Five Little Pumpkins with Personality

Celebrate Halloween fun with the "Five Little Pumpkins" rhyme! Explore music, art, and activities to build creativity and foster cross-curricular learning.

Halloween is on the way, and so is the beginning of seasonal fun! I love using "Five Little Pumpkins" at this time of year because there are so many opportunities for cross-curricular learning.

DOWNLOAD FIVE LITTLE PUMPKINS RHYME
Children with colorful pumpkin crafts
Paper bag with pumpkin face saying Can't wait to see the face you create!

Creating Your Own Pumpkin Personality

I like to start with the traditional rhyme, either as a fingerplay as it's written in the Classroom Jamboree curriculum, or during our class gathering/circle time. Printable pumpkins work well as a visual. You could also invite students to help you create the pumpkins. They could paint paper plates and add faces with construction paper, or you could paint paper grocery bags for a 3D version. In Kindergarten, I would do it both ways and use this as an introduction to the concept of 2D versus 3D shapes.

Paper Bag Pumpkin Faces Pumpkin Face Personalities

Musical Concepts

We use this rhyme's variations to introduce musical concepts. With each repetition, I include a different idea, such as loud/soft or high/low, and alternate between them to show contrast. After we explore all the different voices, Pre-K and Kindergarten students delight in choosing which pumpkin gets each voice.

With the older groups, I use this opportunity to introduce musical vocabulary words. We might hang each of the five pumpkins with a different expression, then place a musical vocabulary card above each one. Soon enough, each pumpkin will be "speaking" in its own voice during the rhyme, and the children will have incorporated elements of musical composition.

Colorful grid showing different musical expressions like soft, loud, slow, happy, walking, smooth, calm, very fast, and peaceful
Three young boys sitting around a colorful drum in a music classroom

Improvisation and Art

One of the best things I've learned from Kids' MusicRound is that anything can happen in music class! We don't necessarily need pumpkins on the gate...they could become lollipops—or anything else the children imagine. I invite the children to choose what might be sitting on the gate. Because the rhyme is long, there might only be time for one or two children to choose who (or what) will be sitting on the gate.

This activity can easily extend into an art project. Older children can build a gate using sticks gathered from outside or popsicle sticks, while younger children can work with a printable version. Once their gate is ready, each child adds their chosen item. For toddlers, peel-and-stick foam stickers make the process simple and fun; older children can draw or create collages for a unique design.

If you have access to technology in your classroom, you could invite children to take a picture of their artwork, record their voices, and share the artwork and recordings digitally with families. The artwork could even be created digitally on a computer or iPad.

Performance

We believe performance in early childhood should be optional and joyful. One way we address performance standards is by inviting volunteers to recite a portion of a rhyme independently. We might ask five students to each perform as one of the pumpkins—it's always fun to hear the voices and personalities they give their characters!

Create and Share

We'd love to hear the variations you use with this rhythmic rhyme! Feel free to download the resources we've provided for use in your classroom. Then share what you and your students did to expand the learning. Remember to tag us on social media so we can share and celebrate the joyful learning experiences in your classroom.

Kim Zenyuch smiling at the camera

KIM ZENYUCH

Kid's MusicRound/Classroom Jamboree
Curriculum Writer/Editor