Pumpkins and Jack-O’-Lanterns? Engaging Halloween Activities for Young Learners

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Kids trick-or-treat on Halloween night.

Halloween is right around the corner! Children love dressing up in costumes, trick-or-treating, and participating in all the wonderful Halloween activities teachers prepare in the classroom.

Halloween is filled with magical changes. Children put on costumes and “change into” a princess, a witch, a ghost, or a character from their favorite Disney movie. We see pumpkins magically change into jack-o’-lanterns.  

Change is one of the “big ideas” we teach young learners. Babies grow and change. Bean seeds planted in little paper cups grow into bean plants. Caterpillars turn into beautiful butterflies. Small pumpkins grow into big pumpkins, and pumpkins turn into jack-o’-lanterns!

Halloween is also a perfect time to teach new English words and the concept of change.  

The song “Pumpkin, Pumpkin” is a fun Halloween song to do! The children experience change:

-from a pumpkin to a jack-o’-lantern

-from small to BIG

-from a quiet voice to a LOUD VOICE

-from tiny, high voice to BIG, LOW VOICE

-from sitting to standing

To begin, make two paper pumpkins — a small one and a large one. Each of the pumpkins should have two sides — one plain side, and one side with a face (jack-o-lantern).  This pattern by Shala on Pinterest is helpful. Show the students the plain side of the “small” pumpkin and say “pumpkin.” Then turn it around and say “jack-o-lantern.”  Once students know these two words, put them into this simple chant:

Jack-o-Lantern Chant by Kathleen Kampa

Pumpkin, pumpkin, (turn picture around) jack-o-lantern
Pumpkin, pumpkin, (turn picture around) jack-o-lantern
Pumpkin, pumpkin, (turn picture around) jack-o-lantern
Happy Halloween!

Now you’re ready to expand upon the language and sing the song “Pumpkin, Pumpkin.”

Use this slideshow to teach the song. The lyrics and ideas for movements are below:

Pumpkin, Pumpkin
(words adapted by Kathleen Kampa, music: traditional)

(Sit with students in a circle. Sing quietly.)

Pumpkin, pumpkin small and fat,
(With fingers, make the shape of a small pumpkin.)

Turn into a jack-o-lantern,
(Roll hands. Spread fingers out wide.)

Just like that!
(Tap two fingers on the palm of your hand as you say each word.)

(Sing the verse again!)

Spoken: Grow and grow and grow and grow
and grow and grow and grow and GROW!
(Slowly stand up while making a big pumpkin shape. Get louder!)

(Sing loudly.)

Pumpkin, pumpkin big and fat,
(While standing, make the shape of a big pumpkin with your whole body.)

Turn into a jack-o-lantern,
(Turn around. Jump into a big shape.)

JUST LIKE THAT!
(Clap and stamp on each word.)

(Sing the verse again!

Here’s a video of my Japanese students singing this song. 

Thanks to my dear friend Setsuko Toyama for creating this pdf of the song lyrics. 

“Pumpkin, Pumpkin” is one of many holiday songs featured on Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays CD available on iTunes and Apple Music. Here’s the link on Spotify. Four more Halloween songs are featured, so check out additional blog posts.

Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays

ms kampa 12-8

I have numerous activities saved on my Halloween Pinterest board.

Thanks to my dear friend Setsuko Toyama for creating this pdf of the song lyrics. 

Let me know how your children enjoy “Pumpkin, Pumpkin.”  Happy Teaching!

Kathy

Kathy Kampa is a passionate educator of young learners. She seeks to nurture children’s imaginations and spark creativity through fun and engaging activities. Kathy believes that music and movement should be a part of every young child’s learning.

Kathy is the co-author of Magic Time, Everybody Up, Oxford Discover (ELTon winner), and Beehive (published by Oxford University Press). She has been teaching young learners in Tokyo, Japan for over 30 years. Kathy has composed educational music for Tokyo Shoseki and recorded songs for Learning World. She is active as a teacher trainer, inspiring teachers around the world. Kathy and her husband have currently returned to her home state of Minnesota in the US.

If you’re interested in more of Kathy’s work, check out her YouTube channel at Kathy Kampa and subscribe to this blog at magictimekids.com. Her second album, Jump Jump Everyone, is available on iTunes and Apple Music.

Just in case you didn’t find enough goodies here, check out this video of Kathy teaching her Japanese students the song “Pumpkin, Pumpkin” without the recording. Enjoy!

