Using Popcorn in Preschool Lesson Plans

As preschool teachers, you are always looking for new activities, sensory experiences and delicious snacks to introduce to your students. Popcorn is a perfect example of an item that can provide many learning experiences as well as just plain fun times in your preschool classroom. Here I list several ways that you can use popcorn in your preschool lesson plans.

Sensory Table
Fill your preschool classroom's sensory table with unpopped popcorn kernels. Add toy dump trucks, sand pails and shovels, spoons and bowls. Your preschool students will have a great time driving the toy dump trucks through the popcorn kernels and gathering the kernels into the pails and bowls. If you have a scale, it would be a great idea to let your preschool students do some measuring. Let them measure which is heavier, a small bowl full of popcorn kernels or a sand pail full of popcorn kernels. Also, encourage your preschool students to feel the popcorn kernels. Have them gather a handful of popcorn kernels and then rub their hands together, feeling the sensation of the kernels. Does it tickle?

For older preschool students, you can fill the classroom sensory table with popped popcorn. Just make sure that there is an understanding that this popcorn is not to be eaten. Again, add bowls, spoons, pails and shovels. With the popped popcorn, you might also add some plastic sandwich bags. Filling the sandwich bags with popcorn and then closing the sandwich bags is a fantastic fine motor activity.

Art
There are numerous preschool art activities using popcorn, but here I will list just two.

Flower Blossoms: First of all, have your preschool students help you paint popped popcorn pieces. Put a bit of colorful paint in the bottom of a sandwich bag, add some popcorn pieces and shake. When the painted popcorn has dried, let your preschool students glue them to the petals of flowers on coloring pages or have them create their own meadow of beautiful popcorn flowers, adding stems and leaves with crayons or markers.

Popcorn Cutout: Give younger students a piece of white paper that you have cut out to look like a large piece of popcorn. For older students, allow them to create their own own popcorn cutout using scissors and white construction paper. Now set a huge bowl of popped popcorn on the art table and let your students glue them to their popcorn cut outs. These popcorn pictures will look great on a bulletin board display or hung from your classroom ceiling.

Musical Instruments
These ideas for handmade musical instruments are as old as the hills, but still delight children without fail.

Tambourines: Let your students color the backs of two paper plates. For a more vibrant look, have them use bright tempera paints. Have them place a handful of unpopped popcorn kernels on the undecorated side of one of the paper plates. You will then staple the two plates together.

Maracas: Well, I am using the term maracas loosely. These are just your basic shakers. Give each preschool student a clear plastic soda bottle. Have them drop a handful of unpopped popcorn kernels into the bottle. Glue or tape the lid onto the bottle. Now let your preschool students decorate the bottles with paints, markers and tissue paper.

Sensory Bottles
Fill empty plastic soda bottles with painted popcorn kernels. One might have blue kernels, another red kernels and so on. Fill one with kernels of Indian corn. If you find a bottle with a big enough top, put some popped popcorn in it! Place some plain unpopped popcorn kernels in a sensory bottle with water. Glue or tape the tops onto the bottles.

Games
Bingo: Use popped kernels of popcorn as the markers in a game of Bingo. After each set, let your students snack on their markers.

Beanbags: Fill bags of felt with unpopped popcorn kernels. Sew them shut and set them in your toy area. Students can try to toss the beanbags into buckets or hit targets.

Snacks
Naturally, plain popped popcorn is a delicious and healthy snack. Just be alert so as to step in and offer aid in case of a student choking on a piece. Encourage your preschool students as they eat the popcorn to chew it well before swallowing.

Another snack option is to make traditional popcorn balls, but liven them up with seasonal or holiday candies. For any regular day of the week, you might slip in some M&Ms!

Popcorn is a fantastic tool for the preschool classroom. Employ these ideas and delight your preschool students!