October 29th, 2019

The Books We Read:
Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds
Pumpkin Trouble by Jan Thomas
Stumpkin by Lucy Cummins

Songs & Activities:
Open Shut Them
Open, shut them, open, shut them, give a little clap clap clap!
Open, shut them, open, shut them, put them in your lap lap lap.
Creep them, creep them, creep them, creep them, right up to your chin, chin, chin.
Open wide your little mouth, but... do not let them IN!

Credit: Childhood

Craft—Pumpkin Painting!

November 13th, 2018

The Books We Read:
Porcupine's Pie by Laura Renauld
This is the Turkey by Abby Levine
The Ugly Pumpkin by Dave Horowitz

Songs & Activities:
We Clap and Say Hello
We clap and say "hello!"
We clap and say "hello!"
With our friends at storytime,
We clap and say "hello!"

We [fill in action--stomp, spin, jump, hop] and say "hello!"
...
Credit: Jbrary

Snowflake Dance
Snowflakes, snowflakes all around; in the air and on the ground.
Some are big and some are small. Roll them into a snowball.
When the sun comes out to play, all the snowflakes melt away.

Credit: Intellidance^TM

Craft—Turkey Hats
We used water colors to decorate our turkey's tail feathers, then cut out and attached turkeys to headbands:

October 25th, 2016

The Books We Read:
The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis
Ten Orange Pumpkins by Stephen Savage
The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams

Songs & Activities:
Open Shut Them
Open, shut them, open, shut them, give a little clap, clap, clap!
Open, shut them, open, shut them, put them in your lap, lap, lap.
Creep them, creep them, creept them, creep them, right up to your chin, chin, chin.
Open wide your little mouth, but... do not let them in!
Credit: Various Sources

Five Little Pumpkins
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, "Oh my, it's getting late!"
The second said, "There are witches in the air!"
The third one said, "Oh, we don't care!"
The fourth one said, "It's time to go home!"
The fifth one said, "Don't leave me alone!"
Oooooh ooooh, went the wind, and out went the light,
and the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!
Credit: Childhood

Craft—What's Inside a Pumpkin??
This was a hugely fun project. Kids decorated their pumpkin face however they liked and then glued pumpkin "guts" (yarn and seeds) on the inside!  Here is one example:

October 20th, 2015

The Books We Read:
The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis
Ten Orange Pumpkins by Stephen Savage

Songs and Fingerplays:
Pumpkin Vine Song
I looked in the garden and what did I find?
Green leaves a-growin' on my pumpkin vine (repeat).
I looked in the garden and what did I find?
... Yellow flowers blooming on my pumpkin vine (repeat).
... Busy bees a-buzzing on my pumpkin vine (repeat).
...Little pumpkins growing on my pumpkin vine (repeat).
...Big fat pumpkins growing on my pumpkin vine (repeat).
Credit: Life Lab

Five Little Pumpkins
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate. The first one said "Oh my, it's getting late."
The second one said "There are witches in the air!"
The third one said "Oh, we don't care."
The fourth one said "It's time to go home!"
The fifth one said "Don't leave me alone!!"
"Oooooh," went the wind and OUT went the light;
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!
Credit: Childhood

Project—Mason Jar Jack-o-Lanterns:

October 31st, 2017

The Books We Read:
The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams
Ten Orange Pumpkins by Stephen Savage
Pumpkin Trouble by Jan Thomas

Songs & Activities:
Five Little Pumpkins
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, "Oh my, it's getting late!"
The second said, "There are witches in the air!"
The third one said, "Oh, we don't care!"
The fourth one said, "It's time to go home!"
The fifth one said, "Don't leave me alone!"
Oooooh ooooh, went the wind, and out went the light,
and the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!
Credit: Childhood

Craft—Jack-o-Lantern Lanterns

We had fun with mod-pudge and tissue paper, creating funny and fearsome pumpkin faces. A great project for Halloween day!

October 30th, 2018

The Books We Read:
Stumpkin by Lucy Cummins
Ten Orange Pumpkins by Stephen Savage
Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis

Songs & Activities:
We Clap and Say Hello
We clap and say "hello!"
We clap and say "hello!"
With our friends at storytime,
We clap and say "hello!"

We [fill in action--stomp, spin, jump, hop] and say "hello!"
...
Credit: Jbrary

Open Shut Them
Open, shut them, open, shut them, give a little clap clap clap!
Open, shut them, open, shut them, put them in your lap lap lap.
Creep them, creep them, creep them, creep them, right up to your chin, chin, chin.
Open wide your little mouth, but... do not let them IN!
Credit: Childhood

Craft—What's in a Pumpkin?

We had fun decorating paper pumpkins, both outside...

and in...