By CraftingStepByStepPublished Updated
Based on a video by Art for Kids Hub.
A candy cane is one of the first Christmas drawings most kids want to try, and this version from Rob and his daughter Hadley at Art for Kids Hub makes it easy. You draw the hook with two upside-down J shapes, tie a ribbon bow around the stem, add the stripes, and color it red and green. The whole thing takes about five minutes.
You need a black marker, a sheet of paper and something to color with. No pencil is required, though a light pencil sketch is a fine safety net for younger kids.
The hook is the hard part. Trying to draw a thick, even curve in one go almost never works. Drawing it as two lines solves that. The inner line sets the shape, and the outer line follows it at the same distance. Close both ends and you have a hook that looks solid and round, even if your lines wobble a little.
The bow does a similar job. It breaks the long stem into two shorter pieces, so the stripes are easier to space out. It also hides the spot where most kids lose track of their stripe pattern. If a line drifts, the ribbon covers it.
Printer paper works for practice. If you plan to color with markers, use a heavier sketch paper so the red does not bleed through. A fine point black permanent marker gives you the bold outline in the video. The finished candy canes here are colored with colored pencils, and Rob adds a darker green along the inside of each bow loop for shading. Washable markers are faster for little kids. Crayons work too.
Keep the candy cane big. A tall hook that fills most of the page leaves room for wide stripes and a full bow.
Red stripes and a green bow is the classic look. You can also try a blue and white peppermint cane, a rainbow cane, or thin red pinstripes between the wide ones. Skip the bow for a simpler drawing, or draw two canes crossed in an X with one shared bow. For a shiny look, leave a thin white strip down one side of each red stripe.
Cut it out and tape it to a window, or punch a hole in the hook and hang it as an ornament. Small ones make great gift tags; see our Christmas gift tags guide for ideas. Teachers can line a classroom door with a whole row of them. For something sturdier to hang, try homemade Christmas ornaments.
Want more to draw? Try how to draw a tree, or start with how to draw for the basics.
10 steps · about 6 minutes.Check off each step as you go and your progress saves automatically.
Near the top of your page, draw a big upside-down U. Keep going down on the right side so that side ends up much longer than the left. Now you have an upside-down J. Turn your paper over in your head and it looks like a backwards J. This line is the inside edge of the candy cane, so give the hook plenty of room.
Tip
Draw it bigger than you think. A large hook leaves room for the bow and stripes later.
Start outside the first line on the left, leaving a gap. Draw the same upside-down U, wrapping around the first one, and pull the right side down longer, the same way you did before. Keep the gap even all the way around. This second line gives your candy cane its thickness, and now it looks like a real hook.
Tip
Look at the space between the two lines, not the lines themselves. An even gap makes a smooth cane.
Go to the tip of the hook and connect the inner and outer lines with a small curved line. That rounds off the end of the candy cane. Do the same thing at the bottom of the stem. Now you have the full outline of the candy cane, a closed shape that looks solid. Take a second to check that both ends are rounded, not pointy.
Tip
Curve the end lines outward a little. A flat line across the end looks like it was cut off.
About two thirds of the way down the stem, draw a small curve across the candy cane from one side to the other. Draw a second curve right below it. These two lines make a narrow band, the knot of the ribbon wrapped around the cane. Keep it small. The bow loops attach to each side of this band in the next step.
Tip
Curve both lines downward slightly so the band looks like it wraps around a round cane.
Start at the top corner of the knot on the left side. Draw a loop that goes up and out, rounds off, and comes back in to the bottom corner of the knot. Now do the same on the right side. You end up with two rounded loops, one on each side of the knot, and the bow starts to take shape around the candy cane.
Tip
Make the two loops about the same size. If one comes out bigger, make the other one match it.
Inside each bow loop, draw a smaller loop that looks like a raindrop on its side. That inner loop shows the inside of the ribbon and makes the bow look 3D. Add a few short wrinkle lines coming out from the knot into each loop. Rob also draws one more line across the knot so the ribbon looks wrapped around twice.
Tip
Keep the wrinkle lines short. Two or three per loop is plenty.
From the bottom of the knot, draw two curved lines that come out and down to the side. That is one ribbon tail. Connect the ends with a sideways V so it looks like a notched ribbon end. Add a couple of wrinkle lines inside. Repeat the same steps on the other side so both tails hang below the bow.
Tip
It is fine if one tail comes out skinny. Real ribbon twists, so a thin tail still looks natural.
Start at the tip of the hook. Draw two curved lines close together across the cane. That pair is one red stripe. Leave a space, then draw another pair. Keep going down the hook and the stem. Drawing both lines of each stripe at the same time helps you keep track of which bands get colored red later.
Tip
Tilt the stripes as you go down the stem. Diagonal stripes look like they twist around the cane.
Keep adding stripe pairs below the ribbon until you reach the bottom. Where a stripe runs into the bow, draw only one line and imagine the other line hidden under the ribbon. That part can feel confusing. Pause the video if you need extra time. Once the stripes run from the tip to the bottom, the line drawing is done.
Tip
Lightly mark an X in each band that should be red. It saves you from guessing when you color.
Color every other band red, leaving the bands in between white. Color the bow and ribbon tails green. For a 3D look, press harder with a darker green inside the bow loops and along one edge of the cane. You can skip the shading to keep it simple. Red and green together make it look like Christmas right away.
Tip
Color the red stripes first, then the bow. Green pencil over a red smudge turns brown.
Keep going
How to Draw a Snowflake
How to Draw a Candy Cane
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5 questions covering what you just read. No signup, no score saved, and you can stop after this one.
Question 1 of 5
What letter shape is the candy cane hook built from?
Quick reference
5 questions, answers, and one-line explanations. Tap to expand.
1.What letter shape is the candy cane hook built from?
Answer: An upside-down J
An upside-down U with one long side reads as a J hook.
2.Why draw the hook as two lines instead of one thick stroke?
Answer: A thick curve in one go rarely stays even
The inner line sets the shape and the outer line follows it at a steady gap.
3.Why draw both lines of each stripe at the same time?
Answer: It helps you keep track of the pattern
Pairing the lines stops you losing count of which band is red.
4.A stripe runs into the bow. What do you draw there?
Answer: One line, with the other hidden under it
The ribbon sits in front, so part of the stripe disappears behind it.
5.How do you make the green bow look three dimensional?
Answer: Press harder with darker green inside the loops
Darker color where the ribbon folds inward reads as shadow and depth.
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