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