Scarecrow Theme and Activities


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Scarecrows aren't scary. Learning about scarecrows is a fun way to introduce the theme content of autumn and harvest time.

Scarecrow Songs and Fingerplays

I'm A Little Scarecrow 
I'm A Little Scarecrow
Stuffed with hay
Here I stand in a field all day.
When I see the crows,
I like to shout,
"Hey! You crows, you better get out!"

Scarecrows (Tune: Sing a Song of Sixpence)
We're the farmer's scarecrow
We scare the away the birds,
We keep the farmer's corn safe
without any words,
But when Halloween comes
We jump out of the ground
And we scare the boys and girls
when they come walking round.
Boo!

Did You Ever See a Scarecrow? (Tune: Did You ever See A Lassie?)
Did you ever see a scarecrow,
A scarecrow, a scarecrow?
Did you ever see a scarecrow,
That's filled with dry hay?
He's dressed all in old clothes;
He scares off the black crows.
Have you ever seen a scarecrow,
That's filled with dry hay?

Scarcrow Chant
Scarecrow, scarecrow,
How scary can you be?
You scared away the crows
But you can't scare me!

Scarecrow Art Activities

Toilet Paper Roll Scarecrow
Click HERE for directions and photos.

Paper Plate Scarecrows
Cut circles and triangles out of black, brown, orange, yellow and red construction paper. Give each child a paper plate and allow them to glue the shapes on the plate to make the scarecrow's face. Use a large triangle for a hat and add strips of yellow construction paper for straw hair.

Paper Bag Scarecrows
Give each child a plain brown paper bag and newspaper for stuffing. Let the children crumple the newspaper and stuff the brown paper bag into a round head shape. Help tie a rubber band around the scarecrowfs neck to keep the newspaper in. Allow children to be creative and use yellow construction paper for hair, any color construction paper for a hat, and markers to decorate the scarecrowfs face.

Scarecrow Math and Science

Crow Counting
Make and laminate 10 crows with a number on each one (1-10). Have one child pretend to be a scarecrow. Other children will get a numbered crow. The Scarecrow stands in the front of the room and yells 'caw, caw, caw.' When the Crows hear this, they must scatter and try to line up in numerical order. Scarecrow can also call out a number and that Crow comes to the front the room.

How many patches
Give each child a picture of a scarecrow and small square cutouts (patches) of different colors and sizes. Ask the child to roll dice and glue that number of patches onto the scarecrow.

Sensory Table
Add corn kernels to your sensory table and add some sunflower seeds. Have children practice eye-hand coordination by pretending to be scarecrows - using tweezers to remove the crows (sunflower seeds) from the corn field.

Scarecrow Motor Skills and Movement

Scarecrow Race
Divide children into two teams and have them race to dress up one child on their team as a scarecrow. Provide them with old, worn-out adult-sized button-up shirts, sweatpants, jeans, hats, ties, scarves, gloves and other fun clothing items.

Scarecrow, Scarecrow Turn Around
(To the tune of Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Turn Around)
Scarecrow, scarecrow, turn around.
Scarecrow, scarecrow, jump up and down.
Scarecrow, scarecrow, arms up high.
Scarecrow, scarecrow, wink one eye.
Scarecrow, scarecrow, bend your knee.
Scarecrow, scarecrow, flap in the breeze.
Scarecrow, scarecrow, climb into bed.
Scarecrow, scarecrow, rest your head.

Scarecrow Snacks

Haystack Cookies
Mix together two cups of butterscotch chips and two cups of white chocolate chips. Microwave for about 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Add one box of Fiber One cereal to the chip mixture and stir. Place a large spoonful of the mixture onto wax paper or into muffin cups. Let set for about an hour and children have some edible Haystacks to enjoy.

Scarecrow Cookies
Give children sugar cookies and vanilla icing to spread on the cookie. Decorate the scarecrow face with a variety of objects like chocolate chips for eyes, candy corn for nose, red licorice string for mouth, vanilla wafer cookies for hat, etc. Add shredded wheat cereal for hay.

Read About Scarecrows

  • The Scarecrow's Hat by Ken Brown
  • The Lonely Scarecrow by Tim Preston
  • The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown
  • The Shy Scarecrow by Mary Packard

Other Scarecrow Resources