skills: Sensory Play

Ages: 12 Months +

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Watch How to Make and Play With This Christmas Sensory Activity

It is super simple to make oobleck! At the very least, you just need corn starch and water. Mixing it together and then placing it in a tray will take all of a few minutes to do!

In the video, you’ll see how my kiddos loved exploring the texture, picking out the little candy canes, and then mixing up the white and red colors to make pink!

Watch How to Make and Play With This Christmas Sensory Activity

It is super simple to make oobleck! At the very least, you just need corn starch and water. Mixing it together and then placing it in a tray will take all of a few minutes to do!

In the video, you’ll see how my kiddos loved exploring the texture, picking out the little candy canes, and then mixing up the white and red colors to make pink!

Tips to Make the Most of This Christmas Sensory Activity

A Bowl of Water. Have one nearby! Even kids who love to get messy will want to wash their hands off from time to time and this will really extend the play longer!

Tongs. Add some tongs to the set up to strengthen fine motor skills! Make sure you have a thin layer of oobleck, so that the candy canes don’t fully sink inside it! The texture of the oobleck when resting is hard, so this is a great challenge for kids to remove them using tongs or tweezers!

Add a scent! Peppermint makes the most sense for this set up! It really adds so much more to the sensory experience.

Dilute Before Disposing. When playtime is over, you can either dump the oobleck mixture straight into a trash can, or you can dilute it fully first with water and then flush it down the drain or throw it in the garden!

Materials

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1

White Oobleck: Combine 2 cups cornstarch with 1 cup water and a 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint flavoring.

Step 2

Red Oobleck: Same as the white oobleck, just add a nice squeeze of red food coloring.

Step 3

Add a little bit of each color to a bin, alternating colors. Oobleck spreads quickly, so keep that in mind.

Optional: drop mini candy canes on top for an added fine motor challenge.