Category: Halloween

Today I would like to highlight two playful books of monsters and skeletons, to add to your Halloween collection.

The 2013 book Romping Monsters, Stomping Monsters, by Jane Yolen and illustrator Kelly Murphy, portrays some very busy monsters. The text will engage 4-7 year olds. "Monsters stretch. Monsters twirl. Monsters catch. Monsters hurl." The action words in the book vary from some easily danced and improvised ideas – hopscotch, teeter, totter, stretch, and twirl. Other words are very literal – eating, playing with balls, etc. 

I would suggest reading the book to your group and then pulling out the strongest movement options to make a dance or improvisational activity. Exploring monsters can lead to talking about big/small, heavy/light, and slow/fast. 

With Halloween Hustle, the 2013 book by Charlotte Gunnufson and illustrator Kevan J. Atteberry, your preschool, kindergarten, and 1st grade students will get in the Halloween spirit. With rhyming words and repetition, a skeleton dances (and keeps falling apart) around town.  

The dance ideas include:

-toe tapping

-twisting and shaking

-shuffling and scuffling feet

-high hops

-jumping

-shimmying, swinging, and swaying

Playing with the repeating words – "Bones scatter! What a clatter! Spine is like a broken ladder!" – the text can inspire exploring falling to the ground or "falling apart movement" from high to low (and angular actions). Teaching students to safely fall to the ground is a great skill, and they love falling.

For both of these books, find some classic Halloween music, whether it is "Monster Mash" or the "Fossils" section of Carnival of the Animals (great for skeletons dancing).

For more Halloween ideas, please click on the subject "Halloween" in the column to the right.

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I stumbled upon this book at Toy Go Round, a used toy and children's books store in Albany, CA. 

Pumpkin Moon by Tim Preston (with illustrations by Simon Bartram) is another great Halloween themed book to use with 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade classes.

In the story, at nighttime pumpkins come alive and go about town. The book can easily inspire spooky, sneaky, quiet movement. I love the use of prepositions in the book – "through the woods….over the highway…..into the city." I envision creating a stealthy group dance with a whole class of children. 

The text is somewhat sparse, but rich enough to easily be a springboard for choreography.

The book is also out of print. Look online to purchase used copies or search your local library.

Have fun!

I know – Halloween is 1.5 months away. I am recommending a few titles now, so that you can grab them early from the library or order them now.

Over the years, I have frequently come back to the book Pumpkin Circle as a springboard in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade classes. Through photos and text, the book shares the story of pumpkins from seed to pumpkin (and even back into the garden, decomposing). I love having the students explore size changes, growth and expansion, twisty tendrils, and more. If you have a gardening program at your school, consider teaming up with the instructor on a small project together.

Around Halloween time, I also love using the book Dem Bones by Bob Barner ("foot bone connected to the ankle bone"). "Dem Bones" is one of the most well-known African American spirituals. I love to read the book to the class, and then create a warm up based on the lyrics. 

You can create a whole "skeleton" dance study – using Dem Bones, Bones: Skeletons and How They Work by Steve Jenkins, and the "Fossils" music from The Carnival of the Animals. Dem Bones can be used as a warm up activity. Bones: Skeletons and How They Work can introduce some basic information to the students. You can lead improvisation activities with the students focusing on and isolating different bones/body parts. As a class, you can create a simple "bone dance" and use the music from The Carnival of the Animals.

I wanted to make a post – nice and early – so that teachers can purchase books or grab them at the library before they are scooped up in Halloween excitement.

Dem Bones by Bob Barner is a classic spiritual song. The hip bone connected to the….. I love reading this to elementary students and then creating a warm up with the words. It is a great way to explore skeletons, bones, and parts of the body. 

Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden by George Levenson and Shmuel Thaler is a clear picture book with many photos about the cycle of a pumpkin. I have created many a dance for kindergarteners with this book as inspiration. I love talking about twisty tendrils and growing vines.