Classroom Games & Activities:
Balloon
Jack-O-Lanterns: blow up an orange balloon for each
Ss. Out of construction paper make face pieces to create a jack-o-lantern.
Glue the face pieces to the balloon. (TP:
V: jack-o-lantern, balloon, face vocab).
Candy
Jar Guess: Put candies in a jar and get
the Ss to guess how many there are and share them out afterwards.
Special halloween shaped candy (especially eye balls!) would be really
great. (TP:
V: large numbers.).
Costume
Party: Something all kids love to
do - dress up in a Halloween costume. Prizes can be given for best,
scariest, funniest, etc. (TP:
None).
Guess
the Pumpkin Weight: after carving the pumpkin have Ss try and
guess the weight - use scales. Ss can weigh other things first to help their guess.
(TP: V: weigh, heavy, light, numbers. F: weighing things).
Halloween
Cards:
Supplies: card, colored pens/pencils, glitter. Ss make cards for other
Ss in the class. (TP: V: Halloween card. F: writing messages).
Halloween
Concentration: Play the concentration card game using
Halloween flashcards. (TP: V: Halloween vocab).
Halloween
Walk: Form line on one side of room. Cross room in following ways:
1). Fly like a bat; 2) gallop like a cowboy on a horse; 3) hop like a bunny; 4) roll like a pumpkin;
5) dance like a princess; 6) creep like a cat; 7) walk like a skeleton; 8) float like a ghost; 9) stomp like a monster.
(TP: V: Action verbs with Halloween vocab).
Handprint
Ghosts: Have the children paint their hands white and press onto black
construction paper. When they dry have the children turn them upside down and add faces.
(TP: V: ghost, paint, handprint, face vocab).
Haunted
House Classroom: You can have a lot of fun
turning your classroom into a Haunted House. Rearrange the furniture, turn out
all the lights, hide volunteers in strategic places around the room to scare your students, then lead the students in (one or two at a time) and
listen to the screams! Eerie music is essential, as is a very dark
room. If you can get some glow-in-the-dark stars and arrows to illuminate a path around the
room, and to mark the edges of tables, chairs, and any other dangerous
areas. (TP: None).
I
Went Into a Haunted House: Ss sit in a circle.
Student A says "I went into the haunted house and saw a witch".
Student B contines: "I went into the haunted house and saw a witch
and a black cat". Continue around the circle. (TP:
V: various Halloween vocab).
Making
Masks: Making masks is always fun and is also a good
review for parts of the face, colors and names of characters (Dracula,
monster, witch, etc.). Simple masks can be made with paper plates
and string. A competition can be held and prizes given for the best, the funniest,
the scariest, the most colorful, the biggest. (TP:
V: Face vocab, colors, Halloween characters).
Melt
the Witch Game: Materials: A moveable chalkboard, colored
chalk, sponges, bucket of water. Directions: Draw a witch's head , or whole body on the chalkboard.
Fill the bucket with water and sponges. Have children stand close enough to the board to be able to hit it accurately with a wet
sponge. Place water bucket and sponges near this spot. Tell the children to take turns throwing wet sponges at the witch to try and "melt"
her away. As the witch becomes wet and water drips down the board, it will appear as if she is melting. Be sure the children are
squeezing out to the sponges before throwing.. (TP: V: throw,
witch, melt, bucket, sponge).
Mummy
Dress up: Let the children wrap each other in toilet paper
and pretend to be a mummy. (TP: V: Mummy, toilet paper, wrap
up/around).
Paper
Pumpkin: Have the Ss stuff plain brown paper lunch bags with crumpled newspaper,
then have them paint the bags with orange paint, and then tie the bags with
thick green yarn to make them into a pumpkin decorations. (TP: V:
Face vocab, pumpkin, jack-o-lantern).
Pass
the Pumpkin:
Ss sit in a circle. Provide a plastic pumpkin for children to
pass while the teacher beats on a drum or plays some music. Children pass the
pumpkin to the tempo of the music. Alternate between fast and slow. When the music stops the child who has the pumpkin
stands and takes a bow. Continue. (TP: None).
Pass
the Vampire Bat:
Supplies: one straw for each child / bat shapes cut out of tissue paper.
How To Play: Divide the class into 2 teams and line up each team.
