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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Using thinned down tempera paint or our favorite 
and 
, we started at the top of the paper and dripped paint down. It was thick enough to slowly run down the paper. Beautiful icicle drip art painting! After the kids were done painting, I laid them flat to dry.
Icicle paintings are extra special with sparkly paint so I mixed some sparkle paint in the the blue and purple too.
Painting with pipettes is always fun and children are not only creating art but working on hand strength, eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills. Working on a vertical surface is crucial for preschoolers as the wrist is properly positioned to develop stability and skillful use of the finger muscles. When working on flat surfaces, as children often do, they tend to straighten or flex their wrist which interferes with using the small muscles in the hand properly. Other vertical surfaces like magnetic boards, dry erase boards, and chalkboards are excellent for small muscle development in the hands. 