Fun Dance Activities for Kids: The Ultimate Movement Break

When your little ones need a movement break, this is the perfect dance song! It teaches various locomotor movements, movements that go from one place to another. Perhaps more importantly, it teaches little ones to pause and stop. When they stop, different adjectives prompt their poses. It’s a song that my students and parents ask for over and over again!

Here are the lyrics. The music is available on Spotify.

Jump Jump Everyone by Kathy Kampa

Jump, jump, everyone! (3X) We are jumping!

Jump, jump, everyone! (3X) Get ready and stop. Make a big shape.

Substitute:

2. Walk, walk everyone . . . Make a small shape.

3. March, march everyone . . . Make a silly shape.

4. Gallop, gallop everyone . . . Make a happy shape.

5. (inside run) Run, run everyone . . . Make a tall shape.

6. Tiptoe, tiptoe everyone . . . Make a tiny shape.

7. Jump, jump everyone . . . Make your favorite shape!

Here is a short snippet of our Wirth Center for the Performing Arts families at our 2026 Spring Gala. The students are from our Music Play and Dance Play classes. They’re performing “Jump, Jump Everyone.” This is the very end of the song where they are facing the audience. We do most of this song moving together around in a circle. Look at the joy on everyone’s faces!!! Most of these children range in age from six months to four years. We have two student helpers who loved this dance, too!!!

How to teach this song:

Before I use the recorded music, we practice each locomotor movement and the poses.

“Let’s jump . . . when we jump, we need to use two feet to get up off the ground. Can you jump? “

Parents can help little ones by holding them under their arms and bouncing them along. They can also help them jump high in the air like the video. See the video.

“We can jump around the circle. Stop, then make a big pose.”

You can describe the way your students are making their poses. “Olivia is making a big pose with her arms up high. Griffin is making a big pose by stretching his legs out wide.”

Practice each locomotor movement around the circle, along with the poses.

Walk . . . you can pretend to walk your dog. Or your elephant. Or you can walk with a baby in a stroller.

March . . . let’s lift our knees up high.

Gallop . . . put one foot in front of the other. You can put your hands behind your back. Listen to the uneven rhythm. (clap a galloping rhythm.)

Run . . . When we are outside, we can run with big steps. But we are inside, so let’s be careful. Look at my “inside run.” I’m running fast, but I’m running with little steps. (model this to the students)

Tiptoe . . . can you lift your heels up? Let’s move quietly. Maybe the baby is sleeping. Or maybe your daddy!

Let’s jump again!!

Now move in a circle with the music. Here’s the link on Spotify.

When we finish an activity, I often end with a Celebration Chant.

How to do this:

Use your fingers to show the numbers. (or for very littles, just clap.)

Shake your hands on “Hooray for all the . . .”

Clap your hands on “things we’ve done.”

If you’re looking for songs and chants that build language skills as well as music and movement skills, check out my two albums on Spotify.

Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays is filled with songs and chants that celebrate special events–including birthdays, a loose tooth, and holidays throughout the year. “Skeleton Dance” has been one of our top hit songs, but all are well-loved by my students.

Jump Jump Everyone is filled with many happy songs that have grown in my young learner classroom. The songs encourage children to move. Many songs link to classroom content. Children can dance like falling leaves, bloom like a spring flower, move through the butterfly life cycle . . . . you’ll find LOTS of fun and magic in this album.There are useful transitional songs, too.

Music by Kathy Kampa

Why use songs by Kathy Kampa?

Kathy Kampa loves to bring joy to the world through her children’s music. She is passionate about making learning engaging for young learners. You’ll find more resources on Kathy’s YouTube page. Kathy seeks to nurture children’s imaginations and spark creativity through fun and engaging activities. She also supports the development of English language skills by creating songs, chants, and TPR/movement activities targeted to young learners’ needs. She believes music and movement should be a part of every young child’s education. Kathy’s Songs for Kids (Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays and Jump Jump Everyone) are available on iTunes and streaming services like Spotify.

As a PYP teacher, Kathy uses a globally-minded and concept-based inquiry approach to teaching and learning through which students develop 21st-century skills. Kathy is an author and teacher-trainer with Oxford University Press. Together with her husband, Charles Vilina, they have written Magic Time, Everybody Up, Oxford Discover, Beehive, Buzz, and now Blue Dot (2025). They have worked with Tokyo Shoseki to create wonderful songs for children learning English.

Looking for more songs to start your school year on the right foot. Check out these songs for cleaning up your space.