As a teacher, have you ever been so overwhelmed by the beginning of the school year that you look back and wish you had done a few things differently? Better even? Well, that was me just a few years ago when I first was back in the classroom teaching preschool. I saved a bazillion pins over on Pinterest with all these fabulous ideas for everything I wanted to use and create for my preschoolers. The reality was, I got to almost none of it because I just ran out of time! Now, I’m way more organized, am using what I love over and over again, while trashing the ideas that didn’t work. One of thing that is definitely a keeper is my “Thanks for POPping in!” printable that include a list of popcorn learning ideas to use at home while snacking!

Snack & Learn Popcorn Printable

What I love about this printable gift for preschool and kindergarten parents, is how useful it is! It’s super simple for busy teachers to prep, and it will (hopefully) actually be used by the parents. And as a teacher, if you run out of time during your open house, the list of learning ideas says it all — so no extra instructions are needed.

The printable popcorn tag and list of learning ideas can be downloaded below. Each page of popcorn “Thanks for POPping in!” tags includes 4 giant pieces of popcorn. Each page of learning ideas includes 4 lists with a coordinating background.

Print the tags and popcorn learning idea lists.

Cut the popcorn pieces out on the black lined border. Don’t forget to add your name on the tags too!

Cut out the popcorn learning idea lists on the gray fitted line included on the page. You will also want to cut around the outside so the white border that is included when printing is not there.

I purchased a box of microwavable popcorn for this gift I give out at open house.

I punched a hole at the top of the list of learning activities and the giant piece of popcorn. Then I used red and white striped twine to tie both around the individual bag of microwavable popcorn.

Ta da! It is really that simple!

Popcorn Learning List

The printable list of learning ideas has 5 snack and learn activities that touch on both literacy and math skills. They are easy enough to work together with younger preschoolers, but still perfect for kindergarteners at the beginning of the school year.

A couple of the activities are shown in these pictures. Writing a letter on paper (or a paper plate) with a marker and tracing the letter with popcorn pieces is a great way to practice letter formation, letter recognition, and hand-eye coordination. Starting with letters in the child’s name is a great place to start!

Another activity includes drawing circles or dots on a paper. Counting the pieces of popcorn as they are added to each dot helps with counting skills and one-to-one correspondence. Counting backwards while eating each piece is a fun twist on the activity too!

The activities are super simple, encourage conversation between parent and child, and help build confidence with the skills that will be focused on during the school year!

I’ll be making 24 of these for my 2 classes of preschoolers now, so that they are ready for the beginning of the school year!

If you are interested in a non-food printable treat to give out to your parents and students, you should check out our open house printable bubbles idea!

Grab your own and get organized too!

Wait! Don’t stop here!

I’ve created a MUST-HAVE back to school pack that includes SO MANY printables for your preschool or kindergarten class! Some of the printables are editable to save you valuable time and energy.

You can find more details about the complete Welcome to School Pack and see a preview below: