Hi fellow teachers! Do you need a short Halloween themed poem for your Grade 1, 2, or 3 classrooms? “The Last Pumpkin” – video and free downloads below – can be used as a bell ringer, time filler, or to complement your October lesson goals, including SEL.
See the teaching ideas below for inspiration and grab the version that best suits your classroom needs. You have full permission to use the poem for teaching purposes within any educational setting, including online learning and homeschool.
Let me know if you use the poem – I’d love to hear how it goes.
Watch a video of the “The Last Pumpkin” poem below. This “Poetry Time with Dr. Kim” version includes a visual narrative:
Halloween is almost here
The moon is bright, the sky is clear
Doorstep pumpkins are ready for fun
All of them, that is, except for one
The last pumpkin at the store
Dreams of a home, a nice front door
But all day long families walk on by
Look at the pumpkin, then frown and sigh
“No, no, not that one,” they say
“There’s a big hole, there by the hay.”
So the last pumpkin is all alone
As sad as a dog who lost its bone
But then, before all is lost
Out of the hay, on to the frost
Comes the voice of a tiny mouse
“That big hole’s perfect for my house!”
Now happy pumpkin, happy mouse
Have their own front door, their very own house
Original poem by Kim T. Harrison. Video created in Canva.
Download a PDF, black & white, printable version of the poem:
Download a PPT slide version of the poem:
Teaching Ideas
- As a bell ringer or time filler.
- As the introduction to an SEL activity – ask questions such as: Why do families walk on by? Why do you think the pumpkin is the last in the store? Would you choose this pumpkin if you saw it? You could pair this poem with a picture book such as Sour Apple by Linda Liu to discuss themes of feeling left out or forgotten.
- To complement Halloween activities. For example: ask students to imagine the final stanza of the poem – what would the front door look like? What would their house look like? If the pumpkin and mouse decorated their house for Halloween, what would it look like? Draw pictures of the last pumpkin and mouse at Halloween or make a collage of them.
- For art activities with a math tie-in, you could create a whole street decorated for Halloween using 2D and 3D shapes. This full-class project could use nets (squares and rectangles) to create 3D houses (cubes). You could also investigate how to create pumpkin-shaped spheres with students and experiment making doorstep pumpkins out of construction paper or light cardboard.
Happy Teaching! Kim x
Kim T. Harrison 