WELCOME TO MY PUMPKIN PATCH

Spiders and pumpkins and black cats - oh, my! Halloween is more than a month away, but over the next few days I'll share some "treats" with you that I've gathered over the years. Many of these rhymes and projects are like "lost atifacts" so I hope you'll keep them alive!
This is one of my all time favorite finger plays and it never goes out of style!

Jack O’ Happy
This is Jack O’ Happy. (Hands circle head and smile.)
This is Jack O’ Sad. (Hands circle head and frown.)
This is Jack O’ Spooky. (Open mouth and eyes wide.)
And this is Jack O’ Mad. (Make a mean face.)
This is Jack in pieces small. (Hold up palms.)
But in a pie he’s best of all. (Circle arms in front as if holding a pie.)

You can download a book for the children to read and color. Or, better yet, download the version with just the words so the children can make their own illustrations.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1SnEagA4jljWmZCbk1sWk1vSWs/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-a0IDCvl-egpmaujywnrO-Q


Five Little Pumpkins
(Tune: “Five Little Ducks” – Happy Everything CD)
Five little pumpkins sitting on the gate. (Hold up 5 fingers.)
The first one said, “Oh, my it’s getting late.” (Hold up thumb.)
The second one said, “There are witches in the air.” (Hold up index finger.)
The third one said, “But I don’t care.” (Hold up middle finger.)
The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run.” (Hold up ring finger.)
The fifth one said, “I’m ready for some fun.” (Hold up pinky.)
Ooooo! Went the wind, and out went the light. (Blow through hands, then clap.)
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight! (Roll hands behind back.)

*My students love to hold paper pumpkins and act out this rhyme.

*It's also easy to make a flannel board activity for children to use as they say the rhyme.


Once I Had a Pumpkin   (Tune: “Lassie and Laddie”)
Oh, once I had a pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin.
(Hands over head like a pumpkin.)
Oh, once I had a pumpkin with no face at all.
With no eyes and no nose and no mouth and no teeth.
(Point to facial features.)
Oh, once I had a pumpkin with no face at all.
So I made a jack-o-lantern, jack-o-lantern, jack-o-lantern.
(Draw a jack-o-lantern in the air.)
So I made a jack-o-lantern, jack-o-lantern, jack-o-lantern.
With big eyes and a big nose and big mouth and big teeth.
(Draw facial features in the air.)
So I made a jack-o-lantern with a big funny face.

*Draw a jack-o-lantern on the board as you sing the song.

Pumpkin Paint 

Mix equal parts of flour and salt. Stir in orange tempera paint. (Obviously, if it’s powdered, you will need to add some water, too.) Add a spoonful of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice to the paint and stir. Children can paint a pumpkin, pumpkin pie, or whatever they want. Their painting will be textured and smell good, too!

Pumpkin Seeds

Before carving your pumpkin, have the children estimate how many seeds they think it will contain and write down their estimations. Have the children separate the seeds and count them. Who guessed more? Who guessed less? Who guessed the closest amount? Cook some of the seeds by rinsing them and frying them in a little butter and salt. Save some of the seeds to plant in the spring.


Pumpkin Play Dough – Make homemade play dough and add red and yellow food coloring to make it orange. Let the children knead in pumpkin pie spices. They’ll have fun making pumpkins, pies, and other characters.
Hint! Add pumpkin pie spice to make aroma play dough. 

Math Games

Make games where children seriate pumpkins from large to small or put pumpkins in numerical order.

https://youtu.be/n_BqazD73-o