Indian Corn Play and Learn Activities

Each fall, I enjoy Indian corn activities with my group. I usually pick some up from the grocery store and we use the same bunch for all of these activities. Indian corn incorporates the fall or harvest and works well with a Thanksgiving theme. Here are some of our Indian Corn Play and Learn Activities.

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Indian Corn Play & Learn Activities

Play Dough Rolling

Look at the wonderful imprints Indian corn makes when rolling play dough with a cob! Now you can discuss texture. Play dough is excellent for hand strengthening.

Cutting Husks

We used the husks in the sensory table for some cutting work. Snipping the husks provides a different material to cut and a challenge since all the pieces are shaped differently.  We use Loop Scissors, which are blunt tipped and self opening, for beginners.

Indian Corn Sensory Bin

The colors and textures of Indian corn draw little hands to work in this bin! Picking kernels of corn off the cob is challenging and rewarding. It works small hand muscles and develops finger strength. What I enjoy observing is the attention span growing and motivation to clean off a cob. Immediately, when realizing the kernels were not easy to remove, they looked for tools to use so we also have “clippers” or tweezers for use in the bin, but most used their fingers to pick at the corn.

Painting with Indian Corn

Using brown, orange and yellow paint I dropped small spots of paint on their paper. Then they rolled the Indian corn on the paper to make prints. It’s messy and it’s full of texture and sensory experiences.  The colors mix and it’s wonderful blend of process and art.

Growing Indian Corn

Using one of the same pieces of Indian corn that we’ve used for the above activities, we sprouted our corn. It’s been fun to watch it grow! Simply put a piece of dry Indian Corn in a shallow pan of water. Within a week, it will begin to grow roots and sprout. It’s very interesting to look at.

Indian Corn Art

There are so many variations of Indian corn art but ours are made with simple paper shapes and painted with bubble wrap using orange, yellow and brown paint. Great process art!

Want more ideas for fall? Visit my Fall Preschool Pinterest board.

Follow Stacy @ShareRemember’s board Preschool – Fall on Pinterest.

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