Halloween Session Ideas That Spark Imagination and Engagement!
Spooky season has arrived and it is my, Ms. Ava, favorite time of year. I love Halloween because it is a season where everyone taps into their creativity and imagination to have some fun! I have gathered up my favorite session plans for different age groups to share with you to spark theatrical, musical Halloween play!
Please double-check with caretakers and teachers that it is OK to bring Halloween themes into sessions, as it may not be an appropriate topic within some cultures, religions, and families.
Take a Classic and Turn it Spooky!
I love taking my clients' favorite warm-up songs and putting them in a minor key to make them fit the spooky theme! For example, you can try:
“If You’re Happy and You Know It” turning it to “If You're Spooky and you know it!”
You and the students can choose different Halloween characters to be.
For example: If you're spooky and you know it, Boo like a Ghost, "boo! boo!"
If you're spooky and you know it, howl like a werewolf “Awhoooo!”
Turning the Hokey Pokey into the “Zombie boogie!”
Again, just put it in a minor key and move around your Zombie body parts like you usually would with Hokey Pokey!
Roll the Halloween Dice
For some more visual prompts, we love these dice that you can put different ideas of Halloween characters on and students can take turns rolling for us to know what character we should be.
These may get silly! I encourage you to commit to the fun of what these different sounds can be and lean into your clients' ideas. I won't lie... it can be pretty chaotic to have a room full of people howling like wolves BUT it's a great way to build rapport, social play, engagement, and so many foundational skills in the therapeutic space!
Witches Brew
This is my FAVORITE song this time of year! The song is called "Witches Brew" by Hap Palmer. I love this as an interactive way to support creativity and theatrically facilitate social interaction, turn-taking, self-expression, following multi-step directions, and initiating or reciprocating communication.
Listen to the song here - I play it on guitar with just C, F, and G chords.
For the ingredients of the Witches Brew you can use visuals like these ones on Teachers Pay Teachers for those who need more concrete visuals. You can also use egg shakers!
Everyone gets an egg shaker, and we use our imaginations to decide what it can magically turn into when it gets added to the stew.
Make sure to stir that ingredient in after the child adds it!
Take turns going around the circle adding ingredients and singing the song. You can even try to use your memory skills as a group to remember what everyone added - supporting working and short-term memory.
Pass the Pumpkin
This is a great one to practice turn taking, joint social engagement, teamwork, communication, and attention
You can hear the song and see how it goes here on our YouTube.
Take an object and pass it around the circle until the music stops!
When the music stops, you can get creative and ask different Halloween questions like "what's your favorite: candy, Halloween costume, or fall movie?"
You could also have someone pick their favorite dance move for the group to do!
And More!
For more Halloween fun check out our Free Resource Portal at www.dynamiclynks.com/resources. We have dozens of ideas and Halloween-themed song-wring sheets.
You can also check out this playlist we made on our YouTube channel with songs and interactive videos to use all season long!
I hope this has sparked some creativity for you to bring in super engaging music in your sessions to support your clients' goals!
Stay Tuned for more updates and musical fun at www.dynamiclynks.com
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