Boo-tastic Halloween! - A Storytime Outline

My Halloween storytime was actually on Halloween! The children were invited to come dressed up. If one didn't have a costume I offered them to wear one of my foam princess crowns or bunny years from my professional collection. The books could have been more stellar (or perhaps I needed more interested from the kids?), but the songs, rhymes and activities was the funnest part!

T = Toddler Storytime
P = Preschool Storytime

BOOKS

Trick or Treat Countdown written by Patricia Hubbard and illus. by Michael Letzig (T)

Sheep Trick or Treat written by Nancy Shaw and illus. Margot Apple (T)

I'm The Scariest Thing in the Castle written and illus. by Keven Sherry (T)
This is a perfect book for storytime! I had the great fortune to find a pack of Halloween finger puppets that included a bat that looked exactly like the bat in the story! I read the book with the finger puppet on my finger!

Skeleton Hiccups written by Margery Cuyler  and illus. by S. D. Schindler (P)
I thought that this book would be good for the program, but the children weren't as interested as I was hoping they would me. It's still a great book for reading with a kid though!

Halloween Surprise written by Corinne Demas and illus. R. W. Alley (P)
This is a fun book, especially if you're familiar with Valentine Surprise. 

Pumpkin Eye written and illus. by Denise Fleming (P)

SONGS & RHYMES

Opening Rhyme: Open, Shut Them (T, P)
(follow actions)
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Give a little clap
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Lay them in your lap
Creep them, creep them up to your chin
Open your mouth wide, but don't put your fingers in!
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Give a big clap
Open, shut them
Lay them in your lap.

Pumpkin, Pumpkin What Do You See? (T)
Pumpkin, Pumpkin, what do you see?
I see a Jack'O Lantern looking at me!

Jack'O Lantern, Jack'O Lantern, what do you see?
I see a Purple Bat looking at me!

Purple Bat, Purple Bat, what do you see?
I see a Black Cat looking at me!

Black Cat, Black Cat, what do you see?
I see a White ghost looking at me!
Whoooooooo!
Source: Storytime Source Page

If You're A Skeleton and You Know It (T, P)
tune: If You're Happy and You Know It
If you're a skeleton and you know it, rattle your bones (shake your body as if you rattle)
If you're a skeleton and you know it, rattle your bones
If you're a skeleton and you know it
Then your bones will surely show it
If you're a skeleton and you know it, rattle your bones

Continue with other lines
If you're a cat and you know it, say "Meow.." ... then your meow will surely show it
If you're a bat and you know it, flap your wings ... then your wings will surely show it
If you're a wolf and you know it, give a howl ... then your howl will surely show it
If you're a ghost and you know it, just say, "BOO!" ... then you're BOO! will surely show it
Source: Storytime Source Page

The Haunted House (T, P)
The ghost in the house goes "Boo! Boo! Boo!"
Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo!
The ghost in the house goes "Boo! Boo! Boo!"
On Halloween.

continue with:
The mice go "Squeak, squeak, squeak"
The cats go "Meow, meow, meow"
The witches go "ha ha ha"
The monsters go "rawr, rawr, rawr"
The bats go "ee ee ee"
Source: Preschool Education 

Closing Rhyme: Touch Your Nose (T, P)
(follow actions)

Touch your nose

Touch your chin

That's the way this game begins

Touch your eyes

Touch your knees

Now pretend you're going to sneeze!

Aaachooooo!

Touch your hair

Touch one ear

Touch your two red lips right here

Touch your elbow where it ends

And that's the way this touch game ends.

FLANNEL BOARD

The Haunted House (T, P)
For the song I made our characters! Even thought the witch is ugly (how appropriate, right?) I'm still impressed that I managed to make it! I liked the, ghost, the bat and the monster the most!

Skeleton Dress Up (T, P)
See Activity below.

CRAFT

Jack'O Lantern Decorating (T)
The toddlers got to glue on a faces onto a pumpkin shape. It was simple and lots of fun.

Flying Bat Marionette (P)
The preschoolers took their bat shape, made from construction paper and glue on googly eyes and foam teeth. They then taped a length of yarn to the back and tied it to a craft stick. If you moved the stick around it made the bat flitter-flutter and fly!

ACTIVITY

Skeleton Dress Up (T, P)
To make a skeleton I found a cartoon template online and blue it up a bit to make him about 18inches in height. His arms, skull, rib cage, and legs are separate pieces, which allowed me more freedom if I ever needed to have more fun. To make it exciting for the children I made clothes and accessories for them to put on him. By the way, I named him Sal.

PICTURES

There are so many pictures from this program!

 

Skeleton Dress Up flannel activity,
Created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2011
There is suppose to be a poodle skirt, but it went missing!

The Haunted House flannel board,
Created by Dorothy WP-CC, 2011

Finger puppets perfect for Pumpkin, Pumpkin What Do You See?
For the first part, I turned the Jack'O Lantern puppet around to be a regular pumpkin.
I made the Wolf and Owl puppet, obviously.
The Purple Bat puppet was perfect for Kevin Sherry's book
I'm the Scariest Thing in the Castle

My cupcake! I dressed in my black and white work clothes,
placed cat ears on my head, and wore this beauty on my wrist
(it has a ring in the back for wear)! Who was I?
The cat from If You Give a Cat a Cupcake!