Halloween in the classroom can get SCARY! However, we want it to be in a frightfully fun way, not a chaotic horror movie way. We’ve made it to October and that’s something to celebrate. Let’s keep up the fun filled days where kids forget their learning. I want to share some engaging activities that will make you hallo-SCREAM for JOY!
So I am here to help you eliminate all of the hard work it takes to create an unforgettable Halloween for your students! I’m sharing 10 simple, and frightfully engaging, ways to celebrate Halloween in your classroom. Of course each will include lots of fun learning! So let’s get started!!
#1 – Pumpkins are Flying!
I love to bring out the inner engineer in my students. This pumpkin catapult challenge is so much fun and such a great way to build perseverance, while also practicing collaborative learning among your students. They’ll learn all about levers, potential and kinetic energy, as they construct their catapults. After flying pumpkins across the room, they’ll get in some measurement skill practice when calculating the distance their candy pumpkins traveled after being launched. Check it out HERE!
Pumpkin Catapult Halloween STEM Activity
#2 – Students Gone Batty? We Get Crafty!
What’s Halloween without some scary good crafts? Of course I have to share some awesome ones to go along with all those read-alouds! From ‘cranky’ crafts to adorable bats, your students will LOVE writing about Halloween. Check out some of the great crafts below:
#3 – Spooky Science
There’s a debate on where candy corn goes in my classroom- in student’s bellies because they actually eat it or immediately in the trash because it’s well… ‘gross’? Maybe it’s just me, but either way, I’ve settled the debate by using it for a little spooky science experiment! Our littles get to transform into scientists, observing and recording information using the scientific method to see what happens to candy corn when you dissolve it in different liquids.
THIS activity lets them explore what happens when they drop them in soda, water, oil, and vinegar, but you can also use other liquids you have on hand! It’s an exclusive freebie from me so be sure to check it out! Students will have a spooktacular time!! And of course there’s no tricks, just treats over here so treat yo’ self with this freebie! To thank you for subscribing, check out this unbeLEAFable fun Dissolving Candy Experiment activity to help you enjoy all the spooky vibes!
Grab this free resource now!
#4 – Haunted House Anyone?
Knock knock, who ghost there?!
You’ll have to call the ghostbusters after crafting these adorable haunted houses with your kiddos! It’s the perfect, fun way for students to practice foundational math skills while getting into the Halloween spirit!! This fact family craft allows students to create peekaboo windows to show off their knowledge of either addition and subtraction, or multiplication and division! Once all of these are completed, your students will have gotten in some great practice and you’ll have yourself an adorable bulletin board!
A win-win!
#2 – Read Some BOOtiful Books
Halloween read alouds are a BOOtiful way to add some scary storytelling during the month of October. Go ahead- live on the FRIGHT side with these awesome books that your students will ahhhhh-bsolutely love! Check out my list of FAVORITE Halloween themed literature:
- The Legend of Spookley
- Crankenstein
- Stumpkin
- Stellaluna
- Room on the Broom
- Where’s My Mummy
- Halloweiner
- Creepy Carrots, Creepy Underwear, and the NEWEST… Creepy Crayon!
- The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything
- Are You My Monster?
#6 – Supernatural Sight Words
Whether students are working on heart words or sight words, they will LOVE practicing with these supernatural sight words with some spooky houses. Students will grab a haunted house adorned with their words and work to construct their words with their boo-tiful ghost letters. They are completely editable for you and are easy to store in Michael’s Task Boxes! This activity is also completely editable so you can have students practice the exact words they need. Look at them in action!
Editable Halloween Sight Words Activity
#7 – Who Is Here For The Disappearing Act?
Want to throw a little extra magic into activities with some invisible ink?! Simply write in white crayon on THESE recording sheets and set them up for students to enjoy. Students can practice spelling words with paint or conjure up some potions that reveal magic words with a marker! They will LOVE seeing the magic while working on important skills! Check them out below!
#8 – Pumpkin Patch Portraits
#9 – No Prep Activity
Let’s give our students pumpkin to talk about with this one! Rhyming has never been so fun. This ‘Feed the Pumpkin’ activity lets students feed the rhyme that matches the picture on the pumpkin. Simply glue the pumpkins onto things like brown paper bags, tissue boxes, or even plastic containers. Switch it up with a sensory component by placing your pumpkins inside a tub of corn kernels! You can add some tongs to feed for fine motor practice and you’ve got an activity that is SURE to keep them engaged during the month of October!
Your students will have a faBOOlous time and of course, tons of learning – witch is the whole point!
#10 – Simple Spooky Additions
Even if you don’t do all the crafts, games, and experiments, there are some easy ways to insert some tricks and treats into the classroom this month. Witch fingers are perfect for instant engagement when you give them to students to track words while reading during small group time. Throw in a spooky voice during read alouds and they will enjoy the story so much more. Bring in a giant skeleton hand for buddy reading and watch them go! Mini erasers aren’t just for erasing- throw some Halloween themed ones into math lessons as manipulatives and everything is more fun! Check out THIS hands-on resource to practice number sense through 10 that is a perfect addition to your math centers and stations for the month of October!
Want all the fun with none of the stress? You’ll love the jam packed Halloween bundle found HERE! Want to learn about some of my favorite Halloween themed math and literacy centers? You can learn about those HERE!
I hope you enjoyed learning all frightfully engaging Halloween activities you can do in your classroom this year ! Don’t forget to subscribe to my email list! Not only will you get the most up to date tips, tricks, and classroom projects… and of course more fun FREEBIES including the Dissolving Candy Experiment FREEBIE! You will also have exclusive access to tons of digital how-to videos! If you would like to learn about this and other things happening in my classroom follow me @sweetnsauerfirsties on Instagram.
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