9 Games to Play on the Farm With Children
October 25, 2022
While there are plenty of ways for your kids, grandkids or visiting relatives to join in on harvest with ride-alongs and chores, here are some random activities for fun they can play on the farm - during or outside of harvest time.
1. Farmer Says
- This game is a spin on Simon Says. One person starts by saying, farmer says, ‘[insert action here]’ and everyone must do that action. However, if Farmer makes an action request without saying, “Farmer says” anyone who does that action is out.
2. Steal the Corn
- Divide your group into two and assign each player a number. Each team should have a one and a two, for example. Set a boundary line for each team and place the corn in the middle. When you call out a number, that player from each team tries to capture the corn first and get it back over to their boundary line. The first person to do this without being tagged wins.
3. Hot Corn
- A spin on hot potato. You’ll need at least three people for this game. Start by sitting everyone down in a circle and practice tossing the item back and forth underhand. When the game begins, play music or say 'Go' and begin tossing the ear of corn to each other. When the music stops, whoever is holding the corn is out.
4.Bozo Buckets
- Place 6 buckets in a row vertically and draw a line for your child to stand behind. Use corn kernels or an ear of corn and have them try and get them in each bucket. If you have prizes, the more points are to the furthest bucket.
5 Farm Scavenger Hunt
- Make up your own unique to your house or use this generic one that’s pre-made.
6. The Harvested Corn Field is Lava
- Use a field that’s been harvested and grab blankets, towels, trampoline, or whatever you have to create a course. The goal is to have your children reach each item without stepping on the harvested corn field. Last one standing wins.
7. Make a corn sandbox
- For the little tikes, fill up a baby pool with harvested corn kernels and use it as a sandbox for some fun.
8. The Farm Office
- Play a game in your farm office where they pretend to run the farm and deliver. Have them write out and deliver invoices, write thank you letters to your family, have a delivery person hand deliver and hide notes throughout the house for their parents or grandparents to find later for notes of encouragement during harvest.
9. Combine Fun
- Guess the number of corn or beans that block the back window when you turn around. Whoever gets closest, wins a point. Play to 10.

By Lindsay Croke
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June 30, 2025
When we think of Independence Day traditions, sweet corn on the cob is as iconic as fireworks and often even more central to the celebration. According to Instacart, purchases of sweet corn surge by 380% over the annual average heading into July 4th, outranking other grilling staples like baby back ribs and burgers. But corn's role in your Fourth of July celebration goes far beyond your plate. In Illinois alone, 8,300 acres of sweet corn are harvested annually, averaging 155 cwt per acre. That’s more than 128 million pounds of locally grown sweetness fueling summer cookouts across the state. And while sweet corn makes a big impression on the grill, most of Illinois’ corn crop isn’t sweet corn - it’s field corn. Less than 1% of the state’s crop is sweet corn, while the rest is used in products that are often invisible to consumers but vital to everyday life: fuel, packaging, fireworks, and even spirits.