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Halloween Tunes

By Scott Borsky

Halloween is a delightful holiday for children. Choosing pumpkins, dressing in costumes, trick-or-treating and telling scary stories are all part of the fun. For me, however, I love the songs. Most kids, and adults, don't realize that there are many songs for Halloween that can be shared throughout the holiday. So here are just some of my favorite spooky songs, silly songs and fingerplays for this wonderful holiday.

Halloween Singing Game

Have your children or students sit in a circle on the floor.

Teach them the following Halloween song. Ask those children wearing Halloween masks featured in the song to move around the outside of the circle, pantomiming how that character would act. Ask the children to make up new verses about other Halloween characters.

Halloween Friends Song (To the tune of "London Bridge")

Ghosts come out on Halloween,
Halloween, Halloween.
Ghosts come out on Halloween,
And float all around.

Repeat verses, substituting:
Cats prowl….
Bats swoop….
Monsters stomp….

For very young children here's a good one:

Ten Little Witches (To the tune of "Ten Little Indians")

One little, two little, three little witches,
Four little, five little, six little witches
Seven little, eight little, nine little witches,
Ten witches in the sky.
Ten little, nine little, eight little witches,
Seven little, six little, five little witches,
Four little, three little, two little witches
One little witch, "Bye, bye!" Halloween Night (To the tune of "Mulberry Bush")

(Chorus)
Halloween night we trick-or-treat,
Trick or treat, trick or treat.
Halloween night we trick-or-treat,
And this is what we see.

Black cats creeping round the town,
Round the town, round the town.
Black cats creeping round the town,
This is what we see.
(Chorus after each verse)
Monsters stomping on the ground….
Skeletons dancing all around…. Formation:
Children stand in a circle, hands joined.

Action: --Children circle around during chorus
--During verse, children stop and do actions suggested by the words.

For more wonderful songs, poems, recipes and games for Halloween I would highly suggest the songbook Wee Sing for Halloween by Pamela Conn Beall and Susan Hagen Nipp. With over 60 Halloween songs for kids, this book will certainly help with your Halloween festivities.

A fingerplay favorite of mine is:

Five Little Pumpkins

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate,
(hold up five fingers)(arms form circle above head)

The first one said, "Oh my, it's getting late."
(hold up one finger)(wiggle finger as in scolding)

The second one said, "There are witches in the air."
(hold up two fingers)(swish hand through air)

The third one said, "But we don't care."
(hold up three fingers)(fold arms in front of chest)

The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run."
(hold up four fingers)(run in place)

The fifth one said, "I'm ready for some fun."
(hold up five fingers)(point to self with thumb)

"Whooo!" went the wind, and out went the light,
(cup hands at sides of mouth)(clap)

And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.
(hold up five fingers)(roll arms)

Here's a trivia question about Halloween songs:
Has there ever been a Halloween song to reach the top of the music charts? Sure there has! In October 1962 (anyone reading this column remember that year?), Monster Mash was the #1 song in America. Written and recorded by Bobby Pickett, who also does the Boris Karloff imitation in the song, this graveyard smash has been a Halloween favorite for decades. In addition to reaching the music charts again in 1970 and 1973, and being heard on radio every October, this song has been featured in TV shows such as "The Simpsons" and "Cheers". Today, the 63 year old Pickett has his own website (www.themonstermash.com), where you can buy signed copies of Monster Mash-related items or even book him to perform at events.

Scott Borsky is a local children's entertainer and music teacher. To book Scott for parties or to ask any questions concerning children's music, he may be reached at (215) 632-8934 or CantorScott@webtv.net.