Kids love candy, and if your kids are anything like mine, they can easily be swayed to do STEM activities for kids if candy or food is involved. If you are looking for a fun learning activity that incorporates sweets, you will love these candy STEM activities.
While they do involve candy, there is also learning involved which can make this a great way to introduce STEM to your kids! These activities are also a great way to use up leftover candy, or candy your kids don’t like, too.
Here are 20 delicious candy STEM activities for kids, and no they don’t all involve eating candy, but they do all involve STEM learning!
Candy STEM Projects Perfect for the Classroom or Home
Try these candy STEM activities for a sweet treat in the STEM classroom! Kids will have a blast trying these edible (and not-so-edible) candy-themed STEM projects and challenges.
If you love these STEM projects, check out our candy science fair projects, fairy tale STEM activities, no-prep STEM activities, or STEAM art projects!
Why Try Candy STEM Activities?
A candy STEM activity uses candy, which kids love. Research shows that when kids are interested and engaged with a topic, they learn more and retain more information weeks or months after the fact.
If you can include themes that interest children in educational topics, they have more fun and learn more, too!
Candy is a favorite with kids of all ages, and these candy STEM projects will be a hit whether you are doing them in kindergarten or middle school.
Where to Find Candy for STEM Activities
If you don’t have candy lying around at home or at school, you can do most of these STEM activities with the following supplies:
The Mason Jar Scientist: 30 Jarring STEAM-Based ProjectsBulk Assorted Fruit Candy – Starburst, Skittles, Swedish Fish, SweeTarts, Nerds, Sour Patch Kids, Haribo Gold-Bears Gummi Bears & Twizzlers (32 Oz Variety Fun Pack) by Variety Fun
Your Favorite Candy Mix – 3 Pounds of Gummy Bears, Skittles, Sour Patch, Swedish Fish, Starburst, Airheads, & More by Snackadilly (3)
Klutz Candy Science Maker Lab
POOF-Slinky – Scientific Explorer, Tasty Science Kit, 0SA248
Thames & Kosmos Rainbow Gummy Candy Lab – Unicorns, Clouds & Rainbows! Sweet Science STEM Experiment Kit, Make Your Own Gummy Candies in Cool Shapes & Colors
Playz Edible Candy! Food Science STEM Chemistry Kit – 40+ DIY Make Your Own Chocolates and Candy Experiments for Boy, Girls, Teenagers, & Kids Ages 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Years Old
Learning Resources Yumology Science Sweet Kit, STEM, Candy Experiments, Early Science, 7 Kid Safe Recipes,16 Pieces, Ages 4+
Candy Chemistry
The Complete List of STEM Projects with Candy
Kids will love these candy STEM activities. Try these STEM projects in your classroom or home and you may be surprised at what kids learn while doing these hands-on STEM activities!
Get started with STEM in the kitchen when you make Jolly Rancher Lollipops.
Build your own Marshmallow Constellations and learn about the night sky!
These sugar crystals teach crystal science and also offer a fun Galaxy Sugar Crystals twist on classic rock crystals.
There is so much you can learn about STEM topics when making Edible Taffy Slime.
Build a Rainbow Sugar Density Tower and learn about density, color mixing, and more!
Use Peeps to discover facts about density in the Peeps Density Science Experiment.
There is no fun in candy STEM if you can’t eat the results! This Edible Jellybean Slime is delicious!
Learn about the different common shapes of bacteria in the Edible Petri Dish Bacteria challenge.
If you wan to know How to Make a Jello Brain without a Mold, follow these directions. It’s a fun way to learn about the brain and make something tasty at the same time.
Challenge kids to transform marshmallows into boats in the Marshmallow Boat Building Engineering Challenge.
Here again, marshmallows become boats. But in the Soap-Powered Marshmallow Boat experiment, kids experiment with using surface tension to make a boat move.
Explore density and solutions with a Fortnite Sugar Density Tower.
Discover the density of different flavor lollipops in the Layered Lollipops experiment.
Make your own Candy Geodes and learn about rock formations and geology.
Expand those engineering skills when you challenge kids to build a Gumdrop Bridge.
Explore earth science and geology by making an Edible Rock Cycle!
Younger kids will love exploring science by making Candy Potions.
Use STEM skills to remove the letters from M&Ms in the Candy M&M Science experiment.
Learn about solutions and dissolving when you make a Skittles Rainbow.
Kids will have a blast creating an Edible Solar System.
You can’t have a candy STEM activity without making the classic Mentos Diet Coke Experiment.
Flex engineering skills by Balancing with M&Ms.
Practice scientific investigations when you complete the Growing a Gummy Bear STEM activity.
What are your favorite candy STEM activities to do?
