Preschool Movies and Popcorn Theme

Below you can find tons of fun and engaging Movies and Popcorn Preschool Activities!
 Pick and choose the activities for your lesson or download a free copy of our sample plan to save time!
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Planning your Movies & Popcorn Theme 

Club Members can download our Movies and Popcorn activities and theme guide for free!
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Download our Free Movies and Popcorn Preschool Sample Lesson Plan

Popcorn Kernel Mosaic

Set out colored kernels for preschoolers to make a mosaic, we have all the details on how to create your own colorful kernels for creating mosaics on our blog. 
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Try this!

Hollywood Star Handprints

Make your hand prints like a true movie star. 
This craft is simple, cut out a star (or draw one on) and then add hand prints. Such a fun keepsake too. 

Movie Starring Me!

Invite your preschoolers to create their very own movie poster starring themselves! 
Get this fun template in my Movies & Popcorn Activity Pack

Movie Inspired Colors

Provide paints in a variety of colors along with some card stock. 
Invite your preschoolers to fill the page with color while keeping in mind their favorite movie. This is a fun chance to explore color without trying to create something specific. 

Paper Bag Puppets

Set out materials for children to create paper bag puppets. They can use the puppets to make their very own movie. Learn how to make your own using this Paper Bag Puppet Tutorial!

Popcorn Trees

Using twigs and popped popcorn "leaves" invite preschoolers to glue the items to construction paper to create beautiful trees. Paint the popcorn with craft paint to create fall "leaves", or "cherry blossoms".

*Movie Theater Dramatic Play

Transform your dramatic play space into a movie theater. 
Gather up a few props and Movie Theater Dramatic Play signs and you're ready to go. 
Show a real movie or put on a fun puppet show!

Play Charades

Charades is a great activity to play for this theme! Preschooler love to pretend to be animals. Use a deck of animal cards for children to draw from as their inspiration. ​

Build Towers with Popcorn Buckets

Provide students with popcorn buckets to stack and build towers with.

Invitation to Create a Movie 

Add a variety of props for children to create their own small world movies. 
Try adding a tablet or recording the movies on your cell phone for children to enjoy later. 
Design and build a movies set using unit blocks, and backdrops (posters, Calendars fabric, and printed backgrounds make great backdrops). When complete use with stick puppets or block people to act out favorite scenes and stories. 

Invitation to  Construct a Small World Play Movie Theater

Provide students with materials to create their own movie theater for small world play. Use this technique to reduce the size of a full size dramatic play pack down to use for small world play.

*Popcorn Letters

Create letters using popcorn kernels and letter mats. 
This could be  done in many different ways. Glue the kernels onto the paper letter or laminate your letters to repeat the activity or try using kernels in a writing tray for children to trace through with their fingers. 

Read, Watch, & Compare

Pick a favorite kids movie that started as a book; read the book together, then watch the movie and discuss the differences. 
If you don't watch movies in your program use this as a parent engagement project. Children can watch the movie at home and then discuss the next day. 
This is a great time to talk about how great books are sometimes turned into movies and create a joy for reading the books movies are based on. 

Popcorn Letter Matching

Support preschoolers in developing letter recognition and case matching with this fun popcorn themed activity from my Movies & Popcorn Preschool Activity Pack

Syllable Count

Before they learn to read preschoolers are working on a variety of supportive skills such as counting syllables.
This movie themed syllable sorting activity is a fun way to practice this essential skill, do as a group and then practice solo.

Story time Popcorn Craft

Read the fun story, If You Take a Mouse to the Movies and then engage in discussion about the book and vocabulary with the prompts from our If You Take a Mouse to the Movies Storytime Book Companion. This pack also includes a book review activity and this template for a fun popcorn craft. 
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Included in our If You Take a Mouse to the Movies Storytime Companion

Popcorn Writing Tray

Layer a tray with kernels and provide preschoolers with letter cards.
Have preschoolers use fingers to trace letters.

