Great Halloween Books for Teaching Instruments

With all of the books and activities that are available out there, I thought I would write about two that I have recently used with my students. The reason that I love these two books is because they help young children learn to play small, handheld percussion instruments without having to follow a particular rhythm while imitating real life noises.
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The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

I discovered this book only recently (although I know it is a classic-where have I been!) but I love the musical possibilities that it offers! This book has a repetitive set of patterns that occurs throughout the story as the little old lady meets and is followed by a pair of shoes, a pair of pants, a shirt, a pair of gloves, a hat and big pumpkin head. The sounds that these objects make lend themselves to being played on hand held percussion instruments. 

From the first time that we meet the big shoes, I use drums to illustrate the “clomp, clomp” sound that the shoes make. After this, I use a guiro to show the “wiggle, wiggle” and a maraca or egg shaker to have the shirt shake. Then the students and I do the clapping, nodding and booing on their own. 

Click, Clack, Boo by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin ​

Another great title that lends itself well to this same kind of instrument exploration is this title. What I like to do is assign different instruments however, since the sounds are not the same ones that we have come across in the previous book. I like to use the cabasa for the crunching sound, the guiro for the creaking sound, and a small drum for tapping. I break the class up into three groups, and have them play along with me while I read. Then, I have everyone switch instruments so make sure everyone gets a chance to play.

I hope this adds some more fun lessons into your Halloween themed lesson plans! 

Happy Halloween!

​Polina