Super Easy No Sew Felt Corn for Kitchen Imagination Play

My most recent crafty project was a random one that I thought of as I watched my kids playing: I made some corn on the cob to go in my son’s play kitchen. I’ve mentioned it before, I don’t feel that I am a particularly crafty person. Put me in front of a computer and sure, I can make something. But give me crafting supplies, and I often feel a little lost as to what to do first. Also, one other thing you should know about me: when I was about 7, I burned off a fingernail with a super hot glue gun. So I’ve always avoided those types of crafts. But. I have decided to give craftiness a go. My no sew felt corn creation has been the perfect compliment to our play kitchen, and it is so easy that even the not crafty can do it!

Why Make No Sew Felt Corn?

One thing my kids love to do is pretend to cook. From toddlerhood to now, all my kids loved our play kitchen. Since eating is a central part of our day three times a day, this makes sense. “Playing kitchen” is the best kind of imaginary play because it involves food as well as imagination.

It even extends toward the real thing: cooking. When my son was seven years old he was always is confiscating cookbooks to browse through. Often I would find cookbooks downstairs, by the kid’s play kitchen, where he would pretend to cook the recipes in them using the pretend and imaginary food at his disposal. I’m all for that!

Today, now that my son is older, he actually helps out in the real kitchen, finding recipes in books that he wants to try.

One of my son’s favorite things to eat is corn, so I decided that was something I could make for his kitchen.

Making Easy Felt Corn

Here are the things I needed to make my no sew felt corn.

felt (green and yellow)
beads (yellow, orange, and white)
plastic craft string for the beads
stuffing (I used two large yellow puff balls)
a glue gun

First, I counted the yellow beads I had. This was the limit of size I could make my corn on the cob. I did not have too many on hand, but that’s okay, because this is for a pretend kitchen where much of the food is smaller than “normal.” I made five rows of beads on five strings. One was long, two were medium, and two were shorter. I mostly made my corn kernels yellow, but put a white and orange on the ends to make the string longer. Then, I carefully secured the beads on the string.

Next I took my piece of yellow felt and traced a pattern for the body of the corn cob by measuring the width of the strings of “corn kernels” I had just made. I put the longest string of kernels in the middle, with the smaller ones on the outside. When I had the right size, I cut the felt, put the puff balls inside for stuffing, and glued the sides of the cob together. Then, I affixed the ends of the corn kernel strands to one side of the cob as well.

Finally, I cut out a few “leaves” from the green felt to be the husk of the corn, making one large enough to wrap around the back of the corn and over in the front. The other two were smaller because they were for decorative purposes. These went on the two sides of the corn cob. Again, I affixed these with the glue gun.

There I had it! A corn on the cob for my kids to play with!

Over the past few weeks of play, the food has held up. Of course, this is a homemade item and it is kept together by hot glue; therefore, it is not a toy for younger children who may try to put it in their mouths. Always use your own discretion when making toys for children, and supervise your children whenever they are playing! As I mentioned, this play kitchen felt corn is primarily a toy for my older kids, who I know will not attempt to eat it! I keep an eye on my toddler.

Have you made any no sew felt food before? What food should I make next?