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    Home » Science Experiments for Kids » Candy Experiments » Candy House – Making a stable structure

    Candy House – Making a stable structure

    March 13, 2014 By Emma Vanstone 5 Comments

    My 6 year old came out of school last week incredibly happy and excited as they’d spent the afternoon building candy houses. As soon as we got home he wrote me a shopping list of what we needed to do a similar activity at home. This would also be great for a Three Little Pigs experiment or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory themed investigation.

    We talked about what we wanted to achieve and decided to split our project into 2 stages, building on the knowledge he’d gained already from school.

    If you like this activity I’ve got 60 more easy edible experiments in my new book – Snackable Science

    Sweets, fudge and icing for a how to build a candy house STEM Challenge

    How to build a candy house

    What are the best sweets for ‘bricks’?

    We decided marshmallows were too soft and not the best shape, but fudge rectangles would be perfect.

    What can we use for ‘cement’?

    Z said it needed to be sticky and harden over time, so we thought we’d try very thick icing sugar and marshmallow fluff.

    How can we test?

    We didn’t want to waste too much fudge in our testing ( although it did all get eaten ) so decided to build two small walls to test our ‘cement’.

    We discussed what we needed to keep constant and what needed to change.

    Variables

    • Icing
    • Marshmallow Fluff

    Constants

    • The amount of fudge.
    • The amount of ‘cement’.
    • Time left to harden

    We used the same number of fudge pieces for each wall and tried to roughly use the same thickness of ‘cement’, but this wasn’t entirely accurate.

    Both walls were left overnight to harden.

    Sweetie house for an edible STEM Project

    How to test for stability/strength?

    Pick up the wall and see if it stays intact.

    Roll a marble to the wall –  try to roll at the same speed and in the same direction for each wall.

    Candy House Results

    Observations

    The icing sugar hardened completely while the marshmallow fluff stayed soft and sticky.

    Marble Test

    The icing sugar wall fell over.

    The marshmallow fluff wall stayed upright, but possibly because it was so sticky the marble stuck to it, losing some of it’s momentum.

    The pick up test

    The icing sugar wall remained in one solid piece when picked up.

    The marshmallow fluff wall fell to pieces.

    How could we improve this test?

    Neater application of the marshmallow fluff so the outside of the wall was less sticky.

    Place both walls in the fridge overnight to encourage setting of the fluff.

    Next steps

    Build a complete house, finding a suitable material for roof tiles.

    A candy house made from sweets and chocolate for a science project or STEM challenge

    Suitable for Key Stage 1 Science

    Brilliant for starting to learn investigative skills.

    Extension tasks

    Can you make a stable structure? What can you use to support the roof of your house?

    Making a gingerbread house and testing that for strength is a fun variation on this activity too.

    Image of a house built from sweets for a STEM Challenge

    Last Updated on April 28, 2021 by Emma Vanstone

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    Safety Notice

    Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

    These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

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