Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to do kitchen science with kids. Whip up these fun jolly rancher lollipops for Valentine’s Day with a cool science twist!
My kids love cooking in the kitchen. One of my favorite things about cooking with kids is not only that they learn to cook (so important!), but also that it is the perfect place to solidify math skills!
In the kitchen, kids can learn a lot about science and math. Cooking is one of the ultimate Valentine STEAM activities!
Bring some STEAM into your kitchen this Valentine’s Day when you make these candy heart lollipops!
For more kitchen science fun, try making salt crystal hearts, heart chromatography, or Valentine’s oobleck!
RELATED: CLASSROOM-FRIENDLY VALENTINES FOR KIDS!
VALENTINE CANDY LOLLIPOPS STEAM ACTIVITY
This simple Valentine candy recipe is fun, colorful, and easy! Kids will be fascinated to see how much science, technology, engineering, and math goes into making candy! If you want more fun heart activities, try making a 3D heart model, make fizzing hearts, or use a coding robot to find the valentine’s hearts!
YOU’LL ALSO LIKE: THE ULTIMATE LIST OF VALENTINE SLIME RECIPES
The Science Behind Candy Heart Lollipops
Cooking, particularly cooking candy, takes elements of science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Children must measure, follow a recipe, use kitchen tools, set up the molds, and a lot of other STEAM elements to get their candy lollipops to turn out right.
Follow along with these directions on how to make jolly rancher lollipops in molds to turn the Valentine heart lollipops into a STEAM activity at home or in the classroom.
VALENTINE CANDY RECIPE STEM INTEGRATION
Science: Measuring, following directions.
Technology: Working with a microwave and kitchen tools.
Engineering: Designing the look of the lollipops, making sure things stay neat and orderly.
Math: Measuring, calculating cook times.
What you’ll need for the Valentine candy heart lollipops:
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Lollipop sticks 100 count 6 inchCK Products 90-1257 Heart Sucker Chocolate Mold, 2-1/2
8H-1203 2
JOLLY RANCHER Hard Candy, Assortment (Watermelon, Apple, Cherry, Grape, Blue Raspberry), 5 Pound Bag (360 Pieces)
STEAM Kids: 50+ Science / Technology / Engineering / Art / Math Hands-On Projects for Kids
How to Make Jolly Rancher Lollipops in Molds
This Valentine lollipop recipe is so easy, and it tastes, great, too! Kick it up a notch by melting sugar to make your own candy and flavor it with your favorite candy flavors!
More Valentine’s STEM activities and STEAM Challenges
1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
2. Unwrap Jolly Ranchers and place 2 different colored jolly ranchers in each mold.
3. Place mold on a baking sheet. Stick in oven for about 7-8 minutes. Keep a close eye on them and take them out when melted.
4. Immediately place a stick in the lollipop.
5. Let them set at room temperature for about 10 minutes or until harden. Pop out of mold.
6. Now they are ready to eat!!
If you want to make these as gifts, wrap them in candy bags and tie with a pretty bow. If you have other molds, try making other fun candy shapes! Homemade candy is a lot more fun than store-bought!
