Halloween Songs #2

There are so many great songs you can sing during the Halloween season.  These songs are not written by me but are songs I found over the years that you may have even seen somewhere else.  Of course I may have adapted them slightly by changing words around but I won't call them my own.

The Ghost in The House is sung to the tune 'The Wheels on the Bus'.  A song that is well known and easy to find guitar chords for if you want to play along.  You can make up your own verses with the children or prepare some of your own before singing the song with them.  Try and come up with some actions to make this one more fun for the kids.

If You're a Witch is a Halloween song sung to the tune of 'If you are Happy and You Know it'.  A song everyone knows.  There are so many variations of guitar chords for this one that you really need to find ones you are happy with.  Some are harder than others or just plain complicated while some don't quite sound right.

You can also make up your own verses for this song.  Ask the children what other creepy things they can be and what sounds they make.  You can also use actions or just strange noises.  Try and keep things funny.  Kids always like funny!

I'm Not Afraid is a nice chanting song.  I am pretty sure the melody I use is similar to something else I have heard but right now I can't remember what.  However this is a nice one to chant.  Maybe make up actions that involve stamping, clapping or slapping your legs in time to the chant.  Make up new verses with the children to get them involved and interested.

Lastly, my favourite and a favourite of all the kids I have taught over the years is, The Witch on Halloween.  This is sung to the melody for 'The Farmer's in the Dell'.  Feel free to swap out the characters in this one.  Maybe you are making pumpkins or vampires so use them in the song instead.

This is one is particularly good song for the kids to play along with.  Sit in a circle and pick a Witch.  As you sing her verse she goes around in the center of the circle.  When you finish singing 'wants a cat', the child/witch can then pick herself a cat to go with her.  This continues until you have five children in the middle.  At the end the five go around and scare the rest of the children.  The last person picked (in my version the spider) gets to pick the next witch.

A tip :  If you have 20 kids playing then make sure you leave this song with five rounds so nobody gets left out.  Adapt the song if you have more or less kids.  For example, if I had a full group of all 24 kids I would play the song four times and have 6 verses.  Then all the kids would get a turn.  Make sure they don't pick someone that has already played along.

Another tip : Make headbands/crowns with the characters on or have a witches hat etc.    Then the kids can dress up as they play/sing!

Are there any songs you enjoy singing for Halloween?  Feel free to share!  

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