Songs for Halloween O-S

Old mother witch

Old witch, old witch

Once I had a pumpkin

One candle, one light

One little ghost

One little skeleton

One little, two little, three little witches

Out on Halloween

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Head

Pumpkin, pumpkin round and fat

Queen Nefertiti / The mummy

Roll, roll, roll your pumpkin

Shake them bones, two at a time

Six ghosts lurking

Souling song

Stirring the brew

Also see

Ten little pumpkins

Find more songs for Halloween at: Songs for Halloween A-M

Last updated: 9/27/2021 10:37 AM

The songs below are part of ‘Away we go’ compiled, adapted and illustrated by Dany Rosevear

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Old mother witch O

A circle game for Halloween. One child the witch or wizard keeps the beat with a stick (broomstick or wand) Those in the circle clap to the beat, On the word ‘Wham!’ the child in the circle chooses another to take their place by tapping them gently on the shoulder. Sing wizard if a boy is chosen.

Old mother witch,

Couldn’t sew a stitch,

Rode her broomstick round and round,

Took another witch to town.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Wham!

Old father wizard,

Couldn’t find his lizard,

Waved his wand round and round,

Took a wizard off to town.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Wham!

Old witch, old witch 🔊

A comic Halloween song written by Robert Macgimsey (1898-1979).

It is based on a traditional playground game ‘Chickama, chickama craney crow’ which I have sung at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLx1I5n5rzQ . You can find out more about its origins at: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=4003 .

It will also be familiar to many from the singing of the wonderful Burl Ives.

Chicken my chicken my craney crow,

I went to the well to wash my toe,

But when I got there the water was low,

What time is it, old witch, old witch,

What time is it old witch?

Old witch, old witch, she lives in a ditch,

And combs her hair with a hickory switch.

She lives on snails and nails and flies

And if you go near she'll wobble her eyes,

Oh, she'll wobble her eyes! Oh, she'll wobble her eyes!

Chicken my chicken my craney cran,

I went to the well to wash my hand,

When I got there the water was sand,

What time is it, old witch, old witch?

What time is it old witch?

Old witch, old witch, she lives in a ditch,

And combs her hair with a hickory switch.

She's fat as a feather but tight in the middle

And when she laughs she sounds like a fiddle.

Oh, she sounds like a fiddle! Oh, she sounds like a fiddle!

Chicken my chicken my craney crase,

I went to the well to wash my face,

And when I got there the water was lace,

What time is it, old witch, old witch?

What time is it old witch?

Old witch, old witch, she lives in a ditch,

And combs her hair with a hickory switch.

She sleeps in a bed with straw and corn

And when she snores she sounds like a horn,

Oh, she sounds like a horn! Oh, she sounds like a horn!

Chicken my chicken my craney cregs,

I went to the well to wash my legs,

And when I got there the water was dregs,

What time is it, old witch, old witch?

What time is it old witch?

Old witch, old witch, she lives in a ditch,

And combs her hair with a hickory switch.

And as I said she's very very fat

And when she walks she jumps like a cat,

Oh, she jumps like a cat! Oh, she jumps like a cat!

Once I had a pumpkin 🔊

A Halloween hand play from Dr. Jean’s wonderful compendium of songs.

Hollowing a pumpkin and carving out pumpkin features is one of the most exciting Halloween activites.

1. Place arms round head like a pumpkin. 2. Point to identify parts of the face. 3. Draw a jack-o-lantern in the air. 4. Shape parts of the face.

Oh, once I had a pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin,

Oh, once I had a pumpkin with no face at all.

With no eyes and no nose and no mouth and no teeth.

Oh, once I had a pumpkin with no face at all.

So I made a jack-o-lantern, jack-o-lantern, jack-o-lantern.

So I made a jack-o-lantern with a big funny face.

With big eyes and a big nose and big mouth and big teeth.

So I made a jack-o-lantern with a big funny face.

One candle, one light 🔊

A song for Halloween and any other celebration where candles are used.

A simple hand play.

For effect this song could be sung adding more voices each time.

This as an adaptable song and could easily be used for one celebration only finishing when the significant number is reached, such as eight for Hannukah.

Find out more about Kwanzaa here.

