If you teach young learners, you know that they love to move! In some classrooms, students need to move in a small space. You might have circle time with students standing on a spot. Your students might just stand beside their desks. This is a movement chant that you can do in ONE SPOT.
This chant comes from OUP’s Magic Time, Book One. There are just verbs–jump, run, hop, fly, stop. Once you and your students know the pattern, add your ideas. Here are some ideas: march, wiggle, twist, spin, stretch, bend, shake.
In Unit 10, students learned animal names. When they flip the page, the animals are moving. Here are the words to this simple chant.
Run, Run, Run
by Kathleen Kampa and Charles Vilina, Magic Time One
Jump! Jump! Run, run, run.
Jump! Jump! Run, run, run.
Jump! Jump! Run, run, run.
Jump! Jump! Stop!
The second time, substitute hop for the word jump.
Hop!Hop! Run, run, run. (3X)
Hop! Hop! Stop!
Last of all, substitute fly for the word hop.
Fly! Fly! Run, run, run. (3X)
Fly! Fly! Stop!
Students do all of the movements on their spot. When they say, Stop! they can make an interesting pose. Watch how my students create their own ideas.
We need to practice moving and stopping with our young learners. This develops their focus and self-control. Plus, it’s a fun activity for our little ones.
Here are my young learners in Tokyo, Japan. I placed the picture cards on the floor as a reminder of the order, similar to a rebus reading. This chant helps them practice their /r/ sound.
Songwriter 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 music and movement should be a part of every young child’s education.
Kathy uses a globally-minded and inquiry-based approach to teaching through which students develop 21st-century skills. She also supports the development of English language skills by creating songs, chants, and TPR/movement activities targeted to young learners’ needs. Kathy is an author and teacher-trainer with Oxford University Press. She is delighted to be teaching young learners in her hometown.
This chant comes from Magic Time 1, by Oxford University Press. Each lesson has a simple chant or song to practice the language. Many of these chants and songs invite children to move
For more fun and engaging songs that have been loved by many kids, check out these albums. Kathy’s songs for kids (Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays and Jump Jump Everyone) are available on iTunes, Spotify, and other streaming services.
an Easter egg guessing activity created by Setsuko Toyama
an arts and crafts activities
How will you teach your students about Easter? Look at the picture below. What do you see? What does it tell you about Easter? (rabbits, colored eggs, spring flowers, chocolates)
When I teach young learners, I use many ways to introduce, practice, and review new language. Use props. Then do this song in three different ways–first as a fingerplay, then moving around a circle, and finally, moving around the classroom. I’ve made a simple video for you to help you learn it as a fingerplay.
Fingerplay: If possible, sit on the floor with the students. Stretch your legs out in front of you. Make an Easter Bunny by raising two fingers. Bounce your fingers up and down your legs as if you’re hopping.
Hop along Easter Bunny, hop along.
Hop along Easter Bunny, hop along.
Hop along Easter Bunny, Hop along Easter Bunny,
Hop along Easter Bunny, hop along.
Young children love surprises. Each time I sing one line, I quickly bring my fingers back to where I started. On the longer line, continue hopping. My students find it funny when I bring my fingers over my head and along my arm.
On the second verse, pretend to tiptoe using your fingers.
Tiptoe Easter Bunny, tiptoe.
Tiptoe Easter Bunny, tiptoe.
Tiptoe Easter Bunny, Tiptoe Easter Bunny,
Tiptoe Easter Bunny, tiptoe.
On the third verse, pretend to pick up an egg and hide it beside you, behind you, or under your legs.
Hide the eggs Easter Bunny, hide the eggs.
Hide the eggs Easter Bunny, hide the eggs.
Hide the eggs Easter Bunny, Hide the eggs Easter Bunny,
Hide the eggs Easter Bunny, hide the eggs.
On the last verse, pretend to run away.
Run away Easter Bunny, run away.
Run away Easter Bunny, run away.
Run away Easter Bunny, Run away Easter Bunny,
Run away Easter Bunny, run away.
2. Around the circle movement: Stand up and magically turn all of your students into Easter Bunnies. Say, Put on your ears, your whiskers, your tails, and your great big feet!
If you have bunny ears like Brooke, put them on!
Make a circle with your students. Sing this transitional song from Jump Jump Everyone to get ready.
Transitional Song: Let’s make a circle big and round (4X)
Moving around the circle together in the same direction. Do you remember the four movements?
1. hop like a bunny (They might use their hands to make bunny ears or a bunny tail.)
