POPCORN SEASONAL IDEAS...MUSIC & MOVEMENT...BOOK LIST AT PAGE BOTTOM!
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SEASONAL IDEAS...
SPRINGTIME CHERRY BLOSSOMS
Put POPPED popcorn and pink powdered tempera paint in a baggie and shake. They makes great cherry blossoms for an art project! They look real...as in this cherry tree sample!
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DOGWOOD FLOWERS
Have children draw a tree shape with branches. Glue on popped corn as the dogwood flowers. A pretty spring art project!
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HALLOWEEN HANDS/FINGERS
- Fill a clear plastic food handler's glove by placing one or two pieces of candy corn or raspberry shaped candy in the tip of each finger.
- Fill the remainder of the glove with popcorn or cereal.
- Tie with yarn or raffia.
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WINTER
POPCORN SNOWMEN
Ingredients: 2 ½ quarts popped corn
¼ Cup butter
1 pkg. 10 oz. Marshmallows
1 teaspoon Vanilla
- Pop popcorn and set aside.
- In a saucepan over low heat melt butter and marshmallows. Stirring constantly until smooth. Stir in vanilla.
- Pour over popped pop corn and mix until well coated.
- With buttered hands form into snowball shapes.
- Make one large ball for the bottom, one medium ball and a smaller ball for the head.
- Decorate with pretzel sticks, candy, raisins, or nuts for the eyes, nose, mouth and buttons.
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OUTDOOOR CREATURE POPCORN WREATH
Cardboard wreaths
Peanut butter
Birdseed
Popcorn
Cut wreath shapes out of cardboard. Give each child a wreath and a plastic knife to spread peanut butter over the wreath shape. Put birdseed over the peanut butter covered wreath. Use spots of peanut butter to "glue" pieces of popcorn onto the wreath in a bow shape. Hang the wreaths outside where they will be seen---good for birds and other outdoor creatures...
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Go Natural for the Holidays!
STRING TOGETHER PLAIN POPCORN and fresh cranberries into long, colorful swags to hang on the tree, along the mantelpiece, or in the windows. (This is a great activity for the kids!) AFTER THE HOLIDAYS you can hang the strings outside for the birds to enjoy. Make these as a program activity. You can decorate your rooms before kids take them home!
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POPCORN WREATHS
Ingredients:
1/2 cups popped popcorn
2 cups marshmallows
2 Tbsp. milk
5 Tbsp. Lime flavored jello
1 cup red and green fruit flavored candies
1. Put popcorn in large bowl.
2. Melt marshmallows over low heat; stir constantly.
3. Add milk and jello; stir till jello is dissolved.
4. Take off of stove; stir in the candy.
5. Pour over popcorn; stir to coat evenly
6. Lightly grease your hands. Shape about 4 heaping Tablespoons popcorn mix into wreath shapes
7. Lay on waxed paper to cool down completely. Make wreathes out of the rest of the mix.
8. Store in an airtight container Photo from Artists Helping Children
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MUSIC AND MOVEMENT
To make MUSIC POPCORN KERNEL SHAKERS--see Popcorn Art & Craft Section on Page 1
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POP, POP, POP MY CORN (Tune: Row, Row, Row Your Boat)
Pop, pop, pop, my corn,
Pop it big and white.
Popping, popping, popping, popping
Until it is just right.
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POP, POP, POPCORN! (Add dramatic play movement to words)
Pop, Pop, Pop! Put the corn into the pot.
Pop, Pop, Pop! Shake and shake it til it's hot.
Pop, Pop, Pop! Lift the lid and what have you got?
Pop, Pop, Pop! POPCORN!
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POPCORN IN A POT (Tune: I'm a Little Teapot)
I'm a little popcorn in a pot
Heat me up and watch me pop.
When I get all puffed up, then I'm done.
Popping corn is lots of fun.
