Corn Coloring Pages

Yellow Treasures Soaked in Sunshine! Corn

Corn is a vegetable everyone loves, and you see a lot of it in stores during summer. It is actually in the same "grass" family as rice and wheat. The plant grows very tall. Between its large green leaves, it grows fruit packed with lots of yellow kernels. It is not just sweet and yummy, but it is also an important food eaten by many people all over the world.

The History and Hometown of Corn

Corn was born thousands of years ago in Central America, including Mexico. A long, long time ago, people took wild grass and carefully grew it over a long time to make the shape of Corn we have today. Later, the explorer Columbus brought it back to Europe, and it spread all across the world. It first came to Japan about 450 years ago, brought by Portuguese visitors.

How Do You Grow It? How Corn Is Made

Farmers plant Corn seeds in the spring and harvest them in the hot summer. Here is how farmers work hard every day to grow them:

• Nutrient-rich Soil: Corn needs lots of nutrients, so farmers plant the seeds in well-plowed soil.
• Sunlight and Water: Farmers grow them big in sunny spots with plenty of water. They grow taller than a grown-up!
• A Trick to Make the Fruit Big: If one plant grows too many ears, it will run out of nutrients. So, farmers leave only the biggest ear at the top. Sometimes, they pick the lower ears before they get big. You might see these in stores as "baby corn"!

So Different in Japan and Around the World!

The sweet Corn you usually eat is a type called "sweet corn," but there are many different kinds of Corn in the world.

• The Kind That Makes Popcorn: There is a kind of Corn with a very hard skin that pops when you heat it up.
• Staple Food Around the World: In Mexico, people use Corn flour to make "taco" shells (tortillas). In Africa, people eat boiled Corn flour dough every day too.
• Colorful Kinds: Besides yellow and white, there are kinds with purple kernels, and even kinds that look as colorful as shiny jewels!

How to Choose Your Colors

When you color your Corn coloring page, try to think of yummy-looking colors!

• Color of the kernels: Try coloring them in classic yellow or orange. Sweet white Corn is also very popular lately, so leaving a little bit of white looks great too.
• Color of the husks and leaves: Color the outer husks and leaves with lively green or yellow-green. If you mix in a little brown, it will look just like real fresh-harvested Corn.
• Color of the silk: The silk strands sticking out from the top start out green. But when the Corn gets ripe and ready to eat, they turn brown or dark red! Coloring them brown will make your Corn look super delicious.

Make It Look Yummy!

Try different ways of coloring to make the Corn kernels look shiny and juicy.

• 3D kernels: Corn has lots of kernels packed together! Think about the round shape of each kernel. Make the middle bright, and make the edges a little darker yellow. This will make them pop out!
• Shiny highlights: Leave a tiny "white spot" uncolored on each kernel. This will make your Corn look shiny, fresh, and juicy!

Have Fun with the Background

If you add a blue sky and fluffy white summer clouds, it will look just like a real summer farm field! Drawing sunflowers around it, or drawing yourself and your friends eating delicious Corn, is super fun too!

You do not have to use real colors. It is also lots of fun to use bright, colorful colors to create your very own dream Corn!

The Number of Silks and Kernels Is Exactly the Same

Corn has a lot of messy "silks" growing from the top. Actually, each silk is a "pistil" growing from a single kernel! When pollen touches the tip of a silk, the kernel underneath grows bigger. That is why the number of silks and the number of kernels are exactly the same.

The Number of Kernels Is Always an "Even Number"

If you count the kernels on Corn very carefully, the number of rows is always an "even number," like 12, 14, or 16 rows. This happens because each kernel splits into two as Corn grows.

Corn Long Ago Was Super Small

The Corn you eat today is big and sweet. But long ago in Mexico, its plant ancestor was only as big as an adult's thumb! It was hard and had only a few kernels. Over thousands of years, people helped change it into a yummy and big shape.