![Childcare: Recommended Halloween fingerplay. Pumpkins, ghosts, and witches [Part 2]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi_webp/ou77T87t9DE/maxresdefault.webp)
Childcare: Recommended Halloween fingerplay. Pumpkins, ghosts, and witches [Part 2]
Speaking of October, Halloween is coming! I imagine both the children and the teachers are excitedly getting ready for the big day.
Costumes and dances are fun parts of Halloween, but kids also love hand games with a Halloween twist! In this article, I’d like to introduce some hand games that are perfect for Halloween.
I’ll share a variety, including fun twists on games children already play and lively ones featuring lots of characters, so try them out to suit different moments!
[Childcare] Recommended hand play for Halloween: pumpkins, ghosts, and witches [Part 2] (1–10)
ghost sheet
The “Ghost Sheet,” which can be enjoyed as a finger-play and as eurhythmics, uses a thin piece of cloth.
In time with the song, you shake the cloth like a sheet or put it over your head.
Since you put the sheet on when becoming a ghost, you might add a bit of excitement by saying, “Who should become the ghost~?” For babies, you can finish with a peekaboo.
For ages three and up, let each child become a ghost and enjoy eurhythmics by running and stopping to the music.
Pumpkin soup
When you think of Halloween, you think of pumpkins—kabocha, right? This “Pumpkin Soup” is a perfect Halloween fingerplay where teachers and preschoolers can enjoy interacting.
You’ll chop ingredients, stir the soup, and season it with spices.
Follow the teacher’s instructions to do all kinds of movements.
Once you get the hang of it, more actions are added and the pace speeds up, so try to keep up! With everyone helping out, let’s work together to finish our pumpkin soup!
witch
When it comes to classic Halloween costumes, I think “witch” is definitely one of them.
This song is a hand play where you pretend to be a witch and cast little spells.
While showing the iconic triangular witch’s hat, you lightly tug the specified parts of the body after each spell.
For toddlers, the tugging part is funny and enjoyable, and with babies it can be a fun bonding play.
If there’s a child dressed as a witch at a Halloween party, it might be nice to have them come to the front and cast spells on everyone.
Pumpkin chacha
The hand play song “Kabocha Cha-Cha” features lots of pumpkin-based dishes.
It mentions various cooking methods—chilling, cutting, heating—and expresses them with sound effects, which makes you excited to hear what’s coming next.
Since you use your hands to mimic a cutting board and knife, you can get into the cooking mood.
You see pumpkins a lot at Halloween, so it’s the perfect hand play for the season.
You might even try making something with the pumpkins you used for decorations!
Go Away!
Let me introduce a Halloween-themed fingerplay song called “Go Away!” Since it mixes English and Japanese, it seems like a great way to spark children’s interest in Halloween culture.
In addition to cute gestures that match the lyrics, there’s also a call-and-response part where you shout “Go Away!” Sing it together with teachers or parents, and use your lively voices to chase away monsters and ghosts with this fun song! It’s scary, so don’t come out anymore.
Go away, little ghost! Go Away!
A ghost goes knock knock
In this hand game featuring various animals, a ghost shows up at the end.
Use your hands to act out the traits of the animals knocking on the door.
In the final ghost part, you can also play rock-paper-scissors, so try it in pairs.
At a party, you could have the teacher play rock-paper-scissors as the representative, and give a snack to the winners to liven things up.
You can also customize the animal portion—why not make it Halloween-themed by bringing in a witch or Dracula? It would be fun for everyone to come up with original poses together!
Transforming Ghost
Speaking of Halloween, ghosts come to mind, right? Here’s a fingerplay where ghosts are the stars: “Transforming Ghost.” Once you’re ready to become a ghost, let’s go! Music, start! A cute ghost who’s great at transforming will change into all sorts of things.
Try transforming together while imitating the teacher or parent! A black cat, a pumpkin—even a wolf!? Once you get the hang of it, it could be fun to come up with original poses and show them off to each other.
Make sure to play in a spacious room so the children don’t bump into one another!