A Halloween Song in Spanish For Kids

Oct 4

How do you feel about Halloween?

I have to admit; Halloween is not my favorite. In fact, I’ve never celebrated it wearing costumes and trick-or-treating, and I only became a tad bit fond of it when I started working with children as a music therapist. Perhaps the lack of excitement is due to growing up in Puerto Rico, or maybe it’s just due to the way I was raised. Nevertheless, every year when the month of October arrives, there’s a particular song that I honestly can’t get out of my head that makes me excited for the fall season.

The song: Cuando Llega El Mes De Octubre or “when the month of October arrives” is a Puerto Rican children’s song, or at least one I learned as a child in Puerto Rico. This song brings me back to my Spanish class in fourth grade where singing was part of our opening routine. In addition to seasonal songs like “Cuando Llega El Mes De Octubre”, my Spanish teacher would teach us or encourage us to sing traditional songs all year round like “Verde Luz” y “La Tierruca” (one of my favorites!). Looking back and knowing what I know now as an adult and music therapist, I am grateful for this teacher and how she made music such an important part of her class, instilling in us the love for our native language, culture, and our island of Puerto Rico.

Cuando Llega El Mes De Octubre tells a story from a child’s perspective, who gets ready to pick and carve pumpkins as the month of October arrives. Technically, is not a Halloween songs per se, it is more of a pumpkin carving song. However, it shares a step-by-step process of making a Jack-o-Lantern, which we all know is a tradition associated with the holiday. I will say though, this is not a tradition that Puerto Rican children will typically engage in. The type of pumpkin typically used to make a Jack-o-Lantern doesn’t even grow in our island. Essentially, this song and any activities related to Halloween are more of a direct outcome of the political relationship and cultural influence of the USA in Puerto Rico.

Regardless, Puerto Rican children, Spanish-speaking children or not can enjoy this song.

Here are the lyrics of Cuando Llega El Mes de Octubre and the translated lyrics:

Cuando llega el mes de octubre,
voy al huerto de mi casa
y busco con alegría
tres o cuatro calabazas.

Las preparo, las arreglo,
saco todas las semillas.
Le hago unos ojos grandes
y una boca que da risa.

Mucho, mucho me divierto
con todas mis calabazas.
Y a todos mis amigos
invito a jugar a casa.

English

When the month of October arrives,
I visit the pumpkin patch (literal=I visit the garden behind my house)
and I grab with excitement
three or four pumpkins.

I prep them and clean them,
and I take out all the seeds.
I make them big eyes
and a mouth that makes me laugh.

I have a lot of fun
with all of my pumpkins.
And all my friends
I invite over to play. (to my house)

You can listen to the song here ↓

I share this song and an illustrated story to go along with it with my non-Spanish-speaking clients at the beginning of October to, among other things, introduce them to the Spanish language, learn new Spanish vocabulary words, practice sequencing and the numbers in Spanish. An important part of sharing this and any other song in Spanish is also sharing about the country where a song originated from, in this case, we talk about Puerto Rico, its location, some fun facts, and some details about the culture. I think I would be doing my clients and students a disservice if I don’t provide this context and we all learn to appreciate and honor different countries, cultures and languages other than our own. So I highly encourage you to do so if you choose to bring this song to your shared music, therapeutic or educational spaces!

The storybook for this song (illustrated & real pictures), the vocabulary cards & Spanish numbers cards are available at my store. It includes the mp3, facilitation idea, chords + lyrics of the song, as well as the Google Slides version to use during virtual lessons or sessions. The vocabulary words or numbers cards can be printed and laminated to use during in-person sessions or they can be screen-shared. You can find this product here.