Music For Kiddos' Guide To Fall Songs
Fall is one of my favorite times of year to make music with kids. The air is crisp, the leaves are crunchy, and everything feels full of color and movement.
At Music For Kiddos, we believe in developmentally appropriate, high-quality, and engaging music experiences for little ones—and fall is full of inspiration!
If you're an early childhood music educator or music therapist planning your fall classes and sessions, we've put together this guide to help you find songs for movement, scarves, finger play, props, Halloween, imaginative play, and calming moments.
And because we know that a great seasonal song is even more useful when you know what to do with it, we've included ideas for bringing each song into your classroom or session.
Here’s a quick guide to help you fill your classroom, therapy room, or home music time with songs, props, and creative play this season. 🍁
Fall Songs For Kids album
Fall Songs For Kids is a playful collection of songs celebrating all the best parts of fall, from falling leaves and pumpkins to breezy autumn days, silly monsters, bats, and Halloween fun.
The album is designed to get your students singing, moving, and participating. There are opportunities for finger plays, movement, scarves, pretend play, and plenty of seasonal imagination.
Movement Songs
Fall is all about motion—leaves falling, wind blowing, pumpkins rolling. These songs help kids move their bodies and connect with the rhythms of the season.
1. Falling Leaf
“Falling Leaf” is a minor-key movement song with a jazzy, swing feel. Children can pretend to be leaves floating, spinning, twirling, and eventually landing on the ground. The contrasting sections provide a natural opportunity to explore different movement qualities.
Try it with: scarves, artificial leaves, or leaves collected outside.
Musical/developmental possibilities:
Creative movement
Gross motor movement
Body awareness
Fast/slow
Active/resting contrasts
Student-directed movement choices
One of our favorite things about this song is asking children, “How do YOU think a leaf would move?” Their answers can become part of the activity.
2. Bitty Bitty Bat
In “Bitty Bitty Bat,” children can start with tiny wings and then expand their movements into big flying wings during the contrasting section. This makes it a great song for exploring small/big movement, imitation, and pretend play.
3. Gotta Keep Dancing
This is a great movement song for when you need to get some wiggles out. “Gotta Keep Dancing” combines dancing with a musical “pose” cue, giving children opportunities to freeze in different positions.
Try: Have children pretend to dress up in different costumes and strike different poses.“Pose like a superhero!” “Pose like a pumpkin!” “Pose like a bat!”
4. Cinnamon Rolls
A cozy and interactive movement song all about everyone’s favorite swirly treat! Children roll their arms, spin, and stretch—perfect for fine and gross motor coordination. With its catchy repetition, simple lyrics, and playful gestures, kids can sing, move, and pretend right along with the song.
The best part of this song is definitely the rolling that we do with our arms, which is really good to encourage bilateral movement and coordinating both sides of your body.
The side to side movement when we “roll the cinnamon roll”, encourages crossing the midline, which is vital to childhood development. The hand movements in this song also encourage both sides of the brain to communicate.
Try: Pair it with a baking pretend-play activity or a sensory bin of cinnamon-scented play dough. Or, add rhythm instruments: tapping “rolls and rolls” on drum, then “eat” cue with a chime or small bell.
Here are the lyrics:
Cinnamon rolls, cinnamon rolls
Rolls and rolls of cinnamon rolls
Let’s eat, let’s eat
(repeat the theme)
Swirly, whirly and sweet
It’s the perfect night time treat (or day time)
Swirly, whirly and fun
You better eat one before they’re gone
Cinnamon rolls, cinnamon rolls
Rolls and rolls of cinnamon rolls
Let’s eat, let’s eat
(repeat the theme)
Scarf Songs
Scarf songs bring a little magic to movement time: swirling, floating, waving, and watching colorful scarves dance through the air.
1. Blowing In The Wind
A scarf movement song where kids pretend to be leaves dancing in the wind. Use scarves or fabric squares, and invite children to float, swirl, and fall. Great for gross-motor development, as a movement break, or when in need of a mindful moment.
When the song goes “It’s time to sneak, put it in a ball, make it so tiny and small”, encourage kids to move their scarves through the air, then make a tiny ball with the scarf and hide it in their hands before tossing it into the air.
Blowing In The Wind provides opportunities to explore:
Floating
Tossing
Catching
Hiding/revealing
Fast/slow
Bilateral coordination
Try: Use orange, yellow, and red scarves and pretend they're leaves blowing through the wind.
2. Swirly Whirly Scarves
Scarves are magic in early childhood music! This one encourages bilateral coordination and imaginative movement. Use it for transitions or to get wiggles out between activities.
Try: Let kids choose scarf colors that match fall leaves—red, orange, yellow, brown—and talk about what happens when the colors swirl together.
