I still remember the best Halloween ever from when I was a kid. Candy littered the classroom as my teacher listened to the song “The Five Little Pumpkins.” We eagerly started on our crafts. Gluing Pumpkins down with popsicle sticks and talking about all of the candy and houses we were going to visit that night.
I don’t know about you, but as a kid I LOVED Halloween! There was always something so magical about dressing up for a day and eating as much candy until your stomach hurt.
However, as a teacher, I have come to appreciate all of the fun activities and the patience that adults have during this time of year.
It has been my goal to create an amazing Halloween (and holidays in general) experience for my students.
When I found out that we would be doing Halloween through Distance Learning or Hybrid this year, I was panicked. All of my typical go-to activities for Halloween had to be adapted this year.
Hence I wanted to share these Top 6 “The Five Little Pumpkins” Digital activities. That way you can spend more time with your students on Halloween and less time prepping!
Overall, “Five Little Pumpkins” is such a classic story. And my kids love the adapted “Pete the Cat and the Five Little Pumpkins.” Besides, there are so many great activities for primary students (especially Kindergarten) that compliments the story.
Therefore, here are my Top 7 Digital Activities for the “5 Little Pumpkins” (Pete the Cat version or not) that you can do while Distance Learning.
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Read Aloud or Video
The First “Five Little Pumpkins” Digital Activity that I recommend is reading the story. Hence why leading students off with the actual story is a great way to kick off a cohesive theme.
Whether it’s “The Five Little Pumpkins” or “Pete the Cat and the Five Little Pumpkins,” reading the story kicks off the whole day.
If you are Distance Learning, you could always do a read-aloud OR you can have your students watch the videos.
The biggest perk to having “The Five Little Pumpkins” as your theme this Halloween is that it was originally a song. So there are plenty of videos out there for your students to watch instead.
I found the original “Five Little Pumpkins” video and the “Pete the Cat and the Five Little Pumpkins” video on Youtube.
While reading the story, or the video I like to have the students answer some comprehension questions like:
- “What did the First pumpkin say?”
- “What did the second Pumpkin say?”
- “What did the Third Pumpkin say?”
- “What did the Fourth Pumpkin say?”
- “What did the Fifth Pumpkin say?”
- “What happened after the Fifth Pumpkin said, “We’re Ready to Play?”
- “What was your favorite part?”
I love this story because it is great for sequencing, counting, retelling, or recounting events, and introducing transitional words.
“The 5 Little Pumpkins” Digital Worksheets
You can also use a writing activity for “Five Little Pumpkins” Digital Activity.
Typically, I like to link the writing activity with some of the comprehension questions that I asked during the story.
That way we discussed what we were going to write about even before the students knew about it.
Pretty sneaky, right?
For example, I made these worksheets on Google Slides where students either retell the story through sequencing or tell me their favorite part of the story.
I liked these worksheets because they allow me to differentiate based on the writing skills of my students. Plus they have text boxes ready to go for my students who are Distance Learning.
And if I have students in class, no problem! I can just print them off!
You are welcome to check out my “Five Little Pumpkins” Digital Writing Worksheets or you can create your own!
I also found these “Five Little Pumpkins” Digital Activity Worksheets that would be perfect for Halloween!
- “The Five Little Pumpkins” Digital Writing Activity
- “Five Little Pumpkins” Stem Challenge
- “Five Little Pumpkins” Digital Read Aloud Worksheets
“The 5 Little Pumpkins” Digital Games
Another great activity for “The Five Little Pumpkins” Digital Activities is Digital Games.
I don’t know about your kiddos, but my students love drag and drop activities on Google Slides. I like these “Five Little Pumpkins” Digital Activities because they work on number and letter recognition!
There’s also this Kaboom! Game that is free. This would be perfect to print off and play as a whole group through Google Hangouts or Zoom!
Here are some other amazing “5 Little Pumpkins” Digital Games that I found on Teachers Pay Teachers.
- “Five Little Pumpkins” FREE Kaboom! Activity
- “Five Little Pumpkins” Digital Counting Activity
- Fall Pumpkins Missing Letter Boom Cards
Scavenger Hunt
Another example of a Digital Activity I plan to do with my class this Halloween is a Scavenger Hunt!
If you have read my blog “Spectacular Distance Learning Ideas for ‘The Kissing Hand'” you would have read that I LOVE Scavenger Hunts!
But guess what? Students love them too!
They are such a fun and engaging way to have students interact with the theme.
This year I plan on using these “Five Little Pumpkins Scavenger Hunt Freebie” to hide numbers and pumpkins throughout the classroom. That way when they find a letter we can work on number recognition and counting!
“The 5 Little Pumpkins” Craft Activities
Along with the other “Five Little Pumpkins” Digital Activities, crafts are a great way to get students engaged this Halloween season.
I love doing these with my kids, especially if they are stuff that they have at home or that I can send in a packet ahead of time.
There are a ton of “Five Little Pumpkins” Activities that you can do. But here is a list of my favorites that are low-prep or with resources they can find at home.
- “Five Little Pumpkins” Flipbook
- “Five Little Pumpkins” and Pete the Cat Craft
- “Five Little Pumpkins” Paint Activity
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- Top 10 Amazing Teacher Hacks For Teaching Virtually in 2021
Science Experiment
Another “Five Little Pumpkins” Digital Activity is a Science Experiment.
As a busy elementary teacher, I feel like I don’t get to teach science enough. So when I can, I like to include it wherever I can fit it.
Besides, my students absolutely love when I do a science demonstration.
Hence, I found these great science experiments that you could easily do through Google Hangouts or Zoom!
- 10 Pumpkin Science Experiments for Kids
- Pumpkin Classic Science Experiments with a Twist
- Erupting Pumpkins for Kids – I love this one and I’m using it this year!
Wrapping it up
In summary, we talked about how you could incorporate the following Digital Activities for this Halloween season.
Even though Distance Learning can be stressful, I hope this post helped with some ideas on what you can do with your students during Halloween. That way you can spend less time stressing, and more time being Present with your kids!
What do you plan on doing for Halloween? Comment down below for any ideas I might have missed!
Happy Teaching!
The Present Teacher
