Exploring Cornmeal

Activity Overview

Exposure to new textures and materials through sensory materials is a rewarding experience for young children. These hands-on practices form a solid foundation for students’ future academic and social behavior and learning. Raw cornmeal, for most young children, will be a new experience and thereby exposes students to new sensations and ideas for how to manipulate it. By using what they already know of similar sensory materials, they begin to make sense of the cornmeal, and figure out its similarities, as well as its unique properties. This material has many extensions for older children because it’s versatility prompts many conversations.

What You Need

• 2-3 bags (48–72 oz.) cornmeal (Note: cornmeal comes in yellow and white, which can give the illusion of snow. Either color will work well – or get both and put them on either side of your container for some color mixing!)

• Small bin (roasting pan, mixing bowl, plastic container)

• Some of the following materials to extend your student’s experience:

  • Natural Materials: stones, sticks, shells, pine cones, acorns

  • Kitchen materials: slotted spoon, whisk, spatula, small bowls, cups, sifter, turkey baster, muffin tin

  • Toys: vehicles, animals, people

  • Loose parts: gems, buttons, shapes, nuts and bolts, small blocks

Steps

1. Pour the cornmeal in the bin first, without adding any materials. Discuss the texture.

2. Explore!

3. Add any material you want to enhance the experience into the sensory bin – we advise starting off slow, and adding one material at a time. This keeps the experience fresh and new!

Guiding Questions

• What do you think this new substance is?

• How does this feel? Rough, smooth, silky, squishy, hot, cold?

• Can we sort or count our loose parts?

• Can we draw faces with our natural materials?

• Can we write numbers or letters into our materials?

• Can we tell a story using our materials?

• Can we hide treasure in the cornmeal? Can we draw a treasure map to find it?

Extensions

• Make the cornmeal yourself! Purchase popping corn and have your student help you use the blender or food processor to grind it into cornmeal.

• Add eye droppers and some water and make this a multi-sensory experience. What happens when we add a little bit of water? Can we make cornmeal castles?

• Have a conversation around the material. What is it? How is it made? What cultures use it? What can we make with it? Write down the responses and see where your student’s interest lies. You can extend this into a cooking project by making popcorn with kernels, cornbread, or even polenta to expand on the ideas of how this one material is used all across the world!