Fingerplay Songs
Fingerplay songs are a wonderful way to turn fall themes into hands-on musical play.
1. Five Perfect Pumpkins
“Five Perfect Pumpkins” is my adaptation of the traditional “Five Little Pumpkins.” The song counts down from five pumpkins, practicing early math concepts, counting, subtraction, and one-to-one correspondence. And then there's the dramatic “SPLAT!”
You can pair the song with:
Pumpkin visuals
Felt-board pieces
Finger movements
A drum
Lap tapping
One pumpkin removed at a time
Try: Have kids tap the steady beat on a drum and then play a dramatic drum accent on “SPLAT!”
2. Big Red Apple
Fall isn't just pumpkin season!
“Big Red Apple” is a simple finger play in which children pretend to bite, slice, mash, and transform an apple into different foods.
This is a great one to revisit throughout the fall because you can change the final action:
What else could we make with our apple?
Applesauce? Pie? Muffins? Apple juice?
Create all kinds of different verses like making muffins, squeezing it and making apple juice, basically, create anything you want to out of your apple!
Try: Turn the song into a guessing game. Secretly choose what you're going to make with your apple, then act it out during the verse. Can your students guess what you're making before the end?
Here are the lyrics:
A big red apple, a big red apple
I take a bite and have a sample
Then I slice it, and slice it
And slice it, and slice it
And turn it into a pie
Big red apple, a big red apple
I take a bite and have a sample
I mash it, and mash it
And mash it, and mash it
And turn it into applesauce
Halloween Songs
Halloween can be a wonderful theme for musical pretend play—but it doesn't have to be scary.
1. Shy Little Monster
The song tells the story of a shy little monster dressed in a lobster costume who wants to be brave and loud but can only whisper. The character eventually finds confidence with help from friends.
That gives you opportunities to explore:
Quiet/loud
Whispering/singing
Character voices
Pretend play
Confidence
Social interaction
Storytelling
Try: If your group loves the story, The Shy Little Monster is also available as a children's book.
+ $4.63 shipping to USA
(Questions about international shipping? Email support@fflat-books.com for a quote.)
The Shy Little Monster is a silly, sweet, interactive Halloween book for kids ages 1-7. This book shows kids that it’s okay to be shy, it’s okay to ask for help and, most importantly, good friends are always there to offer some encouragement and help you find your voice. It is also a great book to explore voice volume and dynamics!
2. I Love Halloween
For a more energetic Halloween experience, try “I Love Halloween.” It's a movement song centered around Halloween costumes, trick-or-treating, and other familiar Halloween traditions.
Invite children to move like the different characters or let them choose their own pretend costume.
Try: Integrate arts and crafts by having students make Halloween decorations or masks while listening to the song, enhancing the festive atmosphere.
Make it stand out
For students who are visual learners, try using our movement cards with them! Download these movement cards that go with “I Love Halloween”.
Prop Songs
Fall is full of fun props to bring into your music time, from scarves and leaves to apples and pumpkins.
1. Hay Ride
Take your students on a pretend hay ride!
“Hay Ride” invites children to notice and name things they might see outdoors: apples, trees, leaves, grass, dirt, baskets, and more.
Take your stretchy band (or parachute) and pretend you’re on a hay ride. Ask kids about what they see during the ride, add scarves, pictures, pumpkins, and other props. This makes it especially useful when you're looking for a song that can grow into an entire musical activity.
Try: add shakers for the sound of the hay ride, scarves for leaves, or picture cards for things children might see along the way.
Take the fun even further with our free Fall Nature Hunt printable you can use as an engaging extension activity! As you sing about riding through the fall scene, kids can look for things like apples, leaves, trees, and more — just like in the lyrics!
Download our Fall Nature Hunt here and turn your next outdoor walk, hayride, or circle time into a hands-on seasonal adventure.
2. Pass the Pumpkin
"Pass the Pumpkin" is a favorite fall song among music educators, and in this video, I share how I use it in my early childhood music groups. I also talk about introducing minor scales in a way that's accessible for young learners, and how I’ve found a successful way to incorporate the gong into sessions without it becoming a source of overstimulation.
Try: Change the way you pass the pumpkin! Once children know the song, try passing it slowly, quickly, or even rolling it across the circle to the classmate next to them. You can also let the student holding the pumpkin choose how the group passes it for the next round. This adds a little surprise while giving kids another way to practice listening and keeping the beat.
Here are the lyrics I'm using:
"Pass the pumpkin all around,
Listen to the minor sound,
Uh-uh, uh-uh
Will it stop on you?"
If you use any of the songs from our Fall Songs for Kids album in your classroom or at home, we’d love to see it! If you share a video or photo on Instagram or Facebook, tag us so we can follow along. We always love seeing how you’re making these songs your own!