Words and music by Dany Rosevear inspired by one of my favourite classroom activity at Christmas, candle dipping; the class walked round the table singing candle and Christmas songs as they waited their turn to dip and watched their candle growing.

1. Raise another finger each time a new verse is sung. 2. Point to identify parts of the face. 3. Draw a jack-o-lantern in the air. 4. Blow the top of candle fingers at the end of each verse.

One candle, one light, one flickering flame,

Lit up our pumpkin when Halloween came!

Chorus: Let it glow, let it glow, let it glow! X2

Two candles, two lights, two flickering flames,

Lit up the window when night time came!

Chorus: Let them glow, let them glow, let them glow! X2

Three candles, three lights, three flickering flames,

Lit up our table when Thanksgiving came! Chorus

Four candles, four lights, four flickering flames,

Lit up the wreath when Advent time came! Chorus

Five candles, five lights, five flickering flames,

Lit up my cake when birthday time came! Chorus

Chorus: And I’ll blow, and I’ll blow, and I’ll blow!

1,2,3, BLOW!

Six candles, six lights, six flickering flames,

Lit up my crown when Saint Lucia came! Chorus

Seven candles, seven lights, seven flickering flames,

Lit up the table when Kwanzaa time came! Chorus

One little ghost 🔊

A number hand play.

Music by Dany Rosevear.

1. Undulate hand through the air. 2. Place finger to forehead. 3. Hold up one finger, then move hand like spider. 4. Hold up two fingers, then brush fingers from like whiskers. 5. Hold up three fingers, then place forefingers together over head.

6. Hold up four fingers, then eyes with thumb and forefingers. 7. Hold up five fingers, then hook thumbs of both hands and flap fingers.

One little ghost flew down the street.

"I wonder," he said, "What I will meet-

One hairy spider,

Two black cats,

Three wild witches with pointy hats,

Four old owls in a hollow tree,

And five brother bats to fly with me!”

One little skeleton 🔊

Words by Lucille F Wood. A good excuse for lots of creepy noises.

Move like Halloween characters.

Alternatively use hand movements: Verse 1. Claw like hands go up and down, 2. Make pointed hat above head and then broomstick flying. 3. Put one fist on top of the other. 4. Make scary faces.

One little skeleton hopping up and down,

Hopping up and down, hopping up and down,

One little skeleton hopping up and down,

For this is Halloween!

Two little witches flying through the air…

Three little pumpkins rolling down the hill…

Four little goblins stomping down the street…

Five little children playing trick-or-treat…(ding dong)

For this is Halloween!

One little, two little, three little witches O

The first verse is a finger and hand play song; the second verse is more suited to older children!

Hold up three fingers one at a time. One hand flies and the then the other. Hand slides down then throw out hands and rub with glee and a wicked chuckle!

One little, two little, three little witches,

Flying over haystacks, zooming over ditches,

Sliding down moonbeams without any hitches,

Hey, ho, Hallowe'en's here!

One little, two little, three little witches.

Flew over barb wire and tore their britches.

Had to go home and get some stitches.

Hey, ho, Hallowe'en's here!

Out on Halloween O

A lovely spooky game in the minor key. Add more characters to the song as the fancy takes you.

Children each choose a Halloween character and move in and out of each other in role without out touching. Stop opposite a partner on the last line and scare each other. At the end of the song ask who would like to show off their character and allow the audience to guess what they might be.

Ghosts and ghouls and skeletons,

Witches, toads and wizards,

Prowl about on Halloween,

Catching bats and lizards;

Prowl about, prowl about,

Catching bats and lizards.

Chorus

Out, out, out and about,

Out on Halloween!

Jack-o’-lanterns, goblins, monsters,

Scarecrows, owls and spiders,

Trick or treat on Halloween,

In and out the houses;

Trick or treat, trick or treat,

In and out the houses.

Chorus

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Head 🔊

What a wonderful set of recipes to absorb some of the waste from Halloween night!

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Head,

Eats pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread,

Pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cake,

And pumpkin cookies freshly baked;

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Head,

Full of pumpkins, you're well fed!!

Pumpkin pumpkin round and fat O

A circle game for Halloween. The dance below is the same one I use for ‘Bow wow wow, whose dog art thou?’

http://singinggamesforchildren.com/A%20Cluster%202.1%20HSAAWG/HSAAWG%20web%201-5%20creatures.htm

Place hands on hips and stamp feet; left, right, left.

