Pumpkins  —what a delightful word.   Say it five times and try not to smile.     Yes?

Five Little Pumpkins makes easy drama   …  five solo parts every time its acted out!   Change up the solo part by having students write new couplets to fit the rhythms … 

Ask students to draw their favourite part of the rhyme, and turn them into a video with spoken parts done by class members.

I’ve taken Peter Peter  and   Humpty Dumpty and twisted them a wee bit  …   challenge junior students to re-write other nursery rhymes.

Many nursery rhymes begin as subversive social commentary.      Older students may be enticed back to these rhymes when let in on their secret history    e.g.  Humpty was a cannon!    Why include nursery rhymes in a music curriculum?    Their metre and simple words help re-enforce basic rhythms and beat.   Widespread use provides a base of “common” rhymes known across families.   Their back stories are part of history, part of the way music is entwined in culture.     Oh, and they’re fun.

Hallowe’en Songs: 

Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat                                                                        Old Mrs. Witch                                                                                                    This Is the Way the Witches Fly                                                                    This Black Cat                                                                                                    I’m Gonna Be a Pirate

and for Active Listening/Dancing:     Fossils