If you’re looking for some holiday-themed STEAM activities for your little one this month, we’ve got you covered! Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing STEAM fun related to several of the upcoming winter holidays.
Today’s project is a real treat… Your child will engage with art, science, and math – and even get to eat the finished product – while making Edible Stained Glass! Here’s what you’ll need:
- Jolly Rancher candies
- Egg whites from three large eggs
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 4 cups of powdered sugar
- ½ tsp of cream of tartar
- Pretzel sticks and rods
This activity definitely requires adult supervision and assistance, so get ready to get in on the fun! Before getting started, make sure to talk to your child about heat safety. The ingredients will be very hot, and you’ll all need to be careful to avoid getting burned.
Cover a heat-safe surface (maybe a plate or piece of cardboard) with aluminum foil. Ask your child to shape out an image or shapes on the foil using the pretzel rods and sticks. Make sure all of the lines connect to an edge in some way – in other words, the picture should contain as many closed shapes as possible.
Now, it’s time to make royal icing! Combine your egg whites, vanilla, and cream of tartar in a bowl and mix them until they are frothy. Mix in your powdered sugar a little at a time. Mix the icing until it is glossy and peaks begin to form.
Once your icing is done, place it in a piping bag. You can also use a plastic food storage bag with one corner cut out. Now, use the royal icing to glue your pretzel shape together and glue it down to your foil. Try to close all of the gaps so that your melted candy doesn’t leak out.
Now it’s time to measure how many Jolly Ranchers you will need to melt in each color. Place still-hard candies in each shape in your pretzel picture until every space is filled. Take all of your like-colored candies and place each color in a separate microwave-safe bowl. Place each bowl in your microwave at 50% power for no more than 2 minutes at a time. Stir the candies after each time in the microwave until they are fully melted.
Next, carefully spoon your melted candies into your pretzel frame. It’s best to melt one color at a time and then spoon into your frame to avoid having your candy harden again. Once your candy has hardened in your pretzel frame, you should be able to pick it up and shine a light through it (and eat it, of course!).
So what is the science behind Edible Stained Glass? This is a great activity to explore geometry and how shapes go together. Your child will also learn about chemistry while mixing together your royal icing, and the states of matter while melting your Jolly Rancher candies.
As always, be as creative as you want, and above all, have lots of fun learning together!
We’ll see you right back here next Saturday for another STEAM Saturday activity! Scroll through the rest of our website to learn how Critchlow Adkins is Building Brighter Futures for the children and families we serve!