2. tiptoe quietly
3. pretend to hide eggs
4. run
3. Around the Classroom: Students can move more freely around the classroom. The Easter Bunnies dance the song by moving around the children.
Here’s a simple video of my students in my classroom moving in a circle to this music.
For the studio version of this song, go to iTunes and click on Track #6 of Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays.
4. Follow-up Activity: In this activity created by Setsuko Toyama, students use critical thinking skills to figure out which egg has been chosen. Students need to know colors, shapes, and numbers. They also need to know words like “polka dots” and “stripes.”
Secretly choose one egg. Give one clue at a time, such as It’s pink. Students can guess, Is it number three? Add another clue. It has blue polka dots. Students guess again. Is it number one?
After modeling this activity for the class, have students work in small groups or with partners. Make a copy for each student. Have fun celebrating Easter!
5. Art/Craft Activity This is a fun Easter Bunny activity from Nghia.Odin.DIY.
Look at how this cute bunny moves! The bottle tops and rubberband make this bunny run away!
About me:
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, Beehive, and Buzz (all published by Oxford University Press). She has taught young learners in Tokyo, Japan for over 30 years. Kathy is also active as a teacher trainer, inspiring teachers around the world. She has 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.
Are you streaming music? Go to Spotify or Apple Music to find Kathy’s music.
Jump Jump Everyone, my second album, 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.
If you’re looking for more action songs, check out these curated playlists.
Let’s get hopping! Put on your bunny ears and do the Easter Bunny Hop.
Say to your students, Let’s pretend to be Easter Bunnies. Look at this picture.
Let’s pretend to be the Easter Bunny. We need . . .
Students may say, such as two long ears, two big feet, a bunny tail, bunny paws, and a bunny nose. This song teaches ears, feet, tail, tummy, and whole self as well as the directional movements in, out, and around. Students have a lot of fun jumping and shaking. There’s a slow version, followed by a fast one. It’s easy to just turn on the music and dance!
Students can stand in their spots or you can make a circle together. Sing Let’s Make A Circle. (Click here for this song.)
Here are the movements.
Say, Show me your Easter Bunny ears.
Put your bunny ears in. Put your bunny ears out.
Let’s shake our Easter Bunny ears.
Jump like a bunny. Then, turn around and say, Happy Easter!
Click here to watch the video of my former students dancing to this song. Grab the recording to listen to the entire song. It’s a great way to teach body parts and directional movements. Use this as a brain break, an energizer, or an Easter celebration son.
Easter Bunny Hop
Words by Kathy Kampa, Music Hokey Pokey
on Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays, available through iTunes
Slowly: You put your bunny ears in.
You put your bunny ears out.
You put your bunny ears in. And you shake them all about.
Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake!
Jump like a bunny. Jump, jump, jump!
Turn around and shout! Happy Easter!
Then sing quickly . . .
You put your bunny ears in.
You put your bunny ears out.
You put your bunny ears in. And you shake them all about.
Shake, shake, shake! (* three shakes!)
Jump like a bunny. Jump, jump, jump!
Turn around and shout! Happy Easter!
Repeat each verse slowly, then quickly with these body parts.
2. You put your bunny feet in.
3. You put your bunny tail in.
4. You put your bunny tummyin.
5. You put your whole self in.
Click here to get this song on iTunes on Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays, track #7. You can find it on Spotify and Apple Music, too.
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.
After your young learners wiggle about, check out this quieting activity. This simple reproducible is from Julissa Mora. For more hands-on Easter resources, check out my Pinterest page.
Valentine’s Day is a time for children to celebrate friendships! Classroom activities like this can teach young learners how to develop healthy relationships.
To celebrate Valentine’s Day here in the United States, children often make cards or little treats for their friends. I’ve invited my friend Ava to share her thoughts about how she celebrates Valentine’s Day with her friends and classmates.
Ava shares Valentine’s Day traditions in the US
I like to celebrate holidays with music and movement! Today’s song is called “I’m Your Friend,” from my album Jump Jump Everyone. With this song, you can add valuable skills such as phonemic awareness to your lesson while celebrating Valentine’s Day and friendship.
Rhyming words
Listen for the rhyming words at the end of each line. In this song, the words mine, nine, and Valentine all rhyme. Why is rhyming important? Check out this fabulous post by Marissa Labuz. Rhyming aids memory, supports phonemic awareness, and builds listening skills. Children have fun singing songs and chants with rhyming words.
