Five Little Pumpkins Rhyme and Felt Story
What you need:
Felt board (e.g., picture frame with black felt backing)
5 pumpkins cut out of orange felt
Fence made of brown felt
Optional: felt pieces for witch, wind, or stars
Fingerplay rhyme “Five Little Pumpkins”
Learning Goals and Standards:
- Language Development: Chanting rhymes, learning new words (fence, wind, witch, Halloween).
- Math Skills: Counting from 1–5, early subtraction in play.
- Motor Skills: Finger movements, clapping, blowing, rolling actions.
- Social Skills: Taking turns, group participation, shared fun.
- Creativity & Imagination: Pretend play as pumpkins in the story.
What you do:
Introduction
Talk with children about pumpkins in fall and at Halloween.
Ask: “What can we do with pumpkins?” (carve them, cook soup, decorate, jack-o’-lanterns).
Show the felt board and the fence. Ask: “Who might be sitting on this fence?”
Activity 1 – Fingerplay
Teach the fingerplay “Five Little Pumpkins”.
Children hold up their fingers and act out the rhyme:
- Thumb = takes a deep breath
- Index finger = laughs like a witch
- Middle finger = shakes head, not happy
- Ring finger = claps hands
- Pinky finger = dances
At the end, children blow like the wind and roll their pumpkins “out of sight."
Activity 2 – Felt Story
Place the five felt pumpkins on the fence, one by one.
Tell the story while moving each pumpkin as the rhyme is spoken.
Children can come up and place or roll a pumpkin down.
At the end, all pumpkins disappear “home” (behind the children’s backs or behind the felt board).
Extensions:
Math: Count together: “How many pumpkins are left?”
Language: Repeat key sentences and invite children to say them aloud.
Creativity: Children can draw or make their own paper pumpkins to retell the story at home.
Five Little Pumpkins
Five little pumpkins sitting on the gate. (Hold up 5 fingers.)
The first one said, “Oh, my it’s getting late.” (Hold up thumb.)
The second one said, “There are witches in the air.” (Hold up index finger.)
The third one said, “But I don’t care.” (Hold up middle finger.)
The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run.” (Hold up ring finger.)
The fifth one said, “I’m ready for some fun.” (Hold up pinky.)
Ooooo! Went the wind, and out went the light. (Blow through hands, then clap.)
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight! (Roll hands behind back.)
