Give your kids the party of a life time and show them how to make their favorite snack. Throw a Candy Making Party and watch them eat all their worries away (all the worries a child could possibly have).
This post is sponsored by Wilton.
One of the best things I have been able to do as a chocolatier is to share my passion for candy making with kids.
Years ago my sister asked if I would allow her daughter’s girl scout troop to visit my candy shop to learn how to make chocolates. The day the girls arrived, I had set up my kitchen so they could each hand paint a candy lollipop, dip goodies into chocolate, and make their own special version of chocolate bark.
They loved it, and I did too.
From that day forward, I began hosting candy making parties and just had one for my friend’s kids recently and thought it would be fun to show you how to host a similar party in your own kitchen.
I keep the parties simple, showing the kids how they can make candy at home.To get ready for your own candy making party you’ll need to get some supplies: candy molds, Candy Melts, food use paint brushes, lollipop sticks, dipping tools, paper plates, parchment paper, and paper towels.
Before the kids arrive melt the Candy Melts and keep them warm. I like to use small mason jars filled with the candy coating which I keep warm in an electric skillet that is filled with hot water. I can keep candy melted like this all day long.
Check out my tutorial on How to Make Hand Painted Chocolate Lollipops for detailed instructions on setting up your own skillet filled with melted candy coating.
Cover the table with pieces of parchment or wax paper. It will get messy, and this makes clean up so easy.
I usually allow each child to paint one lollipop, but you could do more, you just need to make sure you have room in your freezer for all of the molds. I use letter trays, the kind you find in an office supply store, to add extra shelves in my freezer. The candy molds fit on them perfectly.
Allow the kids to get creative, to choose the colors they want to paint their lollipops. One of my favorite things about hosting these parties is seeing how colorful the kids make their lollipops. That’s a unicorn being painted with orange, blue and red.
Wilton makes really great Melting Pots (the white and purple pot behind the skillet) which can keep your Candy Melts at the perfect temperature all afternoon too. They will hold several bags of Candy Melts and are great if you are planning to make lots of lollipops or have the kids dip lots of goodies.
Kids really love learning how to dip things like cake pops, cookies, marshmallows and rice krispie treats into chocolate.
Of course, you will probably end up with a floater or two, things that fall off the sticks in the candy coating. Just scoop it out and let the child try again.
The kids each dipped two cake balls into chocolate then added some chopped peanuts.
Give each child a paper plate and some goodies to dip, coat or drizzle, and don’t forget the sprinkles, kids love sprinkles and the lip on the paper plates keeps them from going all over the table.
Wilton has some new Candy Melt Dipping Tools that are great to use for a candy making party.There is a metal skewer that is great to use instead of lollipop sticks for marshmallows and rice krispie treats.
The dipping fork and spoon are perfect for dipping cookies, big and small.
The new Dipping Tongs have a rubber tip so even kids will have an easy time holding onto graham crackers and pretzels to dip them in the candy melts without making a mess.
My favorite new tool is the Drizzling Scoop. It’s a spoon with a channel that allows the candy melts to pour out in a thin stream.
By this point in the party, the kids are getting anxious to try a treat.
The smile on their faces happened just as they heard that they would be allowed to sample their goodies soon.
The best part of the party is when the kids show off their creations.
They are always so proud of what they’ve made, but usually are even more excited to eat them.
If you liked this Kid’s Recipe, then you need to check out these other fascinating recipes that your little ones will love!
Great blog!! Once the chocolate is melted, how long do you have to work with it in a bowl while you are dipping? Im planning on doing this for a group of about 16-18 kids, and want to make sure I have enough chocolate and that they at least have time to work with their own bowl of chocolate to dip with. I’ll probably melt in glass jars in a crock pot.
Thank you!!
If you melt the candy and keep the jars in a crock pot they will stay melted all day long. If you take the jars out of the crock pot the candy will stay melted for a while but will cool and begin to thicken much more quickly. I can’t say how quickly as it will depend on how much candy is in the jar, the temperature of your room, and how hot it was to start with, but you should be able to work with it for at least 15 minutes. If it gets too thick you can pop the jar in the microwave for 10-20 seconds. Have fun!!!
Thank you Beth!! Someone just told me another way is to do a ganache, but Im afraid it will not harden. I love your idea with the skillet too!
Ganache will not harden like chocolate but you can make it so that it is thick enough to use to dip cookies, strawberries and pretzels. It tastes great too!
Thank you! Good to know! I have borrowed an electric skillet so I can do your method and leave nothing to chance 🙂 If you don’t mind me asking, how long and at what temperature do the chips fully melt? And do you keep it at a certain temp all day? thank you, you have been SO helpful!! (this is all new to me!)