Movement
This song invites children to move in various ways, such as galloping, skipping, jumping, walking, and even skating! Developing gross motor skills is important for young learners. The movements encourage students to move from one place to another. These are called “locomotor movements.” If you have a smaller space, students can move in a small circle in their own spot.
You can sing this song with small or large classes. I usually teach this song to kindergarten and early elementary students.
Here’s a video to teach you the lyrics and the movements:
Here are the lyrics to the song:
3. I’m Your Friend words and music by Kathy Kampa
From Jump Jump Everyone CD
Chorus:
I’m your friend.
(Gesture to chest, then to a person)
You are mine.
(Gesture to person, then to heart)
Will you be my Valentine?
(Swing hands with partner or in the circle)
Repeat.
Let’s walk.
(See the notes below. Children can hold hands in a whole class circle or move with a partner.)
Verse:
Walk, walk, walk with me. Walking, walking, 1-2-3,
4-5-6, 7-8-9, Will you be my Valentine?
(Clap-4-5-6,-7-8-9) Make a heart shape with your fingers or arms by yourself or with a friend. Or give your partner a hug!
Stand in one big circle. Face the middle for the chorus, and then move around the circle with the whole class for the verses. For the counting part, 4-5-6, 7-8-9, clap your hands on one side and then the other. Finally, make a heart shape using your fingers or arms.
Children face the middle, then hold hands together to move around the circle.
Once your children know this song, you can add some new challenges. Step into my English class in Tokyo, Japan. Check out how my English students added their own ideas.
Children can dance with partners. How can you help them find partners? When children are in a circle, you can walk around the circle. Have two children turn to face each other. They can do all of the movements with their partners.
Or you can use this transitional chant. Pat and clap your legs to keep the beat as you say the chant. Count slowly as you get closer to the number ten.
It’s okay for partners to be scattered around your space and move in their own little group. If you have an odd person out, make a group of three.
For elementary students, you might try this challenge. Make an inside and an outside circle. One partner stands in the inside circle, and the other in an outside circle. Partners face each other. Children can do the movements for the verse holding hands with their partner around the circle. At the end of the verse, the outside circle children move ahead to the next partner.
So you can make this as simple or as fancy as you’d like!
If you’re looking for music to play in your classroom, check out this Spotify playlist for February:
Come back to my blog to discover more fun activities that build language through music and movement. Thank you!
Songwriter 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 education. Kathy’s songs for kids (Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays and Jump Jump Everyone) are available on iTunes.
Kathy uses a globally-minded and inquiry-based approach to teaching through which students develop 21st-century skills. She also supports the development of English language skills by creating songs, chants, and TPR/movement activities targeted to young learners’ needs.
For more kid-tested music and movement activities, check out more music on iTunes. Kathy has produced two music CDs for very young learners, Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays andJump Jump Everyone, which build English language skills through music and movement while nurturing creativity and imagination! Grown and loved by real kids!
Fingerplays are a fun way to add movement to your lesson. Students can move their fingers while sitting. When you need an activity to bring the energy level down in your class, consider a fingerplay.
This chant teaches the heart shape (perfect for Valentine’s Day!) as well as other shapes (circle, square, rectangle, triangle, star). Notice the repetition in the phrases, which is important for young learners.
Encourage students to make shapes in different ways to nurture their creativity. Notice the great things your young learners are doing. That’s what I call CCBA–Catch Children Being Amazing!
Check out my Japanese students making shapes. Here we are studying together online. (Photos used with permission)
My students just love this chant! I hope that you do, too.
My Fingers Dance
by Kathy Kampa on Jump Jump Everyone. Available on iTunes, Spotify, and other streaming services.
My fingers, fingers, fingers, fingers, fingers dance!
My fingers, fingers, fingers, fingers, fingers dance!
Make a circle! Take a picture. Make a circle! Take a picture.
The music is available on iTunes and on streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music.
Let’s practice shapes some more!
Time for a surprise! Have students open their hands and close their eyes. Hand them one of the shapes. Use this little chant I just made.
A Big Surprise by Kathy Kampa
Open your hands and close your eyes.
Get ready for a big surprise!
My students enjoy going on a shape hunt. We focus on one shape at a time, and look for things with that shape.
Kids love using the shaped “magnifying glasses” to find shapes in everyday objects around them! You can make these darling shape finders from Amber at Apples to Applique (amber@applestoapplique.com)
Learning something in many ways is fun for young learners! As Dr. Howard Gardner pointed out in his theory of Multiple Intelligences, children can learn more successfully when using many ways to approach a topic. In this lesson, students hear words in rhythm, they move their bodies, they see shapes, and they interact together.
