Pumpkin Patch

Here's a fun seasonal game that I learned from Dave Noyes while taking Kodály levels at Portland State University.  This is one that I hang onto until 3rd grade as it works well for tika-tika practice.

Formation: scattered

Action:  All children except one are scattered, curled up into little balls on the floor, representing the pumpkins in a pumpkin patch.  One child wanders through the pumpkin patch, singing as they go.  By the beginning of the second line, the child selects and stands by a pumpkin.  On the words "just like that", the child taps lightly three times on the back of their chosen pumpkin, which causes the pumpkin to turn into a "jack-o-lantern" by standing up and making a face.  That child then joins the search and the game begins again.  Therefore, each time the song us sung, the number of children who are up and "picking pumpkins" doubles.  This continues until there are no pumpkins left in the patch.

An alternate way to play is that when the child picks a pumpkin, the new child becomes the picker and the old child joins the pumpkin patch as a pumpkin.  

You can also add solo singing by having the pumpkin picker sing "here is one, nice and fat" by him or herself.