A Christmas Candy Train Craft Project for Kids

A line of connected train cars crafted by your children can make a wonderful impromptu Christmas candy dispenser for the duration of the holiday season. Christmas trains are not a new concept and are even immortalized in several seasonal books, so they make a logical method of storing goodies for guests, especially pre-wrapped candy. This craft is appropriate for all ages, as children with varying artistic levels can be as creative or basic as they need to be.

Supply List for the Christmas Candy Train Featured in This Article:

3 Tea Boxes of any size, but 16-20 ct. boxes work best
Paints
Paintbrushes
Scissors
Staples
Markers
Fabric
Ribbon
Glue

Directions for Making a Christmas Train for Candy:

1. Apply a base coat of paint to your Christmas train cars. This can be a black or gray paint primer or a darker shade of green. If you are using acrylics, drying should only take a couple of hours for results worthy of being embellished upon.

2. Embellishing is the next stage. In our featured train cars, the cars were painted in a variety of Christmas colors and designs including candy canes, present stripes, holiday ornaments, Christmas messages, and the names of your favorite little candy lovers.

Other embellishment options include cutting scenery out of old Christmas cards, using glitter to add a snowy feel, or covering the boxes in wrapping paper for a polished look.

3. Connecting the train cars is the third step. An easy way to do this is to use a single hole hole-puncher to press a hole through an outer wall on opposite sides of each box. A string, holiday ribbon, or even gold Mardi Gras beads will make great connectors. Feed them through each hole and tie off on the inside of the box

4. Line the insides of your train with a soft fabric, perhaps some red velvet or a lovely shade of plaid featuring a predominantly red and green pattern. Wider strands of Christmas ribbon can also work for the lining. Regular glue will work very well at adhering the fabric to the box.

4. Hook up the engine. An engine can be fashioned out of an additional tea box, but a favorite option of mine is to use a ceramic train engine. Further options can include using a toy train from a child's play box or leaving the train engine free. The connected cars will present the entire idea.

5. Fill with your favorite Christmas candy. Holiday versions of favorites like Hershey kisses, or miniature bars of krackle, Mr. Goodbar, and Dark Chocolate will also work well.

Choo-Choo on to the Christmas candy and the crafts this year.