I keep my skillet set on the lowest setting which on my skillet is “warm” all day long. I replenish the hot water if needed. You always want a minimum of an inch of water in the skillet. If you place jars of candy melts into the skillet, expect it to take about an hour to fully melt. Be sure to stir the candy during that hour. That will help it melt quicker. If you are in a hurry, you can melt the candy melts in the microwave then set them in the skillet so they stay melted all day long.
I should mention that I was going to do chocolate chips, not the melts, Im not sure if that affects the other instructions! 🙂 I was told to use chocolate chips and add a tsp of shortening to each jar!
If you use chocolate chips that have cocoa butter listed in the ingredients they should be tempered. See my chocolate making tips page for more details – https://hungryhappenings.com/chocolate-making-tips/.
If you don’t temper the chocolate it won’t set up correctly. You can’t use it to paint candy molds as it won’t harden properly so you won’t be able to get the chocolate out of the molds. You can use it to dip pretzels, cookies, and more, just know that it’s likely the chocolate will bloom (develop white streaks and spots) and will remain rather soft and possibly a bit sticky.
I highly recommend using the Confectionery coating/candy melts if you don’t want to bother tempering pure chocolate. Kids love it and you can do so many things with it easily. You can find white chocolate chips that do not have any cocoa butter listed in the ingredients. Nestle White Morsels are essentially confectionery coating. Be sure to check the package for the list of ingredients.
I have not tried candy making with my kids, but I'm going to now! 🙂
I hope you and your kids have fun!
I've never tried making candy with kids, but I have decorated cookies during Christmas with my cousins. 🙂
I've tried making simple candy with my kids, like melted jolly ranchers on a stick! Also my little girls third birthday was a cupcake party. So I'm sure they are going to loooove this!
I wish you were my sister! I'd bring my Girl Scout troop to you to learn! 🙂 You Rock!!!
Wow! This looks like so much fun!
We dipped cake pops in chocolate :). Kids loved helping.
We tried popcorn balls and burnt our hands.
I love making cake pops for parties and coworkers!!
I've just retired to be a G'ma full time… am moving to be near our wee folk & have been looking for activities to do with them. I think this would fun and they would enjoy it…. adding to my list of ideas.
I have made chocolate candies with the kids. They love making a bunch of different things.
We've actually made almost everything together except candy. I can't wait to try some for our next activity. Thanks for sharing this idea.
This is a great idea!!! I think this would make a perfect "back to school" party with my daughter and her friends!
Yes! We love to bake and make candy! My boys have a really fun time getting creative in the kitchen.
My kids are young so they have helped by rolling the balls for truffles and cake pops. As they get older we will venture out and make more things. I loved helping my mom when I was little so I plan to make fun memories for my kids too 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway!
I have a 17 year old son and really wished I had baked with him more when he was younger…so, no, sadly we have never made candy together.
No, I have not made candy with my kids; no kids.
I love making little candies for my friends and coworkers, but having a special little melting pot would definitely make it easier, haha.
Love making candy treats!! Candy melts are so easy to work with.
I have custody of my three grandchildren. The girls are 6 year old twins and the 4 1/2 year old boy has some disabilities. I am constantly looking for ideas for them to do. We recently toured the candy house in our town. They loved it and wanted to go back.
Have never made candy with the kids, but this looks like a fun time for all! bjn1957{at}gmail{dot}com
Yes, we have made candy together. It's messy, fun and delicious.
My son is a little young to do this yet, but I can't wait till he's older and we can try it! 🙂
I've made things using candy with my kids–candy cane reindeer at Christmastime, train cars made out of candy, etc… I've never made the actual candy though. Looks like fun! Thank you.
sharonjo at gwtc dot net
We've done cake pops. It was a bit difficult, but lots of fun!
We've made chocolate-covered pretzels and the chocolate caramel pretzels. I love you're candy warming station — gotta remember that!
What a great way to have a unisex party and not have to rely on a theme for either boys or girls. Everyone has fun and is able to be creative.
I don't have kids but my boyfriend and I have make those candy lollipops and the homemade Reese's PB cups too. Instead of an electric skillet we use a crock pot filled with water – works perfectly!
What a wonderful time the kids must have had, you must be very patient to let them have so much fun! I remember trying to make homemade taffy with my girls on a snow day!
My daughter and I love to make candy pieces!
I did do some chocolate dipping, candy making with my kids but I totally forgot about it but I do need to introduce it to my grandkids. How fun! Thanks for the inspiration!
