Since I work with a mixed-age group of children (ages infant-5), we often get tired of the same fingerplays and poems year after year. Someday, I will combine all the seasonal poems/chants/fingerplays I make-up into one book…for now, here’s one we do with our kids in the Fall!
5 Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Vine –5 Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Vine
Materials needed: Wikki Stix (orange and green) and mounting paper.
Print the chant (linked above) for the children. Read the chant to the children several times. It will take a few days for the children to learn the chant, but when they do, they will ask to do it over and over again!
When the children are familiar with the chant, set out orange and green Wikki Stix and invite the children to create 5 pumpkins. Younger children can make circles; older children may wish to make more elaborate pumpkins or spirals with their Wikki Stix. Stems or leaves can be added, if desired.
Supply each child with one large piece of construction/mounting paper to use as a storyboard (note: we covered our storyboards in clear contact paper so we could roll them for future use). Super Wikki Stix work great for making the “vines” as they are longer than regular Wikki Stix. Invite the children to use Wikki Stix to create vines on their paper. Read the chant to the children and pause as each of the 5 pumpkins are introduced. Have the children place one of the created pumpkins on the vine for each of the 5 pumpkins as the lines are read.
Extension: Make a pumpkin center with a storyboard, Wikki Stix, the created pumpkins, and a laminated copy of the chant. Invite the children to retell the story using the pumpkins and the storyboard. Some of our children chose to make a green pumpkin, add seeds to one, and end their story with a created Jack-O-Lantern!
We hope your kids enjoy playing, creating, and storytelling this fall! If you would like more ideas, see our Preschool and Kindergarten Themes!