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Halloween night is upon us! Are you ready? These Halloween poems for kids are a great way to keep learning fun for young children throughout the month of October.
While some older kids love the scary poems of William Shakespeare, the little kids prefer a scary Halloween poem that leaves them looking like grinning goblins.
A fun poem about a black cat, bony bodies, a white ghost, or little bats is as scary as it should be for young people.
Little kids in preschool, kindergarten, first grade, and second grade will love celebrating their favorite holiday (assuming Halloween is it) with these short Halloween poems.
Halloween Poetry
The following poems are not meant to be scary poems about Halloween. Instead, the short poems and songs are to engage kids in fun learning opportunities.
As the kids read, sing, or recite the poems, they are building early language and reading skills.
Poems for kids help build skills such as new vocabulary, receptive and expressive language, rhyming, expression, concepts of print, fluency, and sight word recognition.
Ten Little Skeletons
One little, two little,
three little skeletons.
Four little, five little,
six little skeletons.
Seven little, eight little,
nine little skeletons.
Ten little skeletons dance around!
Get Ten Little Skeletons HERE or on TPT
Halloween
The bats come out.
The cats come out.
The pumpkins come out, too.
The treats come out.
The ghosts come out.
It’s Halloween! Boo!
Get Halloween HERE or on TPT
Ten Little Witches (Tune of Ten Little Indians)
One, little, two, little,
three little witches.
Four little, five little,
six little witches,
Seven little, eight little,
nine little witches.
Ten witches on their brooms!
Get 10 Little Witches HERE or on TPT
Halloween, Halloween
Halloween, Halloween
It’s the scariest time of year.
Halloween, Halloween
The ghosts and goblins are here.
Halloween, Halloween
There are witches circling in the sky,
With their crackling voices,
that sound like a fire.
Five Little Pumpkins
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, “Oh my, it’s getting late!”
The second one said, “There are witches in the air.”
The third one said, “But, we don’t care!”
The fourth one said, “We’re ready for some fun!”
The fifth one said, “Let’s run and run and run!”
Then, WOOOO went the wind,
and OUT when the lights,
And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!
Get 5 Little Pumpkins HERE or on TPT
I Saw a Little Ghost
I saw a little ghost,
and he saw me too.
I said, “Hello”,
and he said, “Boo”!
Use these printable poems and other sight word activities to build early reading skills in a fun way!
Five Little Bats
Five little bats came flying to the door.
One flew away, and that left four.
Four little bats hiding in a tree.
One flew away, and that left three.
Three little bats looking down at you.
One flew away, and that left two.
Two little bats hiding form the sun.
One flew away, and that left one.
One little bat hanging all alone.
He flew away, and that left none!
Get 5 Little Bats HERE or on TPT
Skeleton Parade
(by Jack Prelutsky)
The skeletons are out tonight,
they march about the street,
with bony bodies, bony heads
and bony hands and feet.
Bony bony bony bones
with nothing in between.
Up and down and all around
they march on Halloween.
Free Sleeping Bats Poem
Bats are sleeping,
Bats are sleeping,
Upside down,
Upside down,
Sleeping in the daytime,
Waiting for the moon to shine,
To fly around.
To fly around.
Get this Free Sleeping Bats poem HERE
Being a Monster
Being a monster
must be neat!
You don’t need costumes
to trick or treat!
(by Rusty Fischer)
Halloween is Here
It’s that time of year,
when Halloween is here!
With ghosts, graveyards, and spooky tombs,
And kids walking around in costumes.
Is it spooky, or is it funny?
Do you dare ask the mummy?
Get Halloween is Here HERE or on TPT
Halloween is Done
Time for bed,
my little one.
Halloween is
finally done.
(by Rusty Fischer)
Halloween is Near
Halloween, Halloween
The time is near.
Time for ghosts and goblins, but have no fear.
Put out your bucket, and I’ll drop in a treat.
But, you better watch how much you eat!
Get Halloween is Near HERE or on TPT
Old McDonald Had a Haunted House
If you don’t think it’s a good idea to take your kids to a haunted house tonight, this spooky Halloween poem will do the trick!
Old McDonald had a haunted house.
E, I, E, I, Boo!
And in the house there was a black bat.
E, I, E, I, Boo!
With a flap flap here,
and a flap flap there.
Here a flap, there a flap,
everywhere a flap, flap.
Old McDonald had a haunted house.
E, I, E, I, Boo!
(Replace bat with a black cat, ghosts, an old witch, little goblins, etc)
Witches and Mummies
(Sung to the classic nursery rhyme, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)
Witches, mummies,
Bats and ghosts,
In the dim light of the moon.
Big pumpkins, little pumpkins, scary ones, too.
Watch out for the ghosts,
They shout, “Boo!”
Get Witches and Mummies HERE or on TPT
Bones in Stones
Hurry, Hurry,
It’s time to scurry.
Goblins and bats,
ghosts, and black cats.
Watch out for the bones,
they are laying in the stones.
They might be pretend,
but I’m not staying until the end.
Have a Happy Halloween, friends!
Get Bones in Stones HERE or on TPT
Fun Way to Build Simple Halloween Poems
If you love the Halloween poems for kids shown above, you are going to love these interactive poems that get the kids a little bit more engaged in reading.
Halloween Build a Poems come with a full color printable poem, and large print word cards. The kids use the word cards to build the original poem.
After sequencing the words in the correct order, they get to recite the poem to their peers or family – perhaps a little sister or little brother.
There are two Build a Poems for the Halloween season. Keep one poem in a center for two weeks, allowing them to rotate through the center at least once a week. This way, they will get to practice building the poem at least two times.
For the last two weeks during the month of October, switch to the other Halloween poem.
Linda A said “My class loves retelling stories and poems in a pocket chart. This had great pictures and my students really enjoyed it.”
Leslie G purchased the Five Little Pumpkins Build a Poem, and said “Yay! I’ve been looking for this! You’ve saved me a lot of time! My kids love it!”
Read A Bedtime Story after a Halloween Party
After attending a Fall festival to make a Halloween craft, or spending the whole night trick-or-treating, read your littles a fun bedtime story.
Disney has a kid-friendly book to share the spirit of love for Halloween spirits – a mini book that’s sure to not have your child away in the middle of the night scared from horror poems.
Originally titled, My First Halloween Bedtime Storybook should sit on the window sill as a celebration of Autumn.
Before you go, here are more blog posts you will enjoy:
25 Popular Nursery Rhymes Songs for Kids
35 Fun Halloween Facts for Kids
