If you have ever held a pop it, you will quickly realize you cannot help but fidget with this toy! If you haven’t already used this ingenious toy in your classroom for learning activities, we have all the best ideas to help you teach with a pop! While some may feel like fidget toys are just that, toys, teachers always find a way to make these little practical gadgets into a fun and exciting learning experience.
After much research and discussion with fellow teachers, I have discovered these pop-it activities are used the most and require the least amount of preparation! When you get the chance to teach with pop, you guarantee your classroom a lesson of fun.
13 Best Pop It Classroom Activities
For the activities below, you can either write letters and numbers on the Pop Its with a permanent marker or buy these pre-made Pop Its on Amazon:
- Multiplication Pop It – Kingmall Math Toys
- Pop Its With Letters – Pop-n-Teach Alphabet Pop It
- Pop Its With Numbers – Big Multiplication Pop It 12×12
1. Counting Practice
Among the many different pop-it learning activities, this one is the easiest. Have your students pop and count. Simply as that. As they pop it (each bubble), have them practice their counting skills. This particular activity is not only so much fun, but it is also practical and accessible.
2. Practicing Phonics With Pop Its
Students having phonological awareness skills at a young age sets the stage for successful reading comprehension. You have to take a permanent marker and write the letter combinations that you would like your students to practice saying. For example, on the various bubbles, you can write “ch,” “th,” “sh,” and so on. Have your kids practice the sounds of one bubble at a time.
3. Number Recognition
Pop Its are great learning tools for kids to learn their numbers. With that same fine point permanent marker, write the number from 1 to 100 (or save your energy and buy pre-made numbers Pop Its on Amazon), and have your kids practice their numbers. You can even make this a game where you say the number aloud and your students pop what they hear. You can even have your kids count and pop at the same time.
4. Letter Recognition
With the number recognition, this fidget toy activity is very similar. Write the different uppercase and lowercase letters on the pop it with a fine point permanent pen or buy Pop Its with letters on Amazon. You can play a game where you say a word, and students can pop the appropriate uppercase letter and subsequent letters.
Your class can learn their letters with this activity, but you can also practice spelling words. These spelling words can be classified as a lowercase letter activity for the use of words that are not proper nouns.
5. Learn All the Vowels
While you are teaching A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y, you can use this pop in even more ways. Have your class practice popping their CVC words (also known as consonant-vowel-consonant words). When your kids hear or see their CVC word, they can pop it and then hold it up to show how they “spelled” the word.
6. Skip Count With Pop Its
Like you did with the various letters activities, we will do the same with the various math activities. In this case, we will take that same permanent pen and number all of the bubbles on the pop it. I would recommend finding a Pop It that has 100 bubbles. Not only can you teach your kids to count their numbers, but continue to use the pop it to learn how to count by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s, and more.
7. Practice Addition & Subtraction
Resources like pop are a great addition when it comes to teaching addition and subtraction! These can accompany and math worksheet that you hand out to your class. Allow each student to work through their problems on the paper and pop it simultaneously. For example, with subtraction, let’s say 10-8= ? have your students pop ten bubbles. Then, allow them to un-pop the eight and give their answer. This same concept applies to the addition problems. Easy peasy.
8. Learn Odd and Even Numbers
Learning odd and even numbers can be complex for small children. Have your kids “pop” only the odd numbers as a class, then do the same with only the even numbers. Having a visual on Pop It is a great way to sink in these math concepts without kids having to guess answers. Label your Pop Tts with a permanent pen; number the pop it one through one hundred.
9. Count the Syllables
When I was a kid, we counted syllables by clapping. Now that I am a teacher, twenty kids clapping simultaneously sounds like a big headache. Imagine how much quieter the sound is when counting syllables with this quiet fidget toy! As your kids read their words, have them pop the bubbles and then write down how many syllables to one side of the word.
10. Practice Multiplication
Using a pop it for multiplication is genius! Doing this gives kids a mental picture of what it looks like to be popping out some multiplication! I really love this teacher’s Pop it Math Bundle on TPT. She has some great worksheets that are easy to print out and tells you exactly how to play.
11. Pop the Alphabet Letters
As kids sing their alphabet song, let them pop it along the way! Each student will have so much fun learning their letters and getting to play at the same time. Who said school isn’t fun?
12. Water Beads Sensory Activity
Who doesn’t love to squish around water beads? If you are simply looking for ideas on new sensory activities, this is a fun one. Place water beads in each of the bubbles and allow each of your students to play with their Pop Its.
13. Make Shapes
Your students will love learning their shapes by popping their way into a triangle, circle, square, or something else. Just like making the outline of letters, this bubble popping fun is a great way for students to be able to demonstrate and learn the different shapes.
Final Thoughts to Teach With Pop Its
These various number and letter activities are a great way to utilize fidget toys, in this case, pop-its. Instead of focusing on how to get these toys out of the classroom turn it around and teach with pop its! You don’t need the latest fidget toy to get your class interested in the lesson. You can be creative with something as simple as these pop-it fidget toys that are inexpensive and incredibly versatile.