Rhymes and Poems Archives -Imaginations Running Wild-

Here are some cute autumn-themed finger and action rhymes for preschoolers. Get ready for falling autumn leaves, pumpkins, and flying bats! Includes fun rhymes to get those fingers wiggling with “Five Little Leaves” and “Five Little Pumpkins” and action rhymes to help with coordination.

Rhymes

–FIVE LITTLE LEAVES (Finger Rhyme)–

Five little leaves falling from a tree. (hold up 5 fingers)

The first one says, “You can’t catch me!” (wiggle thumb)

The second one says, “There’s a chill in the air!” (wiggle pointer finger)

The third one says, “But we don’t care!” (wiggle middle finger)

The fourth one says “Hello” to the ground. (wiggle ring finger)

The fifth one says, “We make a crunching sound!” (wiggle pinky)

Whoosh goes the wind, blowing all around. (wave hand around)

And the five little leaves land safe and sound. (hand open flat, palm facing up)

–FIVE LITTLE PUMPKINS (Finger Rhyme)–

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate. (hold up 5 fingers)
The first one said “Oh my it’s getting late.” (wiggle thumb)
The second one said “There are witches in the air!” (wiggle pointer finger)
The third one said “But we don’t care!” (wiggle middle finger)
The fourth one said “Let’s run and run and run!” (wiggle ring finger)
The fifth one said “I’m ready for some fun.” (wiggle pinky)
Ooooooooooooo went the wind and out went the light (wave hand around)
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight. (roll hands in fist over fist motion)

**–PUMPKIN, PUMPKIN–**

Pumpkin, pumpkin
Sat on a wall
(hold one arm straight in front of you to be the wall then place a fist on top of wall)
Pumpkin, pumpkin
tip and fall

(rock fist back and forth and fall off “wall”)

Pumpkin, pumpkin

roll down the street

(hand over hand rolling motion)

Pumpkin, pumpkin

don’t squish my feet!

(throw arms up in the air, and shout)

–PUMPKIN CHANT (clap your hands in time with the chant)–

Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin bread

Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin head

Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin pie

Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin eye

Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin stew

Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin BOO!

SONGS

-BATS ARE FLYING-

(tune of Are You Sleeping?)

Bats are flying, bats are flying
In the sky, in the sky
A-swooping and a-soaring
A-swooping and a-soaring
Way up high, way up high

(c) Imaginations Running Wild

-If You Are You Know It Fall Leaves Edition-

Verse 1:

If you’re happy and you know it, catch the leaves. (clap hands)

If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it. (point to smile)

If you’re happy and you know it, catch the leaves. (clap hands)

Verse 2:

If you’re happy and you know it, crunch the leaves. (stomp feet)

If you’re happy and you know it, crunch the leaves. (stomp feet)

If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it. (point to smile)

If you’re happy and you know it, crunch the leaves. (stomp feet)

Verse 3:

If you’re happy and you know it, sweep the leaves. (make sweeping motion)

If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it. (point to smile)

If you’re happy and you know it, sweep the leaves. (make sweeping motion)

Verse 4:

If you’re happy and you know it, do all 3. (clap, stomp, sweep)

If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it. (point to smile)

If you’re happy and you know it, do all 3. (clap, stomp, sweep)

If You're Happy and You Know It Fall Leaf Song Lyrics — Fall Leaf Song

Rhymes and Poems, STEM, Teaching themes

St. Patrick’s Day Preschool Theme

February 18, 2024March 2, 2024 Jennifer

My family loves St. Patrick’s Day! Every year the leprechauns visit and stir up some trouble while we are sleeping. It is such a fun adventure to see what they got into during the night! My son always makes a leprechaun trap that we leave out, but so far, the leprechauns have outsmarted us! Even if leprechauns don’t come make mischief at your home, you can still get into the spirit by wearing green and incorporating some of these fun St. Patrick’s Day preschool theme books, activities, and worksheets into your little one’s learning.

Preschool St. Patrick’s Day Theme Resources–

BOOKS

St. Patrick’s Day — 17 stories about leprechauns, St. Patrick’s Day, shamrocks, and lucky four-leaf clovers!

Rainbows — 5 stories about rainbows!

CRAFTS

Paper Chain Pot O’ Gold Rainbow: form a rainbow out of a paper chain and hang your pot of gold from the end.

Leprechaun Paper Bag Puppet: create a cute leprechaun puppet from a paper bag and construction paper.

Tissue Paper Rainbow: make an awesome rainbow out of tissue paper, cotton balls, and construction paper!