Sts pass the tissue bats down the line, teammate to teammate, by inhaling and exhaling on the straw to hang onto
or release the ornament. No hands! The first team to successfully
pass the bats up and down the line wins! (TP:
V: bat, straw, line up, pass. AA: Before
the game you can get the students to make the tissue bats).
Pin The
Tail on the Black Cat:
This is a take on 'pin the tail on the donkey'. Put a picture of a tailless-less
black cat on the wall, blindfold the students, spin them around and
see if they can pin the tail in the right place. The nearest wins
a prize/points. Click
here for a Black Cat poster. (TP: V: black cat, tail, pin, blindfold, spin.).
Play
Doh: make jack-o-lanterns, witches, other characters,
etc. (TP: V: various Halloween objects).
Scary
Stories: With more advanced Ss, have Ss
tell their scariest story. (TP: F: Story
Telling. AA: Have the Ss write their story and draw accompanying
pictures).
Songs:
10 Little Witches: sung to tune of '10 Little Elephants' (click
here for song sheet). (TP:
V: 1-10, little, witches). Jack-O-Lantern:
sung to the tune of 'Frere Jacques' (click
here for song sheet). (TP:
V: Jack-O-Lantern, burning brightly, night).
Spelling
Banner: Prepare two banners that say whatever you want them to say, ie
Happy Halloween, Trick or Treat, etc. Also prepare a set of letters for the
same words cut out in two different colors hidden randomly around the room.
Divide the class into 2 teams with two captains--the captains sit and
wait for their teammates to bring the letters for their banner. If a
student is on the "red" team and sees a letter for the "green" team he/she just leaves it alone. The first team to cover their
banner letters wins. (TP: F: spelling).
Spooky
Finger: Only do this with older kids as it is quite
scary! Make a small hole in the bottom of a small cottage cheese
container - any similar container will do - and put some cotton in the bottom.
Stick your middle finger through the hole and bend it inward. Let the rest of your fingers grip
the container naturally. Arrange the cotton around your finger to hide the
hole. Cover the container and ask one of your unsuspecting Ss to remove the lid. When
s/he does, move the finger up and down. (TP: AA: let your Ss make
a finger box).
Trick
or Treat Game: Place slips of paper in a brown lunch bag.
On each write down a different "trick" such as "hop on one foot" or "close your eyes and touch your nose."
Have each child in turn, say, "trick or treat" and draw a paper from the bag.
When s/he performs the "trick" say "treat" and give him/her either a Halloween sticker or a
candy. (TP: V: action verbs, trick, treat).
What's
in the Box?: Paint a cardboard box black with a hole cut
out to put hands into. All sorts of things can be placed in the box
and the Ss have to put their hands in the box and try to guess what the
object is. Great fun! (TP: None).
Who am I
Ghost?:
Blindfold one student. The other Ss stand in circle around the blindfolded
student. Spin the student around and then stop him/her facing another student.
S says "Whooooooo (like a ghost). Who am I?". The blindfolded S must guess who that
student is and call out his/her name. (TP:
F: asking people to identify themselves).
Word
Find: Supplies: timer, paper, pens. Divide Ss into teams.
Take a Halloween related word such as: Dracula,
Frankenstein, Jack-O-Lantern, etc. and find as many words as possible using the
letters of that word. Give a time limit (e.g. 2 mins). The
team with the most words wins! Example: Frankenstein: (in,
ran, ant, nest, tin...).
(TP: F: Spelling).
Halloween Links:
Here is a list of great links to Halloween
worksheets, crafts and more:
ESL
KidStuff Halloween Flashcards (from
ESL
KidStuff).
ESL
KidStuff Halloween Worksheets (from
ESL
KidStuff).
Jack-O-Lantern
Mask Craft (from
DLTK's
Printable Crafts for Kids).
Jack-O-Lantern
Origami (from
Cannon
Creative Park).
Witch
Hat Origami (from
Cannon
Creative Park).
General
Halloween Crafts for Kids (from
DLTK's
Printable Crafts for Kids).
Halloween
Alphabet Tracer Pages (from
DLTK's
Printable Crafts for Kids).
Children's
Halloween Songs (from
DLTK's
Printable Crafts for Kids).
Simple
Pumpkin Cut & Paste Craft (from
First-School).
Hand
Print Bat Craft (from
First-School).
Goofy
Pumpkin Face Craft (from
MakingFriends.com).
Egg
Carton Spiders Craft (from
Kids
Domain).
Halloween
Tic-Tac-Toe (from
Kids
Domain).
