Halloween Archives - Bear Paw Creek

Ghost Movement Scarf Activity for Halloween — From Will Doublestein at Bow Tie Music!

Madison Stephens — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 21:06:25 +0000

Ghost Movement Scarf Activity for Halloween — From Will Doublestein at Bow Tie Music!

We are so excited to be sharing a fun, ghost movement scarf activity for Halloween from our friend, Will Doublestein. Will is an elementary school general music teacher from Indianapolis, IN. In 2013, he started uploading videos to a YouTube channel he named "Bow Tie Music". At first, the channel was intended to be a way of distributing program videos to parents who couldn't attend their children's performances.

As time went on, it became a record of sorts, not only for his music programs but also of his other classroom activities. A few years later, after developing a library of resources, he realized that the videos could be a help to other music teachers needing ideas and inspiration. Eventually, his audience began to grow, and he is now able to help thousands of music teachers all around the world to reimagine music class and help their students develop a lifelong love of music.

We are so thankful for the way Will has used his platform, and we are thrilled that our movement props have been helpful tools in his classroom and that they have also been used to bring an element of fun for his students.

Keep reading to learn all about how you can use ghost props under black lights to add a spooky and fun element to your music class, and create a dancy party that your kids won't soon forget!

Dancing with Ghosts!

In this video, Dancing With Ghosts! Making dance parties SPOOKY for kids!, Will demonstrates how he uses black lights and Bear Paw Creek props to create a ghost movement scarf activity, perfect for the spooky season.

To create the "ghosts", all you need are some of our white movement scarves, our Indoor Outdoor Soft Snowball Movement Prop Set, and a 100W UV Black light like these from Amazon.com.

Will used the snowballs as ghost heads and the white scarves as the ghost's body to create a ghost perfect for a dance party! Using the black lights in your classroom creates a glowing effect for the white of the snowballs and scarves. To step it up a notch, you could use one of our 9-foot white Canopy Scarves to make a BIG glowing ghost! For the ghost head under the Canopy Scarf, you could use a big bundle of snowballs or one of our Balloon Balls.

In the video, Will is using 36-inch white movement scarves for the smaller ghosts. However, you can pick from any of the size options we have available, depending on the size ghost you would like to create with your students!

Ghost Movement Scarf Activity for Halloween — From Will Doublestein at Bow Tie Music! Share on X

Songs to Use With the Ghost Movement Scarf Activity

We created a short Spotify playlist for you with song suggestions for your next dance party. Get creative with "Peek-A-boo Ghost" from The Laurie Berkner Band, jam out to "Ghostbusters" the remix, and get crazy with a couple of other songs that have a good dancing vibe!

To have a calmer moment in between dance sessions and let everyone catch their breath, try using Stephanie Leavell's "Blowing in the Wind". You can replace the words "my scarf" with "my ghost". For example: ...blowing in the wind, blowing in the wind, my ghost is blowing in the wind. Falling down, falling down, with a whoosh and plop!"

If you have any other song ideas that we should add to this playlist, let us know! If you end up trying this ghost movement scarf activity, be sure to tag us in any photos or videos @bearpawcreek on Facebook and Instagram. For more resources and fantastic activity ideas from Will Doublestein, you can check out his website, www.bowtiemusic.net.

Madison Stephens

Madison has been a part of BPC her whole life. As a young child, she and her siblings helped stuff stretchy bands and flip bean bags. Over the last six years she has become even more involved and is now an official BPC employee with the role of seamstress and social media manager. When she’s not working, you’ll find her spending time with family and friends, going on walks with her dog, working with horses, or cooking and baking. Madison feels honored to have the opportunity to work alongside her mom, Janet Stephens, and be involved with the family business.

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Teach Children the Alphabet with Pumpkins

Jeana Downey — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 11:52:42 +0000

Teach Children the Alphabet with Pumpkins

Even though Halloween has ended and the jack-o-lanterns have been “retired”, pumpkins are still everywhere! Fall is a time to investigate these fabulous fruits. There are so many different varieties and sizes to teach children about, but with a little bit of imagination and creativity, pumpkins can be used to teach all sorts of academic concepts!

I wanted to share with you one of my favorite ways to teach children the Alphabet. Right now I am focusing on use “Pumpkin Jack”, but this activity can be used throughout the year, regardless of the holiday. During the Christmas season, Pumpkin Jack and be changed to “Charlie Christmas Tree” or in February – “Henry the Heart”. You get the idea! Now, let’s get started with this simple, play-based activity.

Pumpkin Jack Activity Directions

Materials Needed:

* One empty envelope
* 24 4×6 cards (or pieces of papers cut up into 24 four by six sized paper)
* One Marker (any color)
* One piece of tape
* One large pumpkin.

Directions:

(Watch video below for demonstration)

Step 1: Write the uppercase and lowercase letters on 4×6 cards (see video below for example)

Step 2: With your child, draw a pumpkin face on one side of the pumpkin using a marker.

Step 3: Tape one envelope to the back of the pumpkin (the opposite side that the face is on).

Step 4: Ask your child to sit in front of the pumpkin, facing the pumpkin face.

Step 5: Come up with a name for the pumpkin together.

Step 6: The adult should pick one of the alphabet cards and place either the uppercase side or the lowercase side in the envelope (see video below for example).

Step 7: Repeat the following poem with your child:

Pumpkin Poem:

Child: “Pumpkin (name of pumpkin), Pumpkin (name of pumpkin) what letter did you have for a snack?”

Adult: “My name is Pumpkin (name of pumpkin) and I had”

Child: “letter ___ for a snack!”

Step 8: Repeat steps 6 and 7 for all of the alphabet (both uppercase and lowercase).

Don’t have a pumpkin? Use this Pumpkin Balloon Ball Jack O’ Lantern Instead!

Using a pumpkin to teach children the alphabet, fun fall learning activity! Share on X

Jeana Downey

Jeana Kinne, MA is an Early Childhood Developmental Specialist. She has worked as a parent educator, Preschool Director and Early Intervention Specialist with children with special needs. Her blog consists of Homeschool Preschool Activities that support educational and social-emotional development. She loves working with families, providing them with solutions to common parenting concerns, resulting in stress-free parenting! Follow Jeana’s blog to view more activities and to learn parenting tips and strategies that support parents navigating through some of the most difficult and puzzling aspects of parenting at www.jdeducational.com.

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6 Halloween Songs to Inspire your Music and Movement

Janet Stephens — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 14:16:41 +0000

6 Halloween Songs to Inspire your Music and Movement

I am a big fan of Margie La Bella and her songs and am thankful that Music Therapy Ed shared these last week. I wanted to make sure you could add them to your resource list for Halloween.

The first video includes the following:

“Shake your Spookies Out”
“The Ogre Song”
“Yuck”

6 Halloween Songs to Inspire your Music and Movement Share on X

The second video includes these three:

“Sing a Song for Halloween”

“The Halloween Rhyme”

“The Monster in the Mirror”

Janet Stephens

Janet is the founder, designer, and one of the seamstresses behind Bear Paw Creek's made in the USA line of creative movement props, and bags. She is passionate about her faith, family, and loves the journey of learning and growing this life provides.

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