| Does all the sugar in candy corn have you wondering | | | | over the entire month of October! Lucky Tommy.How |
| whether or not it is good for your kids? In some ways, | | | | much does each individual piece of candy corn cost? |
| it just might be. Candy corn could possibly boost | | | | That is a great math/life question. Which store offers |
| thinking skills and improve grades! After letting them | | | | the best price? Try weighing the candy corn - or |
| eat their fill, have your kids use the candy corn for | | | | maybe try weighing the children after they have eaten |
| some math lessons.On a very basic level, the orange, | | | | a few bags of it!An enormous jar full of candy corn |
| yellow, and white triangles can help teach colors and | | | | provides a great guessing/estimating game. And the |
| shapes. Mix them with some M&M's for a sorting | | | | jar will be award to the person with the closest |
| exercise for little fingers. Have children arrange them | | | | answer. There is some mathematical way of making a |
| together to make new shapes.Need something a little | | | | fairly accurate guess. Is the prize worth the trouble of |
| more challenging? Try using the little candies for board | | | | revisiting some old high school formulas?Some |
| game markers. Candy corn bingo is fun - with the | | | | geometry students might enjoy the Internet Math |
| numbers on the grid providing answers to equations | | | | Challenge from the University of Idaho. The problem |
| and the candies marking the spots. Kids can graph | | | | involves pretending the piece of candy is a perfect |
| different amounts of candy corn. Making spinners from | | | | cone and reconfiguring its color's dimensions. Then |
| cardboard with the arrows shaped like candy corn can | | | | again, maybe "enjoy" is too strong a word.Math and |
| provide another fun way of working with | | | | candy corn unite in the world of fiction. Check out the |
| numbers.Have you ever noticed that the little pieces - if | | | | books Who Brought the Candy Corn? by Judy Ann |
| turned on their sides - look like "greater than" or "less | | | | Brown and The Candy Corn Contest by Patricia Reilly |
| than" signs? Kids may enjoy unequal equations much | | | | Giff for some interesting reading as well as exercises |
| more if they are using candy for the answers.And | | | | in logic.Talk about brain food! Perhaps candy corn will |
| what about some story problems? Tommy has 14 | | | | become the poster candy for educators everywhere. |
| pieces of candy corn. If he steals his sister's 8 pieces, | | | | Not likely. But, hopefully, adding a little tasteful fun to a |
| how many will he have in all? Since the story problem | | | | math lesson may encourage thinking and learning. It |
| is quite versatile, candy corn is still helpful when the | | | | might also give the old excuse "the dog ate my |
| degree of difficulty is stretched a little. Maybe the kids | | | | homework" a little more credence.Gaylene Davis is an |
| should find the square root of the number of pieces of | | | | ex-teacher, now a work-at-home mom tending to her |
| candy corn that Tommy has. Or maybe Tommy's | | | | two boys. |
| stash of candy corn is going to grow exponentially | | | | |