Thursday, October 25, 2012

Scarecrows and Halloween: Fingerplays and Songs

Vintage Halloween Postcard
Tomorrow, the theme at the New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park Whales, Tails and Sails program is of course, Halloween and Scarecrows and I am getting ready to fright and delight the wee ones. (more silly than scary)

Here are some the songs, stretchers and fingerplays I will share. They are not mine, but rather found all over the web with no attribution offered. Please feel free to use with your audience, students, or your own children. 







FINGERPLAYS

Five Little Scarecrows
Five little scarecrows standing in a row, 
The first one said, "Look, here come the crows!" 
The second one said, "I am very small."
The third one said, "But, I am very tall."
The fourth one said, "I can bend my head."
The fifth one said, "I can wave my arms, instead."
Five little scarecrows standing in a row,
Count them as they move when the wind blows.

Five Little Ghosts
Five little ghosts flying through the door, 
One flew away and then there were four.
Four little ghosts spooky as can be,

One flew away and then there were three.

Three little ghosts drinking Halloween brew, 
One flew away and then there were two.
Two little ghosts having lots of fun,
One went home and then there was one.
One little ghosts a real superhero,
Went to help a friend and then were was zero!

STORY STRETCH

Scarecrow, Scarecrow (Sung to Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear Turn Around)
Scarecrow, Scarecrow, turn around.
Scarecrow, scarecrow, jump up and down
Scarecrow, scarecrow, arms up high
Scarecrow, Scarecrow, wink one eye
Scarecrow, scarecrow, bend your knee
Scarecrow, scarecrow, flap in the breeze
Scarecrow, scarecrow, climb into bed
Scarecrow, scarecrow, rest your head


SONGS

I’m a Little Scarecrow (Tune: I’m a Little Tea Pot)
I’m a little scarecrow (Point to chest and sing)
Stuffed with hay (Pretend to stuff straw in shirt)
Here I stand in a field all day (Outstretch arms like a scarecrow)
When I see the black crows (Place right hand over eyes as if looking afar)
I just shout (Cup hands around mouth)
“Hey, you crows! You better get out!”

The Ghost in the House (Tune: The Wheels on the Bus)
The ghost in the house goes boo boo boo, 

Boo boo boo,
boo boo boo
The ghost in the house goes boo boo boo
For this is Halloween

Additional refrains: I added the spider and the wind  refrain; I am sure you can think of more!

The steps in the house go creak creak creak
creak, creak, creak
creak, creak, creak

The cats in the house go meow meow meow
meow, meow, meow
meow, meow, meow

The mice in the house go squeak squeak squeak
squeak, squeak, squeak
squeak, squeak, squeak

The spiders in the house go creep, creep creep
creep, creep, creep
creep, creep, creep.

The wind in three goes whoo whoo whoo
whoo whoo whoo
whoo whoo whoo

The people in the house go eek eek eek
eek, eek, eek,
eek, eek, eek

The ghost in the house goes boo boo boo, 
Boo boo boo,
boo boo boo
The ghost in the house goes boo boo boo
For this is Halloween

SOMETHING EXTRA

If you need more 
here is another blog post I wrote in 2010 with stories, crafts and more. 
http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2010/09/ghouls-ghosts-and-goblins-halloween-is.html
 
Karen Chace 2012 ©
This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.





3 comments:

Camille Born Storyteller said...

oooo... The Ghost in the House will be a perfect fit in case there's a lot of really young ones at my next telling! Thanks, Karen.

Also reading Ambrose Bierce's stories from the Project Gutenberg link you posted on the other blog you cited. Good spooky stuff!

Karen Chace said...

Thanks Camille. It is always grand to know that the work I post is useful to my colleagues. Have fun.

BOO!
Karen

Jai Joshi said...

With Halloween just a few days away, this is cool to read about!

Jai