How to Draw a Cartoon Candy for National Candy Day

How to Draw a Cartoon Candy for National Candy Day: Free Pages and a Draw-Along Video

Every year on November 4, kids and grown-ups across the country celebrate National Candy Day, a whole day for the sweet treats we love most. To join the fun, here’s one of my favorite characters from my Christmas books: a goofy wrapped candy with big googly eyes, a toothy grin, a polka-dot wrapper and two twisty ends. In this post you’ll find a free step-by-step drawing page, a video that shows the whole candy coming together line by line, and two bonus pages to trace it and to draw it on a grid.

Like every page in my books, the candy is broken into six easy steps. The black lines show what to draw, adding a little more each step, so kids can follow along at their own pace. It’s a great fit for kids ages 5 and up, and it takes about 10 to 15 minutes.

Download the Free Cartoon Candy Drawing Page (PDF)

How to Draw a Cartoon Candy, Step by Step

Here’s what happens in each of the six steps. Draw lightly at first, and don’t worry about wobbly lines. A lumpy candy is still a tasty candy.

1. Step 1: Draw a big round shape for the candy. It doesn’t have to be a perfect circle.
2. Step 2: Add two big round eyes with little dots for pupils, then a wide, curvy smile.
3. Step 3: Draw the two twisty wrapper ends, one on each side, with wavy edges like a bow.
4. Step 4: Add a row of rounded teeth hanging from the smile.
5. Step 5: Draw two thick eyebrows and the little crinkle marks where the wrapper twists.
6. Step 6: Finish with polka dots all over the candy and its wrapper.

Then try it again without looking at the steps. Kids are always surprised by how much they remember the second time around.

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Draw Your Candy 3 Ways

This candy appears in all three of my Christmas books, so there are three free ways to draw it:

• Draw it step by step with the six-step page above, from How to Draw: Christmas.
• Trace it, then color it with the dotted-line page from Trace Then Color: Cartoon Christmas Characters. It’s perfect for little ones ages 3 and up: Download the Trace Then Color Candy Page (PDF).
• Copy it square by square with the grid pages from Draw by Grid: Christmas. The first page shows the candy on a grid, and the second page has an empty grid for kids to copy it box by box. Great for ages 7 and up: Download the Draw by Grid Candy Pages (PDF).

What Is National Candy Day?

National Candy Day falls on November 4 every year, just a few days after Halloween, when lots of kids still have a bag of treats to sort through. It’s a day to enjoy a favorite sweet and to have a little fun with all things candy.

People have been making candy for a very long time. The earliest sweets were made with honey, and later cooks learned to boil sugar into hard candies, then to make chocolates, lollipops, gummies and all the wrapped treats we know today. A drawing day is a fun, sugar-free way to celebrate with kids, and it lasts a lot longer than a piece of candy.

Tips for Coloring Your Candy

Once the drawing is done, it’s time for color. Here are a few easy ideas:

• Pick a flavor: red for cherry, orange for orange, purple for grape or green for sour apple.
• Bright polka dots: color the dots a different color from the candy, like pink dots on a blue candy.
• Shiny wrapper: leave a small white spot on the candy and the wrapper so it looks shiny.
• Make it a Christmas candy: red and white or red and green make it ready for the holidays.

Sweet Ideas for National Candy Day

A finished drawing doesn’t have to stay on the fridge. Here are a few ways to keep the candy fun going:

• A candy shop: draw a whole shelf of candy characters, each with a different face: happy, sleepy, grumpy or surprised.
• Invent a candy: design a brand-new candy, give it a name and a flavor, and draw its wrapper.
• Candy friends: add a lollipop, a candy cane and a gumdrop next to your candy so it has some friends.
• Write the story: where does your candy want to go before somebody eats it? Draw it, then write a few sentences about it.

Using These Candy Pages in the Classroom

Teachers are welcome to print copies of these pages for the whole class, for classroom or home use. They make an easy art center, an indoor recess activity or an early-finisher page, and the three formats make it easy to give every student a page that fits.

• Draw it, then write about it: students name their candy and invent its flavor. My free draw-and-write sheets have a box for the drawing and lines for the story: primary lines (K–2) or regular lines (grades 2–5).
• Count the dots: after drawing, students count the polka dots on their candy and compare with a partner.
• More ready-made lessons: my free teacher resources include printable book pages, sub plans and art center cards.

See the free use page for the full details on printing and sharing.

Love Drawing Christmas Characters?

This candy is one of the characters in my three Christmas books, each one with its own way to draw: How to Draw: Christmas (six simple steps for every character), Trace Then Color: Cartoon Christmas Characters (dotted lines to trace, then color) and Draw by Grid: Christmas (copy each character square by square). They’re full of ornaments, snowmen, penguins, gingerbread people, Santa and more. Like all of my books, every character in them was hand-drawn by me, Kevin Coulston. None of the art in my books is AI-generated or copied from anywhere else.

Check out How to Draw: Christmas

Free Activity Page (save and print)

Print it on US Letter paper (choose “Fit to page” if your printer needs a little room at the edges), grab a pencil and follow the six steps to learn how to draw a cartoon candy.

Download this free worksheet to learn how to draw a cartoon candy

Download the Free Cartoon Candy Page (PDF)

Happy Drawing, and Happy National Candy Day!

Print the pages, play the video and draw along. When your candy is finished, color it in, give it a flavor and a name, and draw it some candy friends. Happy drawing, and happy National Candy Day!

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