1. Shake finger at each other.

2. Hold hands, walk four steps round exchanging places.

3. Stamp twice then jump to make a half turn and face new partner.

Repeat this sequence round the circle each time meeting and greeting each new partner with a smile – it comes naturally!

Last verse: jump to first partner, shake hands.

Pumpkin, pumpkin, round and fat,

Turn into a jack-o-lantern

Just like that!

Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin pie,

Yummy, yummy, in my tummy,

Pumpkin pie!

Queen Nefertiti / The mummy 🔊

By anonymous. I remember this one from BBC Radio 4s ‘Poetry Corner’ broadcast Autumn 1968. It was also published in ‘The Anthology of Children's Literature’ published 1935 by Edna Johnson et al.

Spin a coin, spin a coin,

All fall down;

Queen Nefertiti

Stalks through the town.

Over the pavements

Her feet go clack,

Her legs are as tall

As a chimney stack;

Her fingers flicker

Like snakes in the air,

The walls split open

At her green-eyed stare;

Her voice is thin

As the ghosts of bees;

She will crumble your bones,

She will make your blood freeze.

Spin a coin, spin a coin,

All fall down;

Queen Nefertiti

Stalks through the town.

Roll, roll, roll your pumpkin 🔊

Cheer up the neighbourhood for Halloween. A simple hand play.

1. Roll fists round each other. Pretend to carve a face on your hand. Pretend to place it on the ground.

Roll roll roll your pumpkin,

Roll it from the store,

Bring it home and carve a face,

And put it at your door.

Shake them bones, two at a time 🔊

Learn to group and clap beats with this partner song. The chorus is in marching time and the verse in waltz time.

From BBC Schools TV ‘Music time’ broadcast in the late 1980s .

Chorus: Slap knees alternately ‘left, right, left right’ and stamp feet. Verse: Slap knees with both hands and clap twice.

Shake them bones, two at a time,

And stamp your feet together.

Josey Brown she went to town,

For to buy a pony,

When she tried to ride that nag

She found it was too boney.

Six ghosts lurking O

Possibly an Irish song for Hallowe’en?? In groups of six crouch down and take turns to jump up and shout BOO!

Hold up six fingers and fold one finger down each time. Waggle relevant finger and shout BOO! each time.

Six ghosts lurking in the shadow of the door,

But if one should jump out at us, BOO!

Be absolutely sure,

There’ll be five ghosts lurking in the shadow of the door.

Five ghosts…

Four ghosts…

Three ghosts…

Two ghosts…

One ghost lurking in the shadow of the door

But if one should jump out at us BOO!

Be absolutely sure

There’ll be—

No ghosts lurking in the shadow of the door. PHEW!!!

Souling song O

Once a year on All Souls Day, November 2^nd children and the poor would go from door to door asking for ‘soul cakes’ and other things such as clothes food and money in return for prayers to ensure a brief stay in Purgatory^.‘Souling’ was the predecessor of ‘trick or treating’ for Hallowe’en.

A soul, a soul, a soul cake!

Please, good missus, a soul cake!

An apple, a pear, a plum or a cherry,

Any good thing to make us merry.

One for Peter, two for Paul,

Three for Him that made us all.

The lanes are very dirty, my shoes are very thin.

I've got a little pocket to put a penny in.

If you haven't got a penny, a ha' penny will do.

If you haven't got a ha' penny, then God bless you.

Stirring the brew 🔊

There’s nothing like a fright on Halloween night! Let children have fun suggesting ingredients for the grisly stew.

Stir pot. Tiptoe slowly, one step for each note; finish with a fearsome stance and a loud ‘Boo!’ Take suggestions for next ingredient ready to stir once again.

Stirring and stirring and stirring the brew.

Oooo-ooo! Oooo-ooo!

Stirring and stirring and stirring the brew.

Oooo-ooo! Oooo-ooo!

Tip-toe, Tip-toe, Tip-toe, Boo!

What shall we put in the witches stew?

Oooo-ooo! Oooo-ooo!

We’ll put a snake (bat/snail/mouse) in, yes, that will do!

Oooo-ooo! Oooo-ooo!

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