If you’re celebrating Valentine’s Day, students can make cards with LOTS of shapes!
Finally, if you read my last post, you’ll remember how to make a heart shape with your hands. This poem was shared with me by my colleague:
I put my hands together. (put the heels of your hands together)
This is how I start. (hold)
I curve my fingers just like this (curve your fingers to touch each other)
and now I have a heart. (this should make a heart shape)
Now, look through the heart to see each of the students in your class.
Say, “I see you in my heart!”
Songwriter 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 education. Kathy’s songs for kids (Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays and Jump Jump Everyone) are available on iTunes.
Kathy uses a globally-minded and inquiry-based approach to teaching through which students develop 21st-century skills. She also supports the development of English language skills by creating songs, chants, and TPR/movement activities targeted to young learners’ needs. Kathy is an author and teacher-trainer with Oxford University Press.
For more kid-tested music and movement activities, check out more music on iTunes, Spotify, and Apple Music. Kathy has produced two music CDs for very young learners, Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays andJump Jump Everyone, which build English language skills through music and movement while nurturing creativity and imagination. Grown and loved by real kids!
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner! What activities will you do with your young learners for Valentine’s Day?
Playing with letter sounds is fun for little ones. Let’s explore ways to make the shape of the letter Vv:
-with our fingers
-with our hands
-with our arms
-with our legs
-with our whole body (balance!!)
-with a friend
Each time you make the shape, say the sound /v/.
*Try to make only the sound /v/ and not /vƏ/ (vuh)
Can you change your V shape into a heart shape?
I created this song with the phrase “/v/ /v/ valentine.” Make the shapes with your fingers or the heels of your hands, then with your arms. Watch the video for more details. I created it with my nieces Shannon and Brooke many years ago. It’s easy to sing and so much fun!
Here are the lyrics:
Be My Valentine
lyrics by Kathy Kampa, melody “Cho Cho”/”Lightly Row”
I like you. You like me. Will you be my Valentine?
I like you. You like me. Be my Valentine.
[v] [v] Valentine!
[v] [v] Valentine!
I like you. You like me.
Be my Valentine.
Repeat facing a partner.
This song can be found on iTunes and other streaming services, such as Spotify and Apple Music.
Spotify playlist: Songs for Kids for Valentine’s Day and Friendship
Celebrate the joy of Valentine’s Day while building social skills in your classroom. This playlist includes songs for Valentine’s Day and songs about friendship. You’ll find songs to add movement to your class activities, too. Click here to see Kathy’s Spotify channel. for more curated playlists.
Crafts Activities
On Valentine’s Day, kids love to make things for their friends. Check out these simple craft activities.
Can your students find the letter V in these craft activities?
This first craft is a Valentine chain. Cut narrow paper strips about 1″ wide and fold them in half. Look! There’s the letter V! Then curve the tops in to make a heart. This is a great activity for teaching colors and patterns. Try this when you’re sitting with a small group. Students fold the strips, slide a new strip through, then staple the top of the heart. Then, create a color pattern, such as white-red-pink-white-red-pink. Young learners can count the number of hearts in the chain.
When students have the paper strips open, they can write a secret message on the heart.
This second craft is like magic! Each student folds a sheet of construction paper in half. Trace around the student’s hand. Be sure that their thumb and pointer finger are touching the folded edge. Students can cut around their fingers. Then decorate a card for someone they love.
January 1st marks the beginning of the year. Each year one of the twelve animals in the Chinese Zodiac calendar is celebrated, and this year’s animal is the Dragon! We have a special place in our home where we display a small ornament for the new year. People celebrating the Lunar or Chinese New Year will welcome the new year of the Dragon on February 10th.
This is a simple song to celebrate the new year. It borrows two familiar melodies to create one new song. The Google slides for this song are here.
It’s the Year of the DragonBy Kathy Kampa
Part A: For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow
It’s the year of the Dragon!
It’s the year of the Dragon!
It’s the year of the Dragon,
It’s 2024. (twenty, twenty-four)
Part B: BINGO
I like to have students move with music whenever possible. What kind of movement can you do? Here are some suggestions.
In Part A, on the words “It’s the year” students can stand tall with their hands at their sides.
On the word “DRAGON,” make a dragon pose or movement. My students made a wavy movement with their arms.
For the year 2024 (twenty/ twenty-four), students can write the numbers in the air or hold up their fingers to show the numbers. We made the shapes two-zero-two-four.
