ABA Sensory Learning Series: Colorful Corn

Easy to Make: Colorful Pony Bead Corn Cobs

Looking for a simple autumn sensory craft? Check out these ears of colorful corn made with just pipe cleaners and pony beads! No glue, no mess ... endless possibilities!

Materials:

• 4 pipe cleaners, tan or a color of your choice

• 88-120 pony beads, autumn colors or a mixture of your choice

Sensory Extensions:

• Pour you mix of beads into a bin before making your corn!

• Pretend to have a corn cob feast with your finished corn!

Directions:

1. Line up the pipe cleaners so their ends are even with each other.

2. Twist the bundle 1-2 times at the center so that the pipe cleaners remain together.

3. Spread the pip cleaners out from this center point.

4. Thread 11-15 pony beads onto each pipe cleaner. Arrange the colors randomly or in a pattern of your choice.

5. Pull the ends of the pipe cleaners together.

6. Twist the ends together one time.

7. Spread out the ends to look like corn tassels.

8. Adjust the rows of pony beads to lay smoothly like rows of corn kernels.

9. Add the corn to your seasonal décor!

   

   Gather 4 pipe cleaners and a variety of pony beads

   

   Twist the bundle 1-2 times

   

   Client threading pony beads onto pipe cleaner spokes

   

   All 8 spokes of the pipe cleaner bundle are filled halfway with pony beads

   

   The beaded pipe cleaners are pulled together to form the rows of colorful corn kernels

   

   A completed pony bead corn cob

Learning Connections:

• Science: There are types of real corn that have many differently colored kernels. This corn is called sometimes called Flint corn, Ornamental corn, Glass Gem corn, or Indian corn. The different colors come from the genes in each kernel. Genes are biological instructions that decide how something looks. Since each kernel has different genes, each one can be a different color. Flint corn plants have more variety in their genes than other types of corn, which is why you see so many colors like yellow, red, blue, purple, and even white. It’s kind of like how people in a family can have different eye or hair colors!

• Math: Count the number of different colors of kernels. Rank colors from most common to least. For advanced math, calculate the average number of a color in each row.

• Reading: Check out books about corn from your library. Ask a librarian for suggestions.

Some of our other learning activities tied to this Group Gather sensory craft:

Cutting Corn Tassel

• Coloring in a kernel for each book we read

• Cutting along the lines to make corn tassel

Completing Our Reading Log