Shamrock Friend: print out the free template to make your own shamrock friend craft.

Rainbow Cloud: make a cute cloud rainbow craft out of a paper plate and crepe paper.

RHYMES

Five Little Leprechauns: In this cute little rhyme, the leprechauns are on the hunt for a rainbow. Try this one with your preschooler and see if they find their rainbow!

Five Little Shamrocks: Find out what shamrocks need to grow.

Leprechaun, Leprechaun: movement rhyme set to the tune of Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear.

STEM

Edible Rainbow: Make a free-standing rainbow out of marshmallows, a pipe cleaner, and cereal. This a yummy and fun STEM activity!

Color Green Hunt: Take a look around your home for green things. Try and find something green that you can wear, a green fruit or vegetable that you eat, something green to play with, and something green for drawing or coloring. What other green things can you find?

WORKSHEETS

Clover Counting: color the number of clovers as shown (#1-5).

St. Patrick’s Day Number Matching: Draw a line from the number to the box with the same amount of pictures.

“I Spy” St. Patrick’s Day: Count how many of each picture you spy.

Follow the Line: Find out which leprechaun finds the rainbow by following the lines.

Leprechaun Hat Maze: Make your way through the leprechaun’s hat!

Rainbow Tracing: Trace the letters in the word Rainbow and then color the picture.

St. Patrick’s Day Tracing: Trace all of the letters in the words St. Patrick’s Day and then color the shamrock.

Coloring Sheets: 3 St. Patrick’s Day coloring pages.

Rhymes and Poems

St. Patrick’s Day Rhymes and Poems

February 24, 2023February 28, 2023 Jennifer

Here are three St. Patrick’s Day / leprechaun rhymes and poems for preschoolers! Includes a limerick, an action rhyme, and a fingerplay rhyme for lots of fun!

Un-Lucky

There once was a leprechaun named Lucky.

His favorite toy was his yellow stuffed ducky.

A storm rained hard,

making mud in the yard.

And when he dropped his toy, it got yucky.

Leprechaun, Leprechaun (action rhyme)

Leprechaun, leprechaun turn around.

Leprechaun, leprechaun touch the ground.

Leprechaun, leprechaun dance a reel.

Leprechaun, leprechaun laugh and squeal.

Leprechaun, leprechaun pick a clover.

Leprechaun, leprechaun bend on over.

Leprechaun, leprechaun reach up high.

Leprechaun, leprechaun wave goodbye.

5 Little Shamrocks (Finger Rhyme)

Five little shamrocks growing happily. (hold up hand)

The first one said, “Three leaves have we. ” (wiggle thumb)

The second one said, “They are the color green.” (wiggle pointer finger)

The third one said, “They’re the prettiest I’ve ever seen!” (wiggle middle finger)

The fourth one said, “And they’re heart shaped too.” (wiggle ring finger)

The fifth one said, “This rhyme is through.” (wiggle pinky)

I hope you enjoyed my St. Patrick’s Day Rhymes and Poems! Check out my rhymes page for more fun action rhymes, fingerplays, and poems for preschoolers: https://imaginationsrunningwild.com/finger-rhymes-and-other-poems/

Rhymes and Poems

Five Little Robots Rhyme

January 12, 2023January 12, 2023 Jennifer

My son has been learning nursery rhymes and he is really enjoying these cute little poems. He loves robots and these older Mother Goose rhymes just don’t have any robots in them. I made up this Five Little Robots rhyme for him so he could have a special robot poem to memorize. Turn this into a finger play by moving one finger per robot when they get to say their line. For more action rhymes, finger plays, and poems, check out my collection: https://imaginationsrunningwild.com/finger-rhymes-and-other-poems/.

FIVE LITTLE ROBOTS

Five little robots looking at their gears.

The first one said, “Let’s give three cheers.”

The second one said, “Beep, beep, beep.”

The third one said, “Meep, meep, meep.”

The fourth one said, “Bong, bong, bong.”

The fifth one said, “Let’s get moving along!”

Rhymes and Poems, Winter

“Frozen” Finger Family Rhyme

December 3, 2022December 2, 2022 Jennifer

Here’s a fun twist on the Finger Family song–instead of saying “daddy finger,” “mommy finger,” etc., call your fingers one of the main characters from the movie “Frozen!” Go through the rhyme together once to practice it, then see how fast you can you do it 🙂 Find more fun rhymes: https://imaginationsrunningwild.com/finger-rhymes-and-other-poems/

Frozen Finger Family Rhyme:

Elsa finger, Elsa finger, where are you?