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POPCORN BOOK LIST ... Pop up a big bowl of popcorn to enjoy while reading these fun books about popcorn...especially for kids!
The Biggest Popcorn Party Ever in Center County
By Jane Hoober Peifer, Marilyn Peifer Nolte (Illustrator)
Publisher: Herald Press (PA) (June 1987)
Previously reluctant to share their popcorn crop with friends, a barn fire pops Henry and Martha's stored kernels and they decide to have the grandest party ever.
Corn Is Maize (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)
By Aliki (Author, Illustrator)
Publisher: Collins (January 10, 1986)
Aliki tells the story of corn: How Native American farmers thousands of years ago found and nourished a wild grass plant and made it an important part of their lives. They learned the best ways to grow and store and use its fat yellow kernels. And then they shared this knowledge with the new settlers of America.
The Popcorn Book
Publisher: Holiday House (May 1984)
An entertaining variety of fun and scientific facts about popcorn.
By Tommie DePaola
If You Take a Mouse to the Movies
By Laura Joffe Numeroff, Felicia Bond (Illustrator)
Publisher: Laura Geringer (2000)
If you take a mouse to the movies, he'll ask you for some popcorn. When you give him the popcorn, he'll want to string it all together. Then he'll want to hang it on a Christmas tree. You'll have to buy him one...
Popcorn
By Frank Asch
Publisher: CQ Products (November 1, 2007)
Join Sam the bear at his costume party, but don't forget to bring the popcorn!
Popcorn!
By Elaine Landau, Brian Lies (Illustrator)
Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing (February 2003)
A compilation of historical facts, legends, trivia, and recipes, featuring the popular snack food.
Popcorn
(Green Light Readers. All Levels)
By Alex Moran, Betsy Everitt (Illustrator)
Publisher: Green Light Readers (August 1, 2003)
A simple rhyme and vibrant illustrations show what can happen when a group of children and their animal friends put too many kernels in the pot.
Popcorn at the Palace
By Emily Arnold McCully
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1st edition (September 15, 1997)
When young Maisie Ferris and her father take the long trip to England to try and sell popcorn to the English, they are a great success. But will her newfound fame get Maisie an audience with Queen Victoria, the person she'd most like to meet?
Popcorn Plants
By Kathleen V. Kudlinski, Jerome Wexler (Illustrator)
Publisher: Lerner Publications (July 1998)
Describes the life cycle of the popcorn plant from the time the farmer plants the seed until the kernel explodes.
Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn in America
By Andrew F. Smith
Publisher: Smithsonian Institution (January 1, 2001)
The history, legends and cookery of popcorn in America.
The Popcorn Dragon
By Jane Thayer, Lisa McCue (Illustrator)
Publisher: HarperCollins (August 22, 1989)
Dexter is a young dragon who loses his friends by showing off, but eventually wins them back by sharing his new found ability to pop popcorn straight from the husks.
The Popcorn Shop
(Hello Reader!-Level 3)
By Alice Low, Patricia Hammel (Illustrator)
Publisher: Scholastic (January 1994)
A popcorn machine goes haywire in this rhyming, easy-to-read Level 3 book for beginning readers.
The Popcorn Tree
By Carolyn Mamchur, Laurie McGaw (Illustrator)
Publisher: Fitzhenry and Whiteside; 1 edition (November 1, 1997)
As Mickey and Gary strung popcorn, their mother told them about olden days and the decorations from her childhood.
Science Fun With Peanuts and Popcorn
By Rose Wyler
Publisher: Little Simon (July 1986)
Experiments for home or the classroom with seeds and plants, showing what is inside seeds, how roots form, and how plants grow.
What Makes Popcorn Pop?
By Dave Woodside
Publisher: Atheneum; 1st edition (October 1980)
Traces the history of popcorn describing how to grow and prepare it, its varied uses, myths surrounding it, and what makes it pop.
Source: The Popcorn Board
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Popcorn Theme Page 1-Ideas good all year! 
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