PUMPKIN TALES

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

PUMPKIN TALES

And here's the video where you can watch me tell these stories:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JetOeIrEnAU&t=52s

I must have told this story thousands of times over the past 40 years. The wonderful thing is that it's "old" to me, but most of the teachers and children have never heard it before. You'll need to practice a few times before doing it for your class, but I guarantee you'll hear, "Do it again! Do it again!"

Pumpkin House Cut and Tell Story
Materials: orange paper, scissors
Directions: Place the orange paper and scissors in your lap. As you tell the story cut out the different parts with the scissors. At end of the story, the children will be delighted with the pumpkin house!
Hint! You can also tear out the paper with your fingers.

Once there was a little old lady who lived in a funny orange house near name of your school. Her house was shaped like half a circle with the chimney at the bottom.

This little lady had a cat named child’s name in your room. This cat had a long, curved tail, so the old lady had a special door cut just for the cat’s tail.

The little lady always wore a pointed hat. She had a special door built for herself, too, so her hat would not fall off every time she went in and out the door.

The little lady had two pet birds. Their names were child’sname and child’s name. She had a window cut just for them so they could fly in and out and in and out.

It was getting close to Halloween, so all the children inteacher’s name classroom went to her house and knocked on her door. The little lady came to the door and said, “Close your eyes.” SURPRISE! It’s a jack-o-lantern!

Here's a link so you can download the directions.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1SnEagA4jljYUVocVhRRTFHVGs/view?usp=sharing

Pumpkin Man Tell and Draw Story
Materials: large sheet of paper, marker  
Directions: Explain that you will need everyone to help you tell this story. Demonstrate the movements below. When you say the words in the story, then the children should make the motions.  
“Knock” – pretend to knock on a door 
“Rock” – move body back and forth 
“Spin” – twirl hands around each other 
“Come In” – make motion with hand  
Draw the body parts on the paper as you come to them in the story.

Once there was a little old lady who would just sit all day and rock and spin and wait for somebody to come in.  One day as she sat there rocking and spinning she heard a knock at the door.

“Come in,” she called. In came two big, black boots. (Draw boots on the board.) “I can’t talk to you big, black boots,” said the little old lady. So she just sat there and she'd rock and spin until she heard a knock at the door.

“Come in,” she called. And in came two bony legs. (Draw two skinny legs coming out of the boots.) “I can’t talk to two bony legs,” said the little old lady.  So she just sat there and rock and spin until she heard a knock at the door. 

“Come in,” she called. And in came a funny body. (Draw a pear shaped body on top of the legs.) “I can’t talk to a funny body,” said the little old lady.  So she just sat there and rock and spin until she heard a knock at the door.

“Come in,” she called. And in came two wiggly arms. (Draw wiggly arms coming off the body.) “I can’t talk to wiggly arms,” said the little old lady.  So she just sat there and rock and spin until she heard a knock at the door.

“Come in,” she called. And in came two big hands. (Draw hands at the end of the arms.) “I can’t talk to two big hands,” said the little old lady.  So she just sat there and rock and spin until she heard a knock at the door.

“Come in,” she called. And in came a big pumpkin head. (Draw a pumpkin head on the figure.) “Well, I can talk to a pumpkin man,” said the little old lady. And she did!  

Adaptations: End by singing “Do You Know the Pumpkin Man?” to the tune of “Do You Know the Muffin Man?”

And here's a little spooky treat to eat while you listen to the stories. Open a napkin, place a lollipop in the middle, gather the napkin around the sucker, and tie with a piece of string or yarn. Decorate with a marker.