The Legend of the Candy Cane Activities & Lapbook

Affiliate Disclaimer

We sometimes use affiliate links in our content. This won’t cost you anything, but it helps us to keep the site running. Thanks for your support.

This unit study includes lessons and printables based on the book, The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg. It includes a wide variety of The Legend of the Candy Cane activities and lapbook printables for preschool, kindergarten, and elementary students. Simply pick and choose the best lessons and printables for your students.

One dark November night, a stranger rides into a small prairie town. Who is he? Why has he come? The townspeople wish he were a doctor, a dressmaker, or a trader. Then a young girl named Lucy befriends the newcomer. When he reveals his identity and shares with her the legend of the candy cane, she discovers fulfillment of her wishes and the answer to her town’s dream. Now will she share what she has learned?

Thanks to Candace Crabtree and Celia Hartmann for writing the lessons for this The Legend of the Candy Cane unit study. Thanks to Tina Franks for creating the lapbook and printables.

The Legend of the Candy Cane Activities & Lessons

Here are some sample lessons from the The Legend of the Candy Cane Unit Study.

Social Studies and Bible: Shepherds
Take a candy cane and turn it right side up and ask your child what it looks like–a shepherd’s staff or crook. Show him the picture in the book of the shepherds in the field and point to the staff. The occupation of shepherd has been around thousands of years, starting with Abel the son of Adam and Eve. Farmers were unable to tend large flocks of animals and do the planting and harvesting, so some men became caretakers of the animals. Shepherds take care of sheep. You may have read about several shepherds in the Bible: Moses, King David, prophet Amos, and of course the ones mentioned the story, the shepherds who watched over their flocks and to whom the angels announced the birth of Jesus Christ.

Now, sheep are not very smart animals, and they have a tendency to wander and to get into trouble. Shepherds lead the sheep to grassy places to eat and waters to drink. They protect them, sometimes using their staff to hook a sheep that has fallen over cliff. Humans may be smarter but we too tend to wander from the path that God would have us walk or get into places we shouldn’t. God sent us a Good Shepherd to watch over us and take care of us, and that Shepherd was His son Jesus Christ. And if we follow Jesus’ ways, then one day we will live forever with Him.

Read Psalm 23 together and discuss how the Lord is our shepherd.

Genre: Legends
Discuss the word legend with your student. A legend is an unverified story handed down from earlier times, especially one popularly believed to be historical. The Legend of the Candy Cane may or may not be true. After you’ve read the story a few times with your student, you may want to read this information about candy canes. Determine which aspects of the legend are based on sure historical fact and which aspects may not (or may!) be true, but can’t be validated.

Just for Fun: Make Peppermint Playdough

Ingredients:
2 cups water
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
4 teaspoons cream of tartar
4 tablespoons oil
4 tablespoons peppermint extract
glitter (optional, for sparkly playdough)

Directions: Mix all ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture thickens and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Form dough into a ball, sprinkle with glitter, place on waxed paper, and cool completely. Store in Ziploc baggies.

You can grab a copy of the entire The Legend of the Candy Cane lessons and lapbook in an easy-to-print file at the end of this post.

The Legend of the Candy Cane Lapbook Printables

In addition to the unit study lessons, this file also includes these mini-books for your student to create a The Legend of the Candy Cane lapbook:

Dozens Petal Book
Alliteration Matchbook
Counting Candy Layer Book

Psalm 23 Copywork Stationery Pages and Pocket
The Candy Cane Shape and Color Twice Folded Book
Christmas Candy Poem Mini-book
The Legend of the Candy Cane Vocabulary Flap Book
J is for . . . Strip Book
Candy Cane Sizes Cards
Counting Candy Cane Stripes Cards

Bible Verse Simple Fold Book
Occupation Cards and Pocket
Idioms Activity Page
Comparing Jesus to a Shepherd Matchbook
Legends Activity Page
Story Synonyms Activity Page
What Could Have Been in the Boxes? Shutter Flap Book
Map Shutterfold Book (includes Germany and Ohio)
And more!

The Legend of the Candy Cane Lapbook Example

This lapbook example was made with one file folder. It doesn’t include all of the mini-books. Please pick and choose the mini-books according to your student’s needs.

How to Get Started with Your The Legend of the Candy Cane Activities & Lapbook

Follow these simple instructions to get started with the The Legend of the Candy Cane activities:

Buy a copy of the book, The Legend of the Candy Cane, or borrow one from your local library.
Print the The Legend of the Candy Cane lessons.
Choose the lessons you want to use with your student (a highlighter works great for this).
Choose and prepare the lapbook printables you want to use with your student.
Enjoy a week of .