Corn Learning Activities

Years ago I did a post all about using Indian corn (or flint corn) in learning activities, but I don’t think I’ve ever done a post about regular corn learning activities, so let’s get into it.

Print out this corn number recognition activity from I Heart Crafty Things and use yellow dot stickers for kids to match and cover the numbers from 2 to 12 that they get when rolling dice. Or do some corn kernel math with these ideas from Gift of Curiosity. Kids can guess how many kernels are in a cup or bowl, then count them, and learn about grouping 5 or 10 kernels together and using skip counting to count faster if they’re ready for that.

I think the only language arts corn learning activity I found was this letter recognition activity from My Pre K Box. Print out the corn shape and use round stickers to match the letter on the kernel to the one on the sticker.

I found a lot of printables that include the life cycle of corn and other activities, like this one from MomBrite, which includes a word search and other activities; or this 16-page Montessori inspired corn unit study that includes life cycle, labeling, three part cards and more from Only Passionate Curiosity; or the corn worksheets from Simple Everyday Mom, which includes writing practice, a letter identification maze and a label the parts of corn worksheet.

Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus has a free for subscribers printable life cycle foldout that is a fun way to present the information. They used it in a sensory bin but you can just use it as a part of teaching about corn if you’d rather.

Dancing corn is a classic science activity done with baking soda and vinegar. Get the instructions from Fun Learning for Kids.

Kids Konnect has a set of printables and facts all about corn mazes, which is fun if going to a corn maze is part of your fall tradition.

And you can craft a funny ear of corn with this printable from Craft Corner DIY.

14 Mexican Street Corn Recipes [Edible Crafts]

Learning numbers actually involves a few different skills, from recognizing the shape of the number and knowing the word that goes with it to understanding one to one correspondence for counting and what order the numbers go in.

A lot of this is learned best through play and activities that get kids counting and tracing and otherwise interacting with numbers. These activities can help.

I specifically mentioned tracing above because of these number formation rhymes cards from Teaching Mama, which can be used in lots of ways to practice making the shapes of the numbers, including tracing, lining up items on the number shapes (and counting them!), using playdough to shape the numbers and so on. Each number has a little rhyme to help you remember how to make it, which is cute.

And speaking of playdough, you can find lots of playdough number mats with different themes for kids to use as they learn about numbers. Preschool Play and Learn, for example, has these cute apple themed ones that also teach one to one correspondence as you learn the numbers and count to 10.

Or use these tree-themed ones from Live Over Cs to form the numbers, count out items on a ten frame and place the correct number of items in the tree to match the number (do this with playdough, little buttons or whatever manipulatives you have on hand). Your little builders will also love these Duplo number mats from Life Over Cs, which allow you to shape the number out of blocks and count out the number of blocks that corresponds to each number.

I also love these mats from The Savvy Sparrow that include the number and the word you can trace with playdough or marker, showing how to count the number on your fingers, a tens frame and a number line.

Finger plays and counting songs are lots of fun for little ones, too, and Childhood 101 has a great collection of songs and rhymes having to do with numbers (as well as printable song cards you can use with them.

This cardboard roll number chain form Hands On As We Grow would be a fun addition to singing number songs or to use in other play and counting games. And we all love something easy to make with stuff we already have.

Older kids who already know the order of numbers can also use these connect the dot number printables from Fun Learning for Kids. Or use the shapes for playdough mats or to practice tracing even for kids who don’t know all the numbers in order yet.

Have you read?

Leave a Reply