Halloween Activities

12 Days of Halloween Rhythm and Lyrics Cards
Thanks to Pinterest, I found an awesome resource for Halloween from Pinamation. Since we have done word rhythms with the Pizza Love lesson, the kids should pick this up pretty easily.

The gist of game is that the lyrics and the matching rhythm patterns are hung throughout the room. The students must work together to match them up.

I loved the lyrics to this tune, so I made a slideshow for the kids to sing along with. I added pictures after each verse to help them remember the order when we could backwards through the days of Halloween.

 12 Days of Halloween Slideshow

Trick or Treat
Another game I am playing with 2nd grade is Trick or Treat rhythms. I found this game at Layton Music
This game has the student to draw a card: Trick or Treat. If they draw a trick, they must perform the rhythm. If they draw a treat, the receive a piece of candy.

There are printable cards at the website; however, I made my own cards. I colored them and wrote my own rhythm patterns, cut them out and laminated them so I could reuse them.

Trick or Treat Game Cards
(The formatting is off since I uploaded the file using Google Docs. Once you open it, download the file and open it with Powerpoint to print. Or, you can change the font and the size in Google Docs)

Halloween Games
For fun, I am going to play 2 different Halloween games with K-2: Pumpkin Walk and Pass the Pumpkin.

Pumpkin walk is similar to a cake walk. There are colored pumpkins on the floor. The students walk around until the music stops. I'll call out a color and students on that color receive a piece of candy.

Pass the Pumpkin is a steady beat game. I have a plastic pumpkin trick or treat bucket that the students will pass around. We will say this popular chant: "Pumpkin, pumpkin round and fat, turn into a Jack o'lantern just like that!" Whoever is holding the pumpkin when we finish, can reach inside and take a piece of candy.

Halloween Videos

5 Little Pumpkins

The Skeleton Dance

The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything

Also, another good book for Halloween music lessons is the Skeleton Cat. It is about a cat who gets a second chance at becoming a drummer. I've been able to incorporate rhythm instruments such as sticks, shakers, and finger cymbals. The book gives great opportunities to include these instruments.

 

Sample page