Five Little Pumpkins – Free Rhyme Booklet
Fall is the perfect time for rhymes, pumpkins, and a little hands-on learning fun! If you’re looking for a simple and engaging way to build early literacy skills this season, you’ll love this Five Little Pumpkins printable rhyme booklet. This classic Halloween rhyme helps children practice counting, rhyming, and reading fluency—all while enjoying a beloved fall favorite. Grab your free printable booklet below and get ready for some pumpkin fun in your classroom or at home!
Why Use a Rhyme Booklet in Preschool and Kindergarten
Using this Five Little Pumpkins rhyme booklet is a fun and meaningful way to build early literacy skills in the classroom.
Rhymes like this one help children hear and recognize sound patterns, which supports phonological awareness…a key foundation for reading success.
As students read and repeat the verses, they’re also developing print awareness, one-to-one correspondence, and expressive fluency. Additionally, the counting theme provides a touch of early math practice.
Whether used during circle time, small groups, or independent reading, this booklet keeps learning playful and seasonal—making it a perfect addition to your fall lesson plans.
What’s Included in This Free Booklet
This booklet includes the classic poem, Five Little Pumpkins.
For those of you who have never heard the poem, here is how it goes:
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, “Oh my, it’s getting late!”
The second one said, “There are witches in the air.”
The third one said, “But we don’t care.”
The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run.”
The fifth one said, “I’m ready for some fun!”
Ooooooooo went the wind and out went the lights.
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.
The booklet is 9 pages long with adorable clip art!
I created a color version and a black & white version of the booklet. The black & white version would be great for kids to color! The pumpkin graphics are slightly different in this version because I couldn’t find the same black & white clip art. It’s still cute!
How to Use This Booklet with Kids
- Print & prep: Download, choose color or black-and-white (or the 2-per-page mini), and print on copy paper., Then cut the pages in half and staple on the left side.
- Warm-up: Preview the rhyme’s vocabulary, count 1–5 together, and teach the classic fingerplay so kids can act it out.
- First read (model): Do a quick picture walk, then read aloud while tracking print with your finger; invite students to mimic the fingerplay motions.
- Second read (participation): Try echo or choral reading; pause for predictions and emphasize rhyming words; have students count the pumpkins on each page.
- Independent practice: Students color, trace/write their names, and (optional) circle numbers or highlight rhyming pairs—great for a literacy center.
- Extend & assess: Retell with stick puppets or felt pumpkins, place booklets in book boxes, send a copy home for family reading, and listen to individual reads for a quick fluency/phonological awareness check.
Free Download
You can go ahead and download the free printable by filling out the form below. The printable will be sent to your email address.
Optional Booklet
I understand that some of us prefer a non-Halloween version, so I created a version of the poem that replaces the word “witches” with leaves.” You’ll find that option in the included download!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Feel free to print enough copies for your class.
This booklet is designed for preschool, pre-K, and kindergarten children—roughly ages 3 to 6. It can also be used for early readers or students needing rhyming practice.
Scroll to the end of this post and click the “Download” button. The PDF will be sent to your email, and you can then download and print it.
Yes, this printable is free for personal, classroom, or homeschool use. Commercial redistribution is not permitted.
Hope you enjoy using this free booklet! I’d love to hear how you use it with your classroom or child.
Thank you so much,glad I found this booklet.When I picked up my son yesterday from school he is so excited to share with me what he had learned at school and he tell me about this five little pumpkins and I want him to surprise later in the morning when he wakes up.Is it okay to let him bring this booklet at school?
Yes, of course!
I love this book as take-home book for my kinders! Would it be possible to provide a version with 2 identical pages on one page? It would save a lot of assembly time if I could print, staple and cut two books at once. Thanks in advance!
Yes I can do that. I’ll email it to you!
Thank you very much for the teacher version! If you ever get a chance to make in black-and-white so that the children can color it, I would love it and greatly appreciate it!
Thank you for the Five Little Pumpkins booklet using the alternative word Leaves. The graphics are also amazing!
I made your Five Little Pumpkins booklet for my grandson, who had just learned the song at preschool this year. Because he loves to take things apart I wanted to cover the staples. I cut a rectangle out of orange cardstock and glued it to the booklet to make a binder to cover the staples from both sides. He loves it! Thank you.
Thank you for sharing. Each child took home a copy of the book. And we did an art project based on the book. Using popsicle stickers and paper pumpkins.
This is so cute — thank you for sharing! Is there any chance for an alternate page for “witches in the air?” We always sing the “there are bats in the air” version, just to not offend families who do not celebrate Halloween or have certain faith-based beliefs. I would love to be able to share this cute book with my kiddos. Thank you again!
Yes! I loooove that idea. I agree that I don’t really love the word “witches” so thank you for the alternative word! I’ll create that tonight and add it to the post.
We say there’s a chill in the air 🙂 just another alternative for you.
I love the bats, we also sing it’s cold in the air, but we don’t care!
I love the 5 Little Pumpkin book, was just wondering instead when making the book with children a mom or teacher could actually have the children draw where you have the pumpkins. Not only working on reading but also making sets of 5.
thanks for sharing
I love the velcro glove idea Robyn!! If you don’t mind I will use it also!
I teach 4.5-5.5 year olds and I love that they can take home a book to “read” to their parents!
I am going to write page numbers on the pages and have them put them in order after cutting them out! Just a little extra challenge plus I can see who has advanced in number recognition! I love these emergent reader ideas and booklets!
This is a good follow-up activity to one I use. I have a glove with velcro and the kids get to put on//take off pumpkins as they say the rhyme. Then we could use the print version you provided to get the visual literacy component.
Thanks for the cute booklet 🙂
I love, love, love this!! I made two copies last night. One for my two year old and one for my kids at school. My daughter quickly caught on to the rhyme and was soon retelling my husband the story.
Do you have more of the rhyme or printable booklets?