In Part B, students can add body percussion sounds. What’s body percussion? Sounds students can make using body parts, such as clapping their hands, patting their legs, stamping their feet, or snapping their fingers. They can play the rhythm of the letters when spelling the word “dragon.” Practice spelling the word with many different sounds. Since this repeats three times, you can repeat it with a different body percussion sound each time. Some of my students even tried body spelling by making each of these letters with their fingers or whole body. Challenging!
If you have unpitched instruments, like rhythm sticks, drums, tambourines, or shakers, play the rhythm with the instruments. You might even add a big cymbal sound on the word, DRAGON.
Since this song comes around once every twelve years, it hasn’t been professionally recorded. Enjoy it with your students to celebrate the new year!
Here’s a video from my online class with my Japanese students. We tried to capture both my students’ movements and my movements.
It’s a cold winter day here! I made a video of the song from the front so that you can see the movements more easily.
Beautiful videos capture authentic dragon dances. Here’s one that you might share with your students.
Go to Kathy’s Spotify playlists to find more music for young learners.
If you’re looking for a craft project, check out this one which uses paper towel rolls. You can use construction paper in lieu of the pom poms.
Kathy currently teaches young learners in her hometown of St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA as well as classes online. She is passionate about creating memorable songs for children that build language as well as music and movement skills. Kathy creates songs that stick in children’s heads long after class. We hope that you enjoy her music, too.
Contact us at magictimekids@gmail.com if you’re looking for a song about a specific idea or topic. We’ll try to write one with that idea in mind.
Happy New Year 2024! New Year’s Eve traditions in the US are different from those we celebrated when we lived in Japan. On New Year’s Eve, one of our dear Japanese friends used to bring us homemade soba from a famous restaurant. So delicious! This year Chuck and I created our own version of toshikoshi soba for New Year’s Eve. Not quite the same, but still a taste of “home.”
In this blog, I’d like to share my “Happy New Year” song. It’s quite special to me. When our son Christian was in elementary school, he started playing this simple melody on our piano. What a great song that sticks in your head! Now he’s grown up and is performing in Hollywood! I love this recording of Christian (pic below at a Red Carpet event) and my husband Chuck singing it at home.
Now you can also go to Spotify to get the professional recording.
No matter how you get my music, it’s great to play it often for children. My friend Kumi plays my CDs in her car. When she brings her three children to different activities, they sing along to songs in English. During my recent trip to Japan, the kids were singing along to my songs when she picked me up in her car. What a precious moment!!
Here are the lyrics to the song. For the Google Slides, click here.
When I first teach the words to this song, students keep a “steady beat” by patting their legs or clapping their hands. I don’t worry about teaching the words first. I lead them through some movements while students listen to the words. Then, I add more challenging movements. Students can pat their legs once, then clap their hands. Think “pat-clap-pat-clap” or “down-up-down-up.” Do this for the first three lines. Before you know it, the students are singing along.
You can ask your students for other steady beat ideas to do during the repeated section.
Try this:
Think, think, think! Think, think, think! What should we do?
If students need help with ideas, offer two choices: Should we do jumping jack jumps or scissor jumps? Should we snap our fingers or pound our fists?
We like to do something special on the last line:
— On Happy New Year! my students like to shake their hands above their heads. Some students like to turn around quickly!
— On Hip hip hooray! students roll their hands, then jump once in place.
For an even bigger challenge, students can do the pat-clap pattern with a partner by patting their own legs, and then “air clapping” both hands with a partner.
Check out this video to see what my students did! Students stand in a circle facing their partner. First they pat their own legs, then clap with their partner. Then they turn to the person on the other side (called a “corner” in folk dance), repeating the pat-clap. They repeat the pattern with their partner, then corner until the Hip hip hooray.
During COVID, every student used a set of sticks, something like the Indian Dandiya dance. This gave students a chance to interact with a partner, but at a distance. Tap my sticks, your sticks, my sticks, your sticks.
Happy New Year 2024! We hope that you keep a song in your heart and a smile on your face. May this year be filled with lots of joy!
Kathy
Happy New Year is one of 15 great songs for kids on Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays. The CD includes a handy attached booklet with lyrics, and is available for teachers in Japan at ETJ Book Service.
The songs are available for download through iTunes. To hear the studio version of this song, go to iTunes, and click on Track #3.
Kathy’s second CD Jump Jump Everyone is filled with songs to get students moving! Songs and chants build English language skills through simple movement activities. They nurture a child’s imagination and creativity. There are beautiful seasonal songs, lively gross motor movement songs, plus effective transitional songs. Grab a scarf and play along. Grown in the young learner classroom, you’ll find that your children will ask for these songs over and over again.
