Candy Corn Ideas

So, I am always on Yahoo Answers! Trying to become inspired by reading the questions posted in the Early Childhood section, and today I ran across a great theme idea for fall:  Candy Corn.  Oh the wonderful things you can do with candy corn... besides the obvious, which is eating it.  So a few candy corn activity ideas for everyone:

Candy Corn Art:
Children can glue actual candy corn to a piece of construction paper.


Candy Corn Art 2:
Supply children with a candy corn coloring page.  Have the children tear orange pieces of paper to glue on the bottom part, yellow in the middle and white on the top.  Here's a coloring page you can use:
http://bellowsfam.com/candycorn.jpg


Painting with Candy Corn:
Trace the shape of the lid of a container onto a white piece of paper. Cut out the shape so that it is smaller than the inside of the lid. Place a small amount of paint on the inside of the lid, then place the paper on the inside of the lid. Pour a small amount of orange and yellow paint inside of the bowl and place a few pieces of candy corn inside the bowl. Place the lid onto the bowl.  Have your child turn the bowl upside down and shake. When finished remove the paper and allow to dry.  You could also use a triangle shaped piece of paper.


Candy Corn Triangles:
Have the children cut out triangles from orange, yellow and white paper to glue to a piece of construction paper.  


Candy Corn Triangles:
Have the children cut out one large triangle form orange construction paper, then a medium triangle from yellow construction paper and finally a small triangle from white construction paper.  All the triangles should be isosceles triangles with the apex being the same degree.  Have the child glue the yellow triangle onto the the large orange one, lining up the top angle.  The have the child glue the white triangle on top of that.  


Other ideas to do with this candy corn coloring page:
http://bellowsfam.com/candycorn.jpg
Have the children see how many candy corn shapes they can put in each section.
Glue real candy corn in each section.
Have the children paint or color it.
Supply the children with pieces of orange, yellow and white yarn to glue to each section.
Supply the children with orange, yellow and white buttons to glue to each section.
The children can use orange and yellow bingo dabbers to decorate it.
Use orange, yellow and white glitter to decorate it.

Candy Corn can also be brown, orange and white, so follow any of the ideas using the alternate colors.


Candy Corn Sort:
Buy the candy corn mix, with the different kinds of candy corn and have the children sort them.  


Sink or Float?
Ask the students to predict whether they think candy corn will sink or float. Try it out!


Candy Corn Counting
Place small pieces of paper numbered 1 through 6 in the bottom of a muffin tin. Supply the children with 21 pieces of candy corn. The children should place 1 piece of candy corn in the 1 tin and 2 in the 2 tin. And so on.
Candy Corn Counting 2
Have the children roll a large die. The child would then count out the number of candy corns corresponding to the number on the die.


Candy Corn Bottle
Clean out an empty plastic pop bottle. Add candy corn mix. Seal the bottle closed using a little hot glue, allow to completely dry before the children can play with it. Tip the bottle back and forth. Roll the bottle on the floor. 


Candy Corn Measuring
Place a good amount of candy corn into a dish pan.  Provide different containers and cups for your child to place the candy in, small and large. Let them experiment on their own, and with you. Let them pour the candy from one container to the other. Which container holds the most candy, or the least?


Candy Corn Jar
You will need 4 clear jar that are the same size. Fill one jar about 1/4 of the way with candies. Count the candies as you fill the jar and end on a round number, like 10 or 50. Write the number of candies on a post it, place the post it on the jar. Fill the second jar about 1/2 way with candies, again counting and recording and posting on the jar. The third jar should be filled about 3/4 of the way with candies and again record the number and post it on the jar. The last jar you can fill however you like, place a post it on the jar with a question mark. Allow the children to observe the four jars together and guess how many candies are in the fourth jar. Record the children's guesses. After everyone has guessed, count the candies together. Show the children how the number of candies in the first three jars is related to the fourth jar.


Candy Corn Manipulatives
For many of the activities below I will ask for Candy Corn Manipulatives.   You can create these a variety of ways. You can print a small picture off of the internet repeatedly and cut them out.  You can cut out simple triangles from yellow, orange and white construction paper.  If you plan on using these  for an extended period of time, it is a good idea to laminate them.  


Candy Corn Hop
Place small candy corn shapes on the floor and cover each one with contact paper.  Have the children jump from one candy corn to the next.  


Fishing for Candy Corns
Tie 3 feet of string to a wooden spoon. Attach a magnet to the end of the string. Cut out 6 small candy corn shapes from the construction paper. Number the candy corn from 1 to 6. Attach paper clips to the candy corns. Lay the candy corns on the floor, spreading them out at first. Have the children use the fishing pole to try to catch the candy corns. Have them try to get a certain number. 


Candy Corn Numeration
Cut out 6 small candy corn shapes from the construction paper. Number the candy corn from 1 to 6.  Have the children place the candy corn in order from 1 to 6.


Candy Corn Counting
Use the cards from a standard deck of playing cards.  Pull out the numbers 2 through 9. Have the children place 2 real candy corns on the 2 cards.  (They can place the corns on the shapes on the card to self check) Then place 3 on the 3 and so on.  


Candy Corn Sort
Cut out triangles from orange, yellow and white construction paper and have the children sort the triangles according to color.


Candy Corn Sort 2
Cut out different sized triangles from orange, yellow and white construction paper.  Have the children sort the triangles by size. 


Candy Corn Taste Test
Have each child taste a regular candy corn, a brown orange white candy corn and a candy pumpkin.  Ask the children to vote on which they like the best.  Create a graph to display the results.  


Candy Corn Graph
Many of my themes include a graph it activity. To make these activities easier to set up you can make a graph that can be used over and over. Many of the graphs include two or three choices. You can choose to do as many choices columns as you wish, but this activity requires three. First print each child's name on a piece of card stock. Laminate and place a piece of Velcro on the back of each. Be sure to place the same side of the Velcro on each of the name cards. It is best to include a couple of "visitor" or "New Student" cards for new children. Obtain a large piece of poster board. You can also use your bulletin board. Measure about three inches from the top and draw a line with a thick black marker across the top, three inches from the top. This space is designed for the title of the graph (Write "Candy Corn Taste Test" on a sentence strip and attach for the title). Next you should divide a poster board into three even columns. Place Velcro piece evenly spaced in a straight line in each column. The first Velcro piece will be used for a picture of the options available (in this case, a regular candy corn, a brown candy corn and a candy pumpkin). You should have enough Velcro in each column for each student to place their name in one column.  After tasting each of the candies ask each child to place their name under their favorite candy.  After each child has votes analyze the results.  Which candy has the most votes?   The least?  How many children voted for pumpkins?  Etc.


Candy Corn Vs Real Corn
Create a Venn diagram to compare and contrast candy corn and real corn.  


How much is a handful?
Have the children grab a handful of candy corn and count how many they grabbed.  Try it again.  Did they get the same number or different?  


How much is a handful? Graph
Have the children grab a handful of candy corn and count how many each child grabbed.  Graph the results.  To graph the results you can write each child's name and number on a small rectangle of card stock, then place them in order from least to greatest along the bottom of a bulletin board. If you have more than one child with the same number, you would stack them.  To make it more interesting you can trace the child's hand, and write their name and number on the hand instead of the rectangle.  Label the graph "How much is a handful?"


Hope you all have fun with the new ideas:)