Halloween boosts excitement in childcare! A collection of ideas to liven things up with fingerplay activities
Halloween season is something both kids and adults look forward to! Why not enjoy Halloween together with the children at nursery school or kindergarten? If you give your usual fingerplay and rock-paper-scissors a slightly spooky, fun Halloween twist, you can create special memories.
With fingerplay themed around ghosts, pumpkins, and witches, let the children’s imaginations flourish while you enjoy the seasonal festivities.
Here, we introduce recommended fingerplay activities perfect for celebrating Halloween.
Halloween brings excitement to childcare! A collection of hand-play ideas to liven things up (1–10)
It’s starting! (Halloween ver.)
“Hajimaruyo” is a popular fingerplay used as an introduction before activities.
This is its Halloween version.
Just like the original, kids act out different things to match the numbers made with their hands, but this time Halloween-y characters like ghosts and creepy bugs appear.
If learning a brand-new Halloween fingerplay feels like a lot, this one will be a lifesaver.
Children are already familiar with the tune, so they’ll quickly feel like “something fun is about to start.” Perfect to use right before a Halloween party.
pumpkin-chan
Speaking of Halloween, it’s all about jack-o’-lanterns! These decorations, believed to ward off evil, are probably something every child has seen at least once.
The song “Kabocha-tcha” is a hand-play song themed around pumpkins—the same pumpkins used for jack-o’-lanterns.
The lyrics feature many vegetables that share shapes and colors similar to pumpkins.
Wondering what a pumpkin looks like again? This song will clear it up.
The choreography is very simple too, so be sure to sing and play along for Halloween!
One Little Ghost
As a Halloween hand game, the well-known one is “Ippiki Obake.” It’s a song where more and more ghosts appear, and with each addition, the number of moving hands and feet increases.
Since you can move your whole body, it’s a hit with kids who can’t wait to get moving.
There’s also a final choreography where everyone does a little scare, so it really livens things up.
You can do it standing or sitting, so it’s perfect for parties with mixed age groups.
If you’re looking for a simple and fun hand game, give this one a try.
There’s no such thing as ghosts.
Let’s have fun with hand motions to the famous children’s ghost song “Obake nante nai sa.” Although it’s often sung in summer, it’s perfect for Halloween too.
With ghost poses like holding both hands out in front or waving your hands in front of your face, the song’s tempo is a bit quick, but the choreography is very simple and easy to copy.
It’s also adorable as a dance song—everyone can dress up as ghosts and dance together.
Since it’s a nursery rhyme everyone knows, it’s enjoyable to listen to even for children who don’t do the hand motions.
Ghosts’ Hide-and-Seek
How about a ghost-themed hand play song that’s perfect for Halloween? “Ghost Hide-and-Seek” is a unique tune where you pretend to eat the ghost hiding in your hand, and then it pops out from your ears or nostrils.
You can of course do the hand motions together with the song, but it’s also fun to play a guessing game—“Which hand is the ghost in?”—or predict where the ghost you ‘ate’ will pop out from.
It’s a recommended hand play song that turns usually scary ghosts into something to look forward to.
Ton-ton Tunnel
This hand game song, “Ton Ton Tunnel,” is a playful rhyme where you make a tunnel with your arms, and anything that passes through the tunnel transforms.
One finger is an ant; when the ant goes through the tunnel, it transforms into two fingers—a crab.
When two fingers go through, it becomes three fingers—cat whiskers.
The number of fingers increases one by one, and what they represent changes accordingly.
Finally, five fingers become a ghost.
Point your hands downward and strike a ghost pose—everyone can show their own unique ghost!
The ghost has come.
Do you know the hand game “The Ghosts Are Coming”? This game features various ghosts: a small ghost, a big ghost, and a strange ghost.
You act out with your hands how the ghosts stick together and what happens when they do.
When the strange ghosts stick together, everyone makes funny faces, which really livens things up.
The melody and lyrics are very simple and easy to remember, so it’s perfect if you’re looking for a hand game you can start playing right away before Halloween.