Whether you love it or hate it, candy corn remains a popular symbol of fall, and the vibrant colors are seen across store shelves from Halloween to Thanksgiving. You don’t need to love the taste of them for these fun educational activities. They’re a great way to inspire learning, and they fit perfectly into little hands.
Candy Corn Math
Using a permanent marker, write a number on each piece of candy corn. Kids can mix and match to find sums, products, or even differences. Have them record their answers on a special candy corn math recording sheet. For a challenge, write more than one number on each candy corn, or have them grab a small handful and find the sum of what’s in their palm.
Candy Corn Story Starters
Encourage young learners to write creative stories with these fun candy corn story starters. Place each idea on an index card or small piece of paper. You can have your writers pick a card randomly — so the story idea will be a surprise — or let them choose their own. Encourage them to add illustrations to their stories, too. To make it a bit more challenging, start the story and then have kids add to it. Story starters can be any creative sentences you choose, or you can use some of the suggestions below.
“One day, I was walking down the street, and I found magical candy corn on the sidewalk.”
“Today, I met a candy corn fairy, and she granted me three wishes.”
“‘Boom!’ I heard a loud noise in my backyard, and when I peeked outside, there was giant candy corn in the grass.”
“Yesterday, I ate candy corn, and it gave me superpowers!”
“Have you ever heard a candy corn talk? I did! And here’s what he said to me…”
Candy Corn Kids
Candy Corn Kids are great, easy-to-make decorations for a classroom or your home. Start by cutting out three candy corn shapes from construction paper: one white, one yellow, one orange. The white will be your base. Cut the center out of the orange triangle and the bottom off of the yellow. Glue these two pieces onto the large white triangle. Use the leftover construction paper pieces to make eyes, mouth, accordion arms, and legs. For the full tutorial and photos, read this Candy Corn Kids post!
Candy Corn Scavenger Hunt
It’s time to get up and play! Hide some candy corn (in easy-to-find places since they are small candies) and see if your kids can find them within a certain amount of time. If the timer is too challenging, give them some written clues or a specific number of candy corns to find: “Can you find five? Can you find seven? Can you find 10?” Have kids take turns being the hiders and seekers.
Candy Corn Science
Science experiments are always fun! Grab three small glasses, and fill each with a different base: 1/3 cup of vinegar, 1/3 cup of water, and 1/3 cup of rubbing alcohol or liquid of your choice (soda, baking soda/water mix, saltwater, etc).
Create a science data chart on paper (younger learners can verbally discuss their experiments instead). Have children make predictions: “What will happen to each candy corn when it is submerged?”
Drop a piece of candy corn in each fluid. Wait five minutes or more, and then observe and record the results. Encourage higher-level thinking skills by asking kids, “Why do you think this happened? What would happen if we leave them in longer? Or for less time?”
For more fun with candy corn, be sure to visit this Candy Corn Activities Pinterest board! You can also find more fall activities for kids from fellow Toy Insider writer Destiny Paquette, or discover ways to use apples for math practice in this fall fun with apples post!
