Exploring the History of Popcorn with Popcorn Activities
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Every once in a while, I check out an online calendar full of obscure holidays. That is how I found out that last Thursday was National Popcorn Day. My kids LOVE popcorn, so I knew we had to celebrate. I quickly whipped up a few popcorn activities to celebrate one of our favorite snacks.
Popcorn Activities
Read Popcorn Books
Reading books is a natural fit for any holiday. No matter how obscure a holiday, there is probably a book or two you can check out from the library.
We read Popcorn! by Elaine Landau and Popcorn at the Palace by Emily Arnold McCully. Popcorn at the Palace tells the history of how popcorn became a popular treat through a story while Popcorn! states facts about the history of popcorn. We read all of Popcorn at the Palace and skipped around Popcorn! to the pages that interested us.
Last update on 2026-08-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
- Hardcover Book
Last update on 2026-08-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Eat Popcorn
This is probably one of our most frequent popcorn activities 😉 It only seems right to eat popcorn when you are reading about the history of popcorn! We like to make popcorn on the stove with coconut oil. It doesn’t take very long and tastes so much better than microwave popcorn.
This is a great opportunity to try new popcorn toppings. Normally we stick with butter and salt, but these popcorn flavorings are a fun treat. We tried ranch and white cheddar, but a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar would be delicious too.
Popcorn Art
Hannah had the great idea to use popcorn as a painting material. I gave each child a sturdy piece of watercolor paper, a plate with paint blobs, and a few pieces of popped popcorn. They could have painted anything they wanted, but both kids painted pictures of popcorn. I guess they felt inspired.
You can also dye the corn kernels and create corn mosaic art. Vanessa has the complete instructions on her website, pre-kpages.com. We have not tried this activity yet, but I definitely want to. We saw corn mosaic art on our cross-country road trip when we stopped at the Corn Palace, and I think it will be fun to create our own.
Popcorn Math
Both popped and unpopped popcorn are fun and inexpensive math manipulatives. You can use popcorn for hands-on practice in addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. It is also a fantastic way to study volume. Edventures With Kids has a great lesson plan on using popcorn to teach the concept of volume.
Keep reading . . .
- The Hole Story of the Doughnut
- The History of Candy
- DIY Solar System Cookies: A Fun Review Activity
- Low-Mess Healthy Snacks
- Educational Holidays All Year Long
- January Homeschool Activities
- Unique History Books for Kids Who Love History
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