Kid Crafts: How to Make a Candy Train

If you are looking for a fun and easy Christmas craft for kids, making a candy train is perfect. Kids can actually build and decorate a candy train on their own. Small children, of course, will need help, but they can do their own decorating. Making a candy train is a fun, creative endeavor. Encourage the kids to come up with their design ideas. If you are working with toddler to kindergarten age kids, they are likely to copy your train. Don't worry, they are still at the developmental stage where they are learning and seek out repeating patterns. Older kids should be encouraged to take risks and experiment with the design.

Here is how you build your own candy train:

Materials:
t.p. or paper towel cardboard rolls
small thin cardboard boxes (like the box that hold your cough syrup)
thin cardboard boxes to cut (like a cereal box)
glue
cake frosting
sprinkles
oreo cookies or peppermint candies (wheels)
thin licorice ropes (red and black)
various candies and chocolates

Build Your Candy Train Frame:
1. Use a toilet paper tube or cut a paper towel tube to size.
2. Cut 2 circles slightly larger than the opening of the toilet paper tube from the thin cardboard. Cut a hole large enough for the licorice rope (but don't add it yet) to pass through in one of the circles.
3. Place glue around the rim of the tube opening and place a circle over it. Place it face down.
4. Place glue around the other rim of the tube and place the remaining circle over it. Press firmly so it will stick.
5. Let them dry.
6. Cut the shape of the engine car from the thin cardboard (remember to do it for both sides).
7. Glue to the back end of the tube (the back has a hole in the circle) and let dry. This is the engine car.
8. Additional cars can be built in the same way or made out of existing small thin rectangular boxes (like the kind that small cough syrup bottles come in).
9. Whichever type of car you will use, it needs to have a hole in the front and back. This hole should be wide enough to accommodate the licorice rope which will be used later on to connect the cars.

Decorating Your Candy Train
Note: Once decorated, the cars are difficult to move. So as much as possible decorate them in place.

1. Frost the front circle of the engine car.
2. Cut the red or black licorice ropes to make the grill of the front engine.
3. Frost the sides.
4. Stick on peppermint candies or Oreo cookies at the base to create the wheels.
5. Decorate the rest of the car with sprinkles, small candies or crushed candy.
6. You can create all kinds of things with the licorice ropes including borders.
7. Follow the same pattern for the other cars.

Putting It All together

Once all the individual cars have been decorated, attach them by cutting the licorice ropes to the proper size and inserting the ends into the holes.

Tada! You now have an awesome candy train to display. Candy trains are easy and fun craft to make with kids. So break out the candy and start designing your own candy train today.