We celebrated Valentine's Day this week on our bi-weekly segment on Good Day Acadiana with Alex Worstell. I was excited to have both of my daughters join me on camera as we made Candy Critters for our craft. It's super easy and plenty of fun to make these at home with your kids!
More than likely, you probably have most of the material you will need to make these already at home. Check out the post on the Macaroni KID New Iberia Facebook page from the show this week:
Candy Critters
Valentine's Day is coming up and our children love to share cards, treats, and small gifts with their friends or classmates. These Candy Critters fit the bill for all three. Your children can make these for their teachers, grandparents, or neighborhood friends. Get your hot glue gun ready and let's dig in!
Supplies You'll Need:
- Large crafting pom-poms and googly eyes
- Cardstock paper or poster board paper
- Paints, brushes, and markers
- Popsicle sticks
- Hot glue
- Pipe cleaners sticks for crafts
- Candy
- Stickers, glitter, sequins, noodles, beans or other small decorative items
Step-by-Step Instructions
Choose your pom-pom for your critter. You will want to make sure to use the larger ones. Hot glue your eyes to the pom-pom and set it aside. If you don't have googly eyes for crafting, you can use a small button or a small piece of a pipe cleaner.
Next choose your pipe cleaner color and cut it in half. Part of it will be the "arms" and the other piece will be the "legs" of your critter. Wrap one piece around the back of the pom-pom and secure it in place with hot glue. Pull the "arms" to the front of your pom-pom and either raise them up or spread them out like a hug.
Now take the other half of your pipe cleaner, bend it in half, and twist it at the top. Glue the top part of the pipe cleaner to the bottom of you pom-pom. You can even place the top twisted part of the pipe cleaner in the bottom of the pom-pom too. Now your critter has arms and legs. You can add other small items if you like to create shoes, hands, or other decorative pieces.
 Candy Critter Craft for Valentine's Day Image by Mia Barletto |
Next, grab your popsicle sticks and paint them and decorate as you like. Let them dry. To personalize your Valentine's Day message, you want to make a sign for your Candy Critter to hold. We decided to trace and cut out hearts from poster board. You can add a personal message, decorate your heart, or just simply write "Be my Valentine."
Once your popsicle stick is dry, break it in half. Take half of your popsicle stick and glue it to one "arm" on your Candy Critter. You can lay the pipe cleaner arm flat to the back of the stick and hot glue it in place. Now, cut out your paper hearts, write your message or decorate it, then glue it to the top of your stick.
Now for the most important part: the candy! Glue the bottom of your critter to a piece of the candy of your choice. Your critter will be sitting on the candy, holding a sign that holds the perfect Valentine's Day message!
We had some left over sticks so my daughter Mia decided to continue being crafty and made a wagon. We used five sticks and glued them together to form a wagon. We use a piece of black pipe cleaner as the wagon handle. And for the final piece.. we added candy tires to our wagon!
 February 7, 2024 Image by Sierra St. Julien and Alex Worstell |
Join us next time on Good Day Acadiana on Wednesday, February 21, 2024,
from 7:00 am to 9:00 am for more fun, inexpensive kid's crafts.
You can also catch the live stream of News 15 Today online. Or, catch up on our past crafting segments with Alex Worstell on News 15 KADN on their You Tube Channel.
Happy Crafting Acadiana! |