Popcorn Names

Make popcorn from pieces of yellow felt. Write letters on the "popcorn" and invite
preschoolers to spell their names. ​

Learn About Scripts and Screenwriters

Teach students about scripts and the important job of screenwriters by reading a book or watching a short video.
Scribe a script for your students and have them practice acting it out. 
Weave in comparisons between authors/illustrators. ​
If you Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff
Let's Pop, Pop, Popcorn by Cynthia Schumerth
Popcorn by Joanne Mattern
The Popcorn Book by Tomie dePaola
Maisy Goes to the Show by Lucy Cousins

Sorting by Size

Practice sorting by size with this activity from the PKPF Movies & Popcorn Activity Pack

*Popcorn Counting Cards

Work on fine motor and counting skills with these themed count and clip cards from the PKPF Movies & Popcorn Pack

Graph Favorite Movies

Find out what movie, or type of movie, is the favorite among your peers or family and graph them. 

Weighing Popcorn Balance Scale Activity

Provide students with a balance scale and popped and un-popped popcorn.
Invite children to count out and added ten un-popped kernels to one side of the scale, and 10 popped kernels to the other side. Is there a difference? Which weighs more?
Explore how many popped kernels need to be added to weight the same

Movie Theater Number Puzzles

Support preschoolers in counting, number recognition and number word recognition with these fun movie theater number puzzles.

*Dancing Kernels

This is a fun experiment that pairs perfectly with this theme. Learning the Scientific Method is important for cognitive development.  When children have experience using the scientific method, they can better evaluate the world around them. They learn to quietly observe using their senses, they learn to ask questions and how to develop and test a hypothesis. 
PKPF Dancing Kernels Experiment

Examine Corn Kernels

Examine corn kernels un-popped and then popped. Encourage children to explore with their senses and come up with descriptions for what they are seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling and smelling at each stage. 

Fake Popcorn Sensory Bin

This fake popcorn bin is a great alternative to using real kernels or popped popcorn. Toss in various shades of yellow crumpled tissue paper, pompoms, or crepe paper. Then add small containers, popcorn bags or boxes and scoopers. Check out my tutorial here

Stuntman Workout

Workout muscles by rolling the playing cube and acting out the stuntman action shown.
Find this printable cube in my Movies and Popcorn Activity Pack

String Popcorn

Pop some popcorn and then work on fine motor skills by stringing it and hanging as decor. Add in another element such as cranberries to include patterning skill development. ​

Fine Motor Task Cards

Pair your unifix cubes with these movie themed fine motor task cards to workout those fine motor skills while creating fun movies and popcorn images.

Pop Like Popcorn

Pretend to be popcorn kernels popping; crouch down into a ball and then pop up repeatedly. Try pairing with a fun popcorn song like this one from the kiboomers.

Food Safety

This is a great theme to weave in talking about food safety. 
Depending on the age and development of your preschoolers popcorn could be a hazardous food. Many experts agree that children should not have popcorn until at least age four. 

My Favorite Kind of Movie

Engage in discussion with peers or family members about favorite types of movies. Talking about movies can be a great way to connect with others. Add in some math development by graphing the results.
Get these graphing cards in my Movies and Popcorn activity pack

What makes you pop with excitement?

Talk about the feeling of excitement with young children. Engage in discussion about things that make them "pop" or feel excited. How do they respond when they are excited? 

Superstar Spotlight

Create a display board where stars can be hung for everyone to see.
Cut out stars, when children do something kind or something they can be proud of write it on the star and hang in the classroom. ​

Autograph Book

Preschoolers can create a fun keepsake while improving literacy skills with a fun autograph book like this one from the Movies & Popcorn Activity pack

Movie Party

Plan a movie party for your students!

Movies & Popcorn Preschool Activity Pack

$7.00
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Dancing Kernels Preschool Science Experiment

$2.00
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Movie Theater Dramatic Play

$5.00
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Goldilocks and the Three Bears Puppet Theater

$5.00
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Gingerbread Man Puppet Theater

$5.00
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If you Take a Mouse to the Movies Book Companion

$3.00
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Learning Centers

Preschool Learning Centers are commonly referred to as Preschool Centers, or Learning Spaces. These are activity areas dedicated to a specific type of of play and exploring a variety of topics and activities. Download our Free set of Center Signs!