Spice up your October lessons and Halloween parties with these Halloween activities, games, and celebrations!
1. Vocabulary Costumes
One creative spin on traditional Halloween costumes is to dress as a vocabulary word. Dress in all orange and go as “monochromatic.” Dress in all black, put star stickers all over your clothes, and go as “nocturnal” or “galactic.” Google “Vocabulary Parade Costumes” to find some fantastic ideas!
2. Spooky Dances
One of my favorite ways to help students get their wiggles out is by searching “Halloween Dance Along” on YouTube. These kid-friendly dance videos are sure to entertain (and exhaust)!
3. Printable Puzzles and Activities
This large bundle contains everything you need to celebrate Halloween with your students. This bundle includes a 70+ Word Search, Would You Rather, Halloween Song Matcher, Unscrambler, Brain Teasers, and more that will keep your class busy for weeks!
4. Tic-Tac-Toe
This Halloween version of a classic strategy game is sure to add a spooky twist to your holiday celebrations!
5. Lip Sync Battle
Host a lip sync battle using some of your favorite Halloween tunes, such as Monster Mash, Ghostbusters, Somebody’s Watching Me, or Spooky Scary Skeletons! Students can perform individually or in groups. Bonus points for group dance routines or matching costumes!
6. Guess How Many
A classic. Fill a glass jar with candies. Don’t forget to count them first! The student who guesses the closest number of candies without going over gets to keep the jar as a prize! Check out your local dollar store for a great deal on glass jars and candy!
7. Guess the Halloween Treat
Imagine trying to guess what Halloween treat you’re holding while blindfolded! Split your class into 3-4 groups. Each group must send up one teammate to stick his/her hand into a paper bag where you’ve placed a halloween treat – Skittles, for example. They can feel around for ten seconds, then return to their group to explain what they felt. Each team must come to a conclusion of what was in the bag. Correct responses win that team a point! The team with the most points in the end wins! Some treats to try – gummies, pretzels, Twix, Almond Joy, Skittles, M&Ms, Peppermint Patties, Twizzlers, Popcorn ball, etc.
8. Classroom-Friendly Pumpkin Decorating
No one wants to carve or paint pumpkins in the classroom – what a mess! Consider getting into the Halloween spirit by decorating mini pumpkins with stickers and colorful sharpies, instead. Search “Pumpkin Decorating Stickers” on Amazon for some great (and inexpensive) options.
9. Reading Skill Review
These Halloween-themed ELA Task Cards are the perfect classroom activity for the week of Halloween when your students are filled with excitement and anticipation for the big day. These task cards review various ELA skills as well as incorporate some Halloween fun!
10. Halloween Alphabet Book
Our younger students will have a blast creating their own Halloween Alphabet Book! Click on the link to download this printable activity.
11. Spooky Stories
From Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven to lighter Halloween picture books such as Ghost Afraid of the Dark, students of all ages love listening to a good story. Don’t feel like reading aloud? Search “Halloween Stories for Kids” on YouTube!
12. Door Decorating Contest
Door decorating contests are a fun way to celebrate the spooky season. Get the homeroom classes involved in this creative competition and consider giving prizes to the Most Boo-tiful Door and the Best Ex-FEAR-ience!
13. Oreo Spider Crawl
Give each student an Oreo, or similar cookie. (For added fun, add 4 pretzel legs to each side of the oreo to make it look like a spider!) Students must look up and place the “spider” on his/her forehead. Then, they must put their arms at their sides. Students will move around to “shimmy” the oreo down their forehead and into their mouth. It’s not an easy task!
14. Scary Skits
Students love any chance to be creative and silly. Split the class into groups and assign them a well-known fable or fairy tale, such as Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, or The Tortoise and the Hare. Task them with putting on a short skit of the story to the class, but they must add a spooky Halloween-themed twist to the story.
15. Mummy Makers
All you need is toilet paper for this fun activity! Split your class into groups. Have students race to wrap one teammate using an entire roll of toilet paper, turning them into a mummy!
16. Candy Graphing
It’s an oldie but goodie. Purchase Skittles or M&Ms and use them to teach bar graphs! (Consider purchasing in bulk from Costo or Sam’s Club to save money!)
17. Create-A-Costume
Divide students into groups and have them make Halloween costumes within a given time frame using only recycled materials, tape, and markers. One student in the group will be the model. Take photos to send to parents and hand out awards for creativity and more! Prior to starting this project, collect recyclables such as toilet paper rolls, newspapers, food boxes, bottles, and paper scraps.
18. Trick-or-Treat Walk
Prepare 15-20 treat bags. For this Halloween version of a cake walk, place a circle of numbers on the floor. Students walk from number to number and then stop on a number when the music stops. Whoever is standing on the number that’s drawn from a bowl wins a treat bag! (Or a homework pass! Or a Hallween pencil!)
19. Halloween Charades
Charades is a classic party game where you have to “act out” a word or phrase without speaking while your teammates try to guess the word/phrase. Click here to download a no-prep Halloween version of this game!
20. History Lesson
Take a deep dive into the history behind Halloween. Where did it originate? What are the Salem Witch Trials? There are other cultures who celebrate similar holidays (such as La Dia de Los Muertos in central America).
21. Relay Races
It’s important to get outside this time of year, and what better way to do that than participating in some relay races! Have students race with a broom between their legs while keeping a witch’s hat on their heads! Have students do a “Pumpkin Sweep,” using brooms to sweep pumpkins to the finish line! Have students hold a small pumpkin between their thighs and run to the finish line! The possibilities are endless!
22. Making Slime
Is there anything more disgustingly fun than slime? There are many simple recipes you can search on Google or YouTube.