The cornucopia, also known in English as the Horn of Plenty, is a symbol of prosperity and affluence, dating back to the 5th century BC. It was often filled with the fruits of the harvest which included corn, fruits, and other vegetables. Corn itself was one of the staple foods of the early settlers. Here are a variety of games using corn kernels and a concluding lesson on being thankful! The games make an effective object lesson or Children's Sermon on the topic of gratitude and thanksgiving.

1. Thanksgiving Party Ideas -
Kernel Cornucopia
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2. Introduction
The cornucopia, also known in English as the Horn of Plenty, is a symbol
of prosperity and affluence, dating back to the 5th century BC. It was
often filled with the fruits of the harvest which included corn, fruits, and
other vegetables. Corn itself was one of the staple foods of the early
settlers. Here are a variety of games using corn kernels… you can get
dried feed corn like that sold for bird feeders or unpopped popcorn will
also work.
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3. Game Materials
• Dried Corn Kernels or popcorn
• Candy Corn
• Bowls
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4. Game Description
• Turkey Feed – Turkeys are often fed corn to prepare
them as guests at Thanksgiving.
• Corn Pitching – How accurately can you toss corn
kernels into bowls
• Odds and Evens – Can you guess if there are odd or
even numbers of kernels are in your partners hand?
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5. Game Play
Turkey Feed
1. Fill a bowl with dried corn kernels and add several pieces of candy corn.
2. Blindfolded players and have them retrieve the candy corn from the
bowl within a designate amount of time. (As a gross out variation, have
them retrieve it with their bare feet then eat it.
3. The player that retrieves the most candy corn in the designated time
limit wins.
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6. Corn Pitching
1. Players takes turns pitching ten corn kernels, one at a time, into
a bowl from a set distance. You might choose to have various
bowls of different sizes and at different distances. Display the
points based upon difficulty.
2. Keep score of how many kernels end up in the various bowls.
3. The winner is the one with the highest score after three rounds.
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7. Odds or Evens
1. Each player starts out with the same number of corn kernels.
2. Players rotate about the room pairing up with others.
3. When they find a partner, one player hides a few kernels of in his hand.
4. The other player must guess if the number of corn kernels is odd or
even. If guessed correctly, the player can add the kernels to his own
collection.
5. Players take turns hiding and guessing, until one player has all the corn
or until a specified time limit!
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8. Discussion
• In these games are you someone who plays it safe or shoots for
the moon?
• Was the voyage to the new world by the pilgrims a safe bet or a
big risk?
• What were some of the potential risks? Potential rewards?
• What were some of your strategies in these games?
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9. Application
Some people play it safe in life. Others take risks. Most of the time we
evaluate if the potential reward is worth the risk. For the Pilgrims, coming
to America was a great risk. But the lure of religious freedom was worth the
risk. Many of them lost their lives in pursuit of the opportunity to freely
worship God as their conscience dictated. After the first year of the
Plymouth colony, only half of the 102 settlers were still alive. Times were
hard. Later during a particularly tough winter is was said that each person
had only 5 kernels of corn to live on each day.
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10. Yet in spite of their hardships, they gave thanks to God. Eternal blessings
outweighed the physical ones. There may be times when we do not have
much, but to have a relationship with God is worth any cost and any
hardship! They made a choice, a decision to pursue God at any cost.
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11. Conclusion
• Has God called you to do something out of the ordinary?
• To what has God called you?
• What risks are worth the reward of knowing Jesus as Lord and living
for him?
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12. Just as a single grain of corn has the potential for an abundant harvest,
even one decision for God can lead to a harvest of blessings in your life.
What choice is God calling you to make today? Take a kernel of corn
home as a reminder of a decision God has called you to make for him
regardless of the risk.
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13. Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration
of common Holidays.
Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of
ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s
Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s
Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and
Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered
what you’re going to do for all these holidays
and how you’re going to do it, this resource is
for you.
=> Tell me more about the Holiday Collection
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