All of Kathy’s music is now available on many streaming platforms, such as Spotify.
Celebrate Thanksgiving with this lively song for children! This song is called “The Turkey Dance.” So use your imaginations and dance like . . . . turkeys!! Get a little silly and have a lot of fun!
Here are the lyrics, which go to the tune of “Turkey in the Straw.”
(Note: The notes in this post seem to have lost their formatting. I hope that you can follow along. My apologies . . . )
For this wonderful “hoedown” song that children LOVE to dance to, download The Turkey Dance on iTunes! You can find it on streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. The arrangement is fun and lively.
And if you want to add an art project, check out Marnie’s blog, Carrots are Orange for some autumn Montessori activities focusing on turkeys. I especially like the Zentangle turkeys from Laura Hutchinson. There are more activities on my Pinterest page.
Have a wonderful day!
Kathy
Here’s a very short clip of my Magic Time students doing “The Turkey Dance.”
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! No matter where we live, we all give thanks this season for the blessings we have.
Kathy Kampa is a teacher, author, and teacher-trainer who specializes in working with young learners. As a former PYP (Primary Years Program) teacher in Tokyo, Japan, she uses a globally-minded and inquiry-based approach to teaching through which students develop 21st-century skills. She also supports the development of English language skills by creating songs, chants, and TPR/movement activities targeted to young learners’ needs.
Kathy and her husband Charles Vilina are also co-authors of Magic Time, Everybody Up, the ELTon award-winning course Oxford Discover, Beehive, and Buzz, all published by Oxford University Press.
If you’re looking for easy-to-sing, easy-to-remember, fun Halloween songs for young learners, you’ve come to the right place! If you’re planning a Halloween party, you’ll find so many songs to use. I’ve been writing songs for my young learners for many years. These songs have grown in my young learner classrooms. I have taught many students over the years, so lots of students have added their ideas to make these songs exactly what you can use in your classroom.
In addition to being fun, each song boosts an English language goal, a music goal, and/or a movement goal. You’ll find lyric notes, Google slides, videos, movement notes and complementary arts activities. Just head over to iTunes to purchase the songs you like best. I hope that you’ll love them and use them for years to come! All of these songs come from my first album Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays.
Click on the link to each of the blog posts.
Skeleton Dance: Students learn body parts as well as directional movements. My students ask to dance this song over and over throughout the year. Once your students learn it, use it as a “Brain Break” song. If you’re having a sports festival, get the whole school dancing to this song!!!
Trick or Treat: I created this fun song to help my Japanese students work on the sound /r/ and /l/. You hear /r/ in “trick or treat” and /l/ in Halloween. Students use functional language, I see a . . . to describe Halloween creatures. Use the Google slides to teach the characters in the song. Add your own Halloween picture cards or your own ideas to create a new version of the song.
After learning the song, we sang it the next time with our own ideas. I placed Halloween picture cards face down in a circle. Students took turns turning them over and singing about that character. You can also hang picture cards around your space.
Use this song to “trick-or-treat” with your students.
Marching Monsters: This song teaches phonemic awareness of initial sounds. It also practices locomotor and axiel movements of marching, skipping, waltzing and jumping. Use the colorful Google slides to teach the characters.
Pumpkin, Pumpkin: Autumn is a time for change, and this song surely demonstrates that! Change is a concept we teach in our young learner classrooms. Our pumpkins change size, growing from small to big. We change our body shape in this song. Pumpkins change into jack-o-lanterns. We change our faces. Our voices change from high, little voices to low, big voices.
I’m a Witch: It’s fun for young learners to use their imaginations to move like different Halloween characters. They can use different locomotor movements from one place to another and change the way they move (smooth/sharp, delicate/ powerful). Grab the free picture cards, too.
I’m gathered a bunch of Halloween ideas on Pinterest, too.
Here’s my YouTube channel with some videos of my students. These songs are from my album Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays. You can grab my music on Spotify and Apple Music!
I love celebrating Halloween with my students! Throughout the entire month of October, we sing songs and use our imaginations. As a teacher of young learners, I find that songs with strong rhythm and repetition stick in students’ brains. Songs that are fun become well loved. I hope that you’ll find my music a great tool for building students’ skills in language and the arts.
If you’re looking for a song about another lesson or topic, send your idea to me at magictimekids@gmail.com.
MagicTimeKids 