If your kids love making treats in the kitchen, this Truffula trees project is perfect! It’s an especially fun activity because the treats are so bright and colorful and they go along with a story. In other words, you have a whole learning experience, ideal for those homeschooling days when you want to incorporate a little more fun into your times of learning.

If you haven’t seen Truffula trees growing in your neighborhood, don’t worry. Neither have I, as great as it would be to walk down the street with my kids and point out such colorful wonders. Truffula trees are from Doctor Seuss’s book The Lorax.

When you jump into this project of making edible Truffula Trees with your kiddos, you have a few options for how to go about it. You might choose to read The Lorax with your children and then suggest this fun activity, or you might want to usher your kids into the kitchen and have them do the activity without knowing exactly what it is they’re making.

Then at the end, they can enjoy their snack of Truffula Trees pretzel rods while you read The Lorax aloud to them. You can also let your child read the book to you and practice their read-aloud skills.

Here is your list of ingredients for making Truffula trees pretzel rods:

20-25 pretzel rods
A bag of jumbo marshmallows
Yellow candy melts (for the tree trunks)
Candy melts in blue, bright green, purple, bright pink, and orange (for the Truffula Trees)
Black candy melts (for drizzling)
Jimmies in blue, bright green, purple, bright pink, and orange

Truffula Trees - ingredients needed for project: bowls of candy melts, pretzel sticks, jimmies, and marshmallows

Instructions for Truffula Trees Pretzel Rods

Truffula Trees project - pretzel rods covered in yellow candy coating

To begin, melt the yellow candy melts according to the package directions. Take special care not to overheat the candy. (If the candy coating is overheated, it will be too thick.) You can add two teaspoons of vegetable shortening or coconut oil to help thin the candy. Don’t add any other type of liquid as the candy will seize and harden.

Pour the yellow candy coating over the exposed pretzel rod, then shake gently to remove any excess coating. Allow the pretzels to rest on waxed paper until the coating is set.

Truffula Trees - marshmallows on top of pretzel rods

Next, here’s a fun part that even the youngest of kids can take part in. Let them press one jumbo marshmallow onto the end of each pretzel rod. These will be the tops of the Truffula trees.

Truffula Trees - close-up of pink candy coating on top of marshmallow

Now it’s time to melt the other colors: blue, bright green, purple, bright pink, and orange candy melts, each in a separate container. Again, if the candy coating is overheated, it will be too thick. And you can add a couple of teaspoons of vegetable shortening or coconut oil to thin the liquid, if needed.

Pour one color of melted candy over each marshmallow, making up to five of each color (if you started with 25 pretzel rods). Tap to remove excess and smooth the candy coating. Go right to the next step before the coating hardens!

Truffula Trees - close-up of purple jimmies on purple coating

Immediately, dip all sides of the coated marshmallow in the jimmies of the same color. Place your Truffula Trees on wax paper to set.

Truffula Trees pretzel rods in a row, two purple,two orange, and one green

As a final step, melt the black candy melts. Then, transfer the coating to a zip-top freezer bag or disposable piping bag with the corner snipped.

Drizzle the candy coating over the pretzel rods.

Truffula Trees - a piping bag drizzling candy coating on pretzels

Make sure you let the pretzel rods dry completely before packaging or serving.

Truffula Trees - three Truffula Tree pretzel rods, one purple, one orange, one green

And there you have it! Truffula Trees Pretzel Rods, ready to enjoy together as you read or watch The Lorax as a family.

If you still have some leftovers to store, keep them in an airtight container at room temperature. Placing them in the refrigerator may cause the pretzels to soften.

Making Truffula Trees Pretzel Rods are a perfect and colorful activity for springtime. A few other fun springtime cooking projects you might want to try out are these ones: Oreo Truffles for Spring and this fun Butterfly Pretzel Cupcakes recipe.

And if you want to completely immerse your students into a fun and whimsical Dr. Seuss day, at any time of year, we recommend you check out The Ultimate List of Dr. Seuss Activities!

This Truffula Trees Pretzel Rods activity can also be part of a tree study with your students. You can check out these Tree Study Activities or use the recipe as part of a plan to Celebrate Arbor Day in Your Homeschool.