# Fine Motor Corn Art Garland
> Kids dot paint onto cardstock with cotton buds, matching the colors of real Indian corn. Once the art dries, they cut it into corn shapes, tape on brown paper husks and string them into a Thanksgiving garland.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/thanksgiving-crafts-kids-fine-motor-corn-art/
- Ages: 3–6 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: medium
- Time: prep 10 min, activity 45 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class
- Skills: fine-motor, color-recognition, color-matching, cutting-practice, counting, art
- Cautions: corn

## Materials (one batch)
- Cotton buds (Q-tips) (household)
- 1 sheet Cardstock paper
- Acrylic or kids paint
- 2 piece Indian corn (optional)
- 1 piece Paper plate (paint palette) (household)
- Brown construction paper
- 1 piece Pencil (household)
- 1 piece Kid scissors (household)
- 1 piece Tape (household)
- Ribbon

## Substitutions
- Instead of paper plate: Old ice cube trays (A kindergarten teacher found each well holds the perfect amount of paint for Q-tip painting.)
- Instead of indian corn: Photos or pictures of Indian corn (Lets kids still compare colors without handling real corn.)

## Safety
- Indian corn is for looking at only. Dried kernels can come loose and are a choking hazard, so keep it out of little mouths and hands.
- Acrylic paint can stain clothes and surfaces. Cover the table, use smocks, and choose washable kids' paint for young children.
- Supervise scissors. An adult helps younger children with the cutting.
- Supervise so cotton buds stay out of mouths, ears and noses.

## Steps
1. Set out the Indian corn and look at it together. Point out all the colors you can see.
2. Match paint colors to the corn and put a dab of each on a paper plate.
3. Dip a cotton bud in paint and press dots onto the cardstock. Try to keep the colors spread out.
4. Keep dotting with different colors. Doodling, connecting dots or drawing pictures with the buds is fine too.
5. Let the art dry completely.
6. Adult: draw a few corn outlines on the dried art.
7. Cut out the corn shapes. Adults help younger kids with the cutting.
8. Cut strips of brown construction paper for husk leaves and tape them to the top of each corn.
9. Lay out all the corn and count them.
10. String the corn on a ribbon and hang the garland.

## Tips
- Comparing the corn colors to the paint colors turned into a great color recognition and color matching exercise for our 3 year old.
- Handing out new materials other than brushes turned out great. They loved painting and drawing with the cotton buds.
- Our 3 year old would doodle and connect the dots every now and then, which was perfectly fine. She also tried splattering the paint with the cotton buds.
- Younger kids may need help with the cutting, but they can be accomplished tape-users and attach the husks themselves.
- Display it proudly. Ours hangs on the mantle until it is time for Christmas, and the kids are so excited to see their work displayed.
- For a classroom Q-tip painting center, put the paint in old ice cube trays. It's the perfect amount. (from readers)

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2013)

Our first and hopefully not the only Thanksgiving craft for kids this season is a great fit for today's Paint and Play topic - Thanksgiving art. We are participating in this fun series along with **[Growing a Jeweled Rose](http://www.growingajeweledrose.com), [Mess for Less](http://messforless.net) and [Housing A Forest.](http://housingaforest.com)** For today's topic the children exercised their [**fine motor skills**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/fine-motor-activities/) by creating wonderful corn art. Later we turned art into a fun Thanksgiving craft and the result is hanging as a garland- the kids are so excited to see their work displayed. {Access all our [**Thanksgiving crafts for kids**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/thanksgiving/) here} Thanksgiving Art Project [ Check our our popular [**Thanksgiving Family Hand print art**](https://www.funlittles.com/thanksgiving-art/)] **Materials**

- Cotton Buds
- Indian Corn ( optional)
- Cardstock paper
- Acrylic or kids paint

 I set out couple of Indian corn I had purchased to display along with the other materials. Both the kids made observations on the Indian corn an pointed out the various colors present. My 5 year old pointed out the different colors on both the corns and insisted we use the same colors for the art. We compared the colors and tried out best to match the colors of the corn to the paint colors. It was a great color recognition and color matching exercise for my 3 year old. Then we ahead and started making the Thanksgiving art. We love art activities { Access all our [**art activities for kids**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/art-projects/) here} Using cotton buds the kids tried to make dots on the heavy paper. My 5 year old was good about keeping the colors spread out.

 My 3 year old was just as excited about using cotton buds to create dots and tried her best to create them. Every now and then she would doodle and connect the dots which was perfectly fine. She also tried splattering the paitn using the cotton buds.

 Notice how they loved painting and drawing with the cotton buds. Not only did they make the dots, they went ahead and created full on pictures with the cotton buds. Handing out new materials other than brushes turned out to be a great. They loved the experience.

 My 3 year old's masterpiece corn cotton buds art.

 After the art dried, we went ahead with the corn craft part of the activity. I drew a few corn outlines, my 5 year old accomplished "cutter" cut out the corns. She also went ahead and cut out strips of brown construction for the husk leaves.

 I had to help my 3 year old with the cutting but she is an accomplished "tape-user" Both the kids exercised their fine motor skills attaching the husks to the corn using tape.

 We laid out our Thanksgiving craft and counted all the corn we had created.

 Display time! We strung the corn through a ribbon and proudly displayed them on our mantle which is where they will stay until it is time for Christmas! yay!





Do check out Fantastic Fun and Learning's [**Indian Corn Art and craft**](http://www.fantasticfunandlearning.com/indian-corn-craft-and-five-kernels-of-corn-legend.html) post. She has some wonderful background info and pointers on ways to incorporate learning with the activity.

Stop by the participants for more awesome Thanksgiving art and activities ideas

Growing A Jeweled Rose has [**Turkey Rockets**](https://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2012/08/www.growingajeweledrose.com.fallactivitiesandcraftsforkids.html)

Mess for Less has a **Pumpkin Turkey Craft**