What’s an easy way to eat candied delicacies with no mess? Put a stick in it! It’s believed that prehistoric people used sticks to get honey from beehives and then licked the honey to enjoy the sweet treat. Ancient Chinese, Arabs, and Egyptians made fruit and nut clusters candied in honey and probably inserted sticks to make it easier to eat. In the 17th Century the English used sticks to eat boiled sugar candy treats. All these practices led to the invention of the modern lollipop.
While there is competition for the title of “lollipop inventor” we can agree that lollipops have come a long way and stood the test of time to remain a favorite for both adults and children. July 20, 2013 is National Lollipop Day and what a day to celebrate. With numerous companies producing lollipops in dozens of combinations of flavors, sizes, and shapes you can’t help but spend some time commemorating this occasion.
An easy way to celebrate- let the kids pick out their favorite lollipop at the store and enjoy it sometime on the 20th. Or you can spice it up a little. For older kids get a vase and for every act of kindness they do (e.g. holding the door open for someone, helping out a sibling) put a lollipop in the vase. Then at the end of the day (or week if you want more time) the lollipops are theirs. Have a lollipop scavenger hunt; hide lollipops around the house or yard and either draw a map for each one or write riddles to help your kids find them. For younger kids get a pack of multicolored lollipops and identify colors or fruits/foods associated with the flavor. Let them draw a picture of their own lollipop or even come up with a recipe of their own type of lollipop and name it. Cheap and easy ways to spend some time together and celebrate National Lollipop Day. [photo via pixabay]
- Here’s a list of lollipop fun facts to share with your family:
- Linguists say “lolly pop” literally means “tongue slap”.
- In 2012 See’s Candies produced the world’s largest lollipop. It was 4 feet long, 5 feet tall, its stick was 12 feet, and it weighed 7003 pounds!
- Tootsie Roll is the world’s largest lollipop maker producing 16 million lollipops per day!
- The Dum Dum Mystery Flavor is a combination of the end of one batch of candy and the beginning of the next.
Have a great National Lollipop Day!
