Candy Corn Activities for the Classroom

October is one of my favorite months of the year. I love the cooler weather. I love Halloween. I love the changing leaves. There are also SO many fun Halloween and fall-themed activities you can do inside your classroom.

Candy corn comes out in stores in abundance this time of year, which makes it an excellent tool for math activities. Using candy corn is also a nice way to tie in the feeling of October without making it directly Halloween-themed. I want to show you three fun ways you can use candy corn in your room this year. You can click here or on any of the pictures to download FREE printables to use with your students.

1. Candy Corn Graphing

This activity is a fun way to incorporate graphing, place value concepts, pattern recognition, and number sense.

Materials Needed: candy corn mix with the orange/white, orange/brown, and pumpkin varieties.

1. Pass out a graphing template and a small cup of candy corn mix to each student. You can also put students in a small group to work together on their graphs.

2. Students sort and analyze their candy corn.

3. Students fill out the questions on the graphing page with their data.

4. Let students enjoy their candy corn as a treat!

2. Candy Corn Patterns

This is a great activity that can be scaled up or down depending on how complex you make the patterns. You can challenge older students to make longer patterns to extend their thinking!

Materials Needed: candy corn, pattern templates.

1. There are three different candy corn pattern templates to choose from. Each template comes in color and black and white.

2. Pass out a template to each student. They can either finish the pattern by drawing the candy corn (or triangles if that’s easier), or they can use real candy corn to complete the pattern.

3. A blank template is included for students to create their own patterns. They can either create a pattern and finish it themselves or create a pattern and let another student finish it.

4. Let students enjoy their candy corn as a treat!

3. Candy Corn STEM Project

Materials Needed: 50 toothpicks per group, 1 cup of candy corn per group.

1. Pass out the toothpicks and cup of candy corn to each group. Groups of 2-3 work best.

2. Have students brainstorm how they want to create their tower.

3. After building their tower, have them fill in information about their structure and design. They can then reflect on their design and what they might change in the future.

4. Then, give students a chance to share about their towers. Let them explain their thinking and why they decided to create their specific design.

5. Students can then eat their candy corn as a treat!

Let me know how you plan to use these templates in the comments below!