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How to dye corn kernels for play

February 27, 2014 by Kate 16 Comments

Sensory learn is such an important part of play for children. Providing them with opportunities to explore sand, water and rice are great ways to help them develop their senses. How about corn kernels! Here are instructions on how to dye corn kernels for play.

How to dye corn kernels for play

Using corn kernels for play

Corn kernels are great for sensory play and are often overlooked. Their larger size, when compared to sand or similar, make them great for children to scoop or transfer from one bucket to another. They also look gorgeous when dyed various colours.

Of course we always avoid wasting food for play, which is why we reuse such food items again and again and again and in various ways of playing. Corn kernels keep really well and so that is another benefit to using them. See a great post by Deborah from Teach Preschool about this topic here as I echo her thoughts completely.


Food colouring to dye corn kernels

How to dye corn kernels for play

You will need –

  • 1/2 cup raw popping corn kernels
  • small zip lock bags (one for each colour you want)
  • food colouring
  • hand sanitiser (optional)

Shaking corn kernels in a bag

Method

Simply add 1 tablespoon of corn kernels to a small zip lock bag. Add 10-15 drops of food colouring to each bag and a pea-sized squirt of hand sanitiser. Shake the bag really well so that the food colouring completely coats the corn kernels. Leave the bag open overnight to dry and the colour to set completely.

SONY DSC

As you can see, the corn kernels really adsorb the food colouring and look spectacular! Check out how the blue turned out, it’s almost metallic. Unfortunately coloured corn kernels doesn’t pop into coloured popcorn once cooked. I know because I tried it out. LOL

If you decide you’d like to dye your own corn kernels then I would keep them stored in an air tight storage container when it’s not being played with. Obviously active supervision is always required when playing with small pieces, even corn kernels.

Mixed coloured corn kernels

Playing with corn kernels

There are so many fabulous ways that you can play with corn kernels and you are only limited by your own imagination, or that of your children. The small corn kernels are great for developing fine motor skills, especially when tweezers or tongs are used, and transferring them from one bowl to another, which involves tipping and pouring. A large container or corn kernels can be great for encouraging children to find lost ‘treasure’ and dig to discover and cover to bury various objects. Individual corn kernels could also be used for counting skills or craft activities.

How would your children like to play with dyed corn kernels? 

More posts you’d be interested to see –

Bath Paints using 2 ingredients   Invitation to Play and Create using play dough   SONY DSC

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Filed Under: 1 - 3 years, 3 - 5 years, 5 - 10 years, Fine Motor Tagged With: colour, how to

Comments

  1. katepickle says

    February 27, 2014 at 10:49 am

    So cool! So nice to have something a little bigger than your usual sensory play material… gives it a whole new dimension!

    Reply
  2. Vanessa says

    February 28, 2014 at 4:42 am

    Does the food coloring come off on your hands? My co-teacher and I would like to try this but we want to make sure that it doesn’t color your hands.

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Kate says

      February 28, 2014 at 8:02 am

      Hi Vanessa. I left it over night to ensure it dried completely and had no problem, however, Id suggest adding a squirt of hand sanitiser with a few less drops per bag, just to be on the safe side. Have fun!

      Reply
  3. sukumar says

    August 1, 2014 at 6:28 pm

    good i wand colored popcorn kernels

    Reply
  4. Kellie says

    April 10, 2015 at 12:37 am

    Have you ever tried field corn? Trying to get corn dyed for centerpieces for my daughter’s wedding. She was raised on a farm, and her soon to be husband sells seed for a living.

    Reply
    • Kate says

      April 10, 2015 at 8:09 am

      Ow that sounds like fun! It would make a gorgeous centrepiece too.

      Reply
    • Elizabet* says

      January 11, 2023 at 1:45 am

      I want to try this for my wedding also! I’m marrying a grain farmer so it’s easy to get field corn. Any tips on doing this in large batches?

      (Sorry I know I’m replying to an old comment!)

      Reply
  5. Rennah Robinson says

    June 27, 2022 at 6:20 am

    When I was a child (in the 70’s) we used colored popcorn kernels to fill in coloring sheets for pictures. We would sort into different colors and glue them onto the page. I made a peacock. Took a long time.

    Reply
    • Kate says

      August 7, 2022 at 5:46 pm

      I can only imagine! Thanks for sharing Rennah.

      Reply

Trackbacks

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    March 11, 2014 at 9:03 am

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  2. Crafting a Green World | The home for green crafts and tutorials! says:
    March 19, 2014 at 1:49 am

    […] and found items work just as well. And everybody loves to do math with their food; dyed corn kernels make especially lovely counters. But you don’t really have to go to any trouble to find […]

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  3. 21 Cool Math Games and Activities from Natural and Recycled Materials | hometips.co.za says:
    March 19, 2014 at 4:38 am

    […] natural and found items work just as well. And everybody loves to do math with their food; dyed corn kernels make especially lovely counters. But you don’t really have to go to any trouble to find […]

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  4. Corn Sensory Play - Natural Beach Living says:
    October 20, 2019 at 1:27 am

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    August 25, 2022 at 3:55 pm

    […] https://laughingkidslearn.com/how-to-dye-corn-kernels-for-play/ […]

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    August 28, 2022 at 9:02 pm

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Hello and welcome!
My name is Kate and I am a mum to two little girls, Possum and Boo. We have lots of fun together learning with play at home and are pleased to share some of what we do with you.
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