“Here I am, here I am. How do you do?” (wiggle thumb)

Anna finger, Anna finger, where are you?

“Here I am, here I am. How do you do?” (wiggle pointer finger)

Kristoff finger, Kristoff finger, where are you?

“Here I am, here I am. How do you do?” (wiggle middle finger)

Sven finger, Sven finger, where are you?

“Here I am, here I am. How do you do?” (wiggle ring finger)

Olaf finger, Olaf finger, where are you?

“Here I am, here I am. How do you do?” (wiggle pinky finger)

Love Frozen?

If you have a Frozen fan at home and are looking for more Frozen-themed fun then check out these activities:

Frozen-Inspired Windsock: create a sparkly snowflake windsock inspired by the movie Frozen!

Snowflake Wand: decorate a sparkly snowflake wand and use it to sprinkle winter magic all around!

Make your own fake snow by combing shaving cream and baking soda! This science experiment is “snow” much fun to make. Your preschooler will love playing with their fake snow.

Snowflake Number Coloring (#1-10): find all of the snowflakes with the same number and color them with their matching color. Use your dot pens or color them in with crayons (2 pages).

Winter Fizz science experiment with baking soda, glitter, and vinegar!

Christmas, Rhymes and Poems, Winter

Five Little Stockings Rhyme

December 1, 2022November 13, 2023 Jennifer

These is a super cute Christmas poem that my son learned in Kindergarten. I had never heard the Five Little Stockings rhyme before and was so impressed that he has memorized it. You can turn this into a finger rhyme by wiggling a different finger for each one of the five stockings. For more rhymes, check out my Rhymes Page — it has lots of action, finger and counting rhymes, as well as nursery rhymes.

Turn this into a finger rhyme by wiggling a finger for each of the five stockings. Start with your thumb for the first stocking, and keep wiggling fingers until you reach your pinky on the fifth stocking. Clap your hands together when you say “out went the light” and then wiggle all of the fingers at the same time when the stockings get filled!

FIVE LITTLE STOCKINGS

Five little stockings hanging by the fire,

The first one said, “I’m getting tired.”

The second one said, “Santa’s in the air!”

The third one said, “But we sure care!”

The fourth one said, “I hear sleigh bells ringing!”

The fifth one said, “It’s the joy he’s bringing.”

Then ding went the clock and out went the light.

And five little stockings got filled that night!

Animals, Rhymes and Poems

Penguin Action Rhyme

November 27, 2022December 3, 2022 Jennifer

Give this cute “Did you Ever See a Penguin?” action rhyme a try to get your preschooler up and moving! This rhyme is perfect for learning letter P, preschool penguin theme, and adding into your cold weather/winter themes. This penguin action rhyme is to the tune of “Did You Ever See a Lassie?” and has 3 verses, but you can pick and choose to do just the first one or all three. Pair this rhyme with some Penguin Stories!

Did You Ever See a Penguin?

(action = waddle)

Did you ever see a penguin? A penguin? A penguin?

Did you ever see a penguin, waddle this way and that?

Waddle this way and that way.

Did you ever see a penguin, waddle this way and that?

(action = slide)

Did you ever see a penguin? A penguin? A penguin?

Did you ever see a penguin, slide this way and that?

Slide this way and that way.

Did you ever see a penguin, slide this way and that?

(action = swim)

Did you ever see a penguin? A penguin? A penguin?

Did you ever see a penguin, swim this way and that?

Swim this way and that way.

Did you ever see a penguin, swim this way and that?

Check out my Rhymes Page for more fun finger and action rhymes, as well as other cute little poems for preschoolers!

Fall, Rhymes and Poems

“Five Little Leaves” Finger Rhyme

October 7, 2022October 21, 2023 Jennifer

Finger rhymes are lots of fun for little kids! They get to be active participants as they move their fingers to act out the rhyme. According to Reading Rockets, rhymes are important for young children because they help develop an ear for our language. Both rhyme and rhythm help kids hear the sounds and syllables in words, which helps kids learn to read! Check out my RHYMES page for more fun action and finger rhymes, as well as other cute poems.

I love the Five Little Pumpkins finger rhyme and wanted more finger rhymes to do in the fall so I made up one about leaves. I think it turned out pretty fun 🙂 Get your fingers ready to act out Five Little Leaves with me! I also changed the lyrics of If You’re Happy and You Know and made a fall edition version by adding fall activities–catch falling leaves, stomp on the leaves, and sweep the leaves!

FIVE LITTLE LEAVES