We have made TONS of cake pops and truffles – we've done some straight candy making, too. It's all so much fun. I did it growing up as a kid – with our electric skillet and little jars, just like you do.
Usually I make candy for my son, but he's almost 5 so maybe I'll let him help next time!
My kids and I make chocolate suckers every Christmas for their friends. We love the variety of molds available now.
I've done many candy parties for scout troops. They love it.
My grandchildren also love to make candy treats.
when my children were little, this was one of their favorite activities. I can hardly wait to do it with my grandchildren!
I never have, but it looks like so much fun!
My son is just two so we haven't done it yet. However I think it may be on the agenda this summer!! I love making cake pops for his school. The kids love them and they are just the right size for littles!!
yes yes yes!! was always making something…chocolates, lollipops, chocolate covered anything, lol!!! did it for b-days, scouts, classrooms (back in the 80 before all the pc stuff), holidays, gifts, you name it! hardest was making real lollipops out of sugar! thats really when you need a good candy thermometer and no kids around the stove! always was baking cakes and cups, pies, cookies, etc….. i was always a hit, and so were my kids! they loved it!! now would love to do the same with the g-kids!!! i used to let the kids paint the molds for the different colors on the candies/lollipops for Easter, Christmas, Halloween, etc.. and of course, we always had to eat any mistakes…….hummm always had so many of them when working with the kids, lol……i know it was done on purpose!!! 🙂 such fun!! thanks for the chance to do thia with another generation!
Mt 13 year old wanted to make fudge. We didn't have a candy thermometer, so I held the meat thermometer in the pot and dropped it! It was a pain, but the fudge turned out delicious. And I got a candy thermometer for Christmas 🙂
I'm so glad you posted this! Keeping the melts melted in the electric skillet would make things so much easier when the grandkids decorate goodies with Grandma. Going to read your how-tos now..love the drizzle scoop and the candy party!
My daughter and I would make candy by melting down the chip and putting them into candy molds, sometimes we would make suckers also, and sometimes we were known to sling chocolate all over each other, fun times, too bad she is all grown up mow
I love wilton products they are all I use.this party looked like a lot of fun. Great idea
I haven't made/used melted candy with the kids but we've used a lot of candy/sprinkles/etc to decorate cookies! Thanks for the fun give-away:@)
My kids and I love chocolate-covered pretzels, so we've made bunches of those over the years. They are now 22 and 18, and I still try to get my kids involved in making treats with me. This past weekend, we tried caramel popcorn. It was so good!
Candy hasn't been my favorite thing to craft at home but I've never approached it like this before. Usually it's many trips to the microwave or figuring out which bowls/pots/pans make the best double boilers.
I don't have kids but even as an adult I think I'd have a blast making candy with my mom lol
spgoddess55(at)msn(dot)com
My Son and I made a Lego man cake with the Wilton chocolates and we both had a blast!
– poisonousdahlia –
My daughter loves making candy! My sister just got married a few weeks ago & we made a TON of goodies for the reception. Suckers to pretzels and marshmallows dipped in chocolate to chocolate covered strawberries. My daughter got to help us with that part and loved every minute of it!
Yes my daughter and I love to make candies together. We actually took a class this summer together. She is 9 so she absolutely loves that she can do almost all of it while I am there helping her.
We love to dip and decorate pretzels, Oreos, berries and marshmallows. Total mess but so much fun
I dont have kids, but I loved making making candy with my aunt as a kid. I knew I wanted to be a pastry chef when I got more excited going to the chocolate/baking supply store than the toy store as a kid
I've made treats with my niece. The last thing that we made were the brownie bunny butts – that had candy on modeling chocolate on them, does that count? She likes to be precise about the decorations. The smile on her face after they were completed was priceless!
I have made candy with my kids, niece and nephew before. We have made some simple things, white chocolate dipped pretzels are their favorite. I would love to get more comfortable with chocolate and host a party like this for the kids. They would love it and I know I would. Look how happy they are in the pictures. Thanks for the giveaway. Good luck everyone.
no, i don't have kids. used to make candy when i was young with my mom, mostly for the holidays to give to neighbors, etc.
This looks like fun for the kiddos, I have done PB balls with my 5 yr old and he always has fun this will be a good rainy day project in our house.
Oh the memories you just brought up! Good ones loved it when the kids and grand children wanted to bring their friends and come and make candy. All grown up now. Even did a girl scout party. Good idea on the letter tray. Wish I had used that because freezer space was a premium,so much shuffling of candy molds. Thanks again.
Oh yes, my kiddos love candy making. We've done some crazy looking cake pops….kinda looked like the Grinch! lol