FREE Cub Scout Popcorn Tracker (+ Popcorn Kickoff Ideas!)

Printable Cub Scout Popcorn Tracker

Cub Scouts hustle during Fall popcorn sales to raise money for their scouting program and teach the value of hard work, goal setting, and other life lessons.

Most Cub Scout Packs want each Scout to sell a certain amount of popcorn (usually in the $500-$2000 range) in order to fund the year’s activities of camping, adventures, crafts, and other events. However, this number can easily be intangible and maybe even overwhelming to younger Scouts.

So to help kids get excited and stay excited about selling popcorn, this color-in popcorn tracker features 100 pieces of popcorn that represent a particular dollar value in popcorn orders ($5 in the example below).

As Scouts sell popcorn (via take-order sales, door-to-door, online sales, show-n-sell, storefront sales, wagon sales, etc), they color in the corresponding popcorn kernels until the tracker is full. Not only is this worksheet a fun visual, but the physical nature of it can really help kids (and their families!) stay motivated throughout the popcorn sale!

Get the Printable Cub Scout Popcorn Tracker

To get your own (customizable) copy of the Cub Scout Popcorn Tracker, click HERE!

Customizing the Cub Scout Popcorn Tracker

This printable popcorn tracker features fully editable text fields so you can customize it to your own Pack/Troop/Scout’s goals. Here’s how to edit it:

1. Download the Cub Scout Popcorn Tracker PDF and open it using the FREE version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.
2. Click into the document anywhere you see a blue text field and type in whatever details you desire.
3. Feel free to customize the tracker’s title, instructions, and even the popcorn values to reflect the unique selling goal for your Pack. NOTE: There are 100 pieces of popcorn, and they will all populate with the same dollar value automatically.
4. Save the file to your computer with your specific changes; and then feel free to print and disseminate to your Pack’s Scouts!

FREE Printable Cub Scout Popcorn Tracker

Popcorn Prizes

While you can certainly just provide the tracker as a handy resources, our Pack incentivized the kids with our very own “Popcorn Prize Bucket.”

NOTE: Our “Prize Bucket” was separate from the incentives and prizes provided by Boy Scouts of America and Trail’s End. We used some Pack funds to buy slimy worms, stretchy hands, fidget spinners, and other silly things that would get the kids excited (especailly since the official prizes take a while to come in).

Not only is having a physical tracker (hung right on the refrigerator) helpful and motivating to the whole family, but our Pack kiddos were VERY excited to stand up in front of their friends at the end of the sale to pick a prize for filling in their entire sheet!

Popcorn Information Folders

Since the Cub Scout popcorn program tends to be at the beginning of the school year, the important information, details, and dates can get lost in the new school year hustle and bustle.

So that parents and kids have everything they need in a single, easy-access spot, considering assembling popcorn folders for each Scout.

Things you might want to include in the folder:

• Welcome letter from the Popcorn Kernel and/or Cub Master
• Overview of the popcorn program, including important dates, deadlines, and details
• Print out of the Scouts BSA popcorn prizes (so the Scouts can see them and set their own goals)
• Order Forms
• Printable Popcorn Tracker
• Promotional Materials
• Any websites and/or login instructions your Pack will be using (e.g., Trail’s End App)

Popcorn Samples

So the kids can (literally!) get a taste of what they are going to sell, consider providing some samples at your popcorn kickoff. Here are a some easy ways to pull this off:

• Create a popcorn buffet with bowls of each flavor. Provide scoops and small cups so kids can try the different flavors.
• Pre-fill small paper cups with various flavors and let kids take one or two to try.
• Assemble pre-filled mini treat bags and hand them out with the other popcorn resources.

Skits & Jokes

Scouts are known for their skits and jokes. Consider having the older Dens (Bears and Weblos) put on skits about popcorn or the dos/don’ts of selling. This is the perfect opportunity to use this list of “corny” popcorn jokes to get the kids laughing!

Games

Another way to get kids excited about selling popcorn is by doing some popcorn-themed games at the kickoff meeting. Here are a bunch of fun popcorn-themed games to try.

We made some large popcorn stickers (using Cricut Print-and-Cut on sticker paper) and put them onto colored buckets from the party store. We then balled up different colors of tissue paper to resemble over-sized pieces of popcorn, and the kids played various games where they had to catch and pass them.

I don’t have a step-by-step tutorial (because it was very much a figure-it-out-as-you-go project), but here’s the gist of it should you want to make your own:

• The large box is wrapped in navy blue wrapping paper.
• Most items (i.e., popcorn, neckerchief, slide, pocket, Pack numbers, and belt loops) are cut with a Cricut from cardstock and then glued into place.
• The BSA letters above the pocket and the Cub Scout symbol on the belt buckle are cut from vinyl.
• I didn’t add images to the belt loops; but if you wanted to, you could print out the achievement pictures onto clear sticker paper and stick them right on.