5 TESTED HALLOWEEN ACTIVITIES: On the average day, keeping a room full of 8 year-olds level headed is a challenge. Add in one of the most anticipated evenings in their calendar year and BOOM comes the CRAZY. 😂 Do you resonate?! My students started asking “How many days until Halloween” on October 1st. It’s just a BIG deal. And why? Because it’s going to be SO.MUCH.FUN!
So, what’s the best way to compete with costumes and endless amounts of candy? Make your day FUN, too! And how? I’ll tell you five super simple ways below! Emphasis on the simple part. All of these ideas could be prepped in 10 minutes or less!
#1 Make your Teacher’s Costume
First out of the gate- a CLASSIC Halloween activity. Have students draw what they think your Halloween costume should be! Tell your students you are in need of a Halloween costume and want their ideas! I told mine nothing with blood or weapons to keep everything school appropriate. The results are always fun and hilarious!
In addition to doing this activity just for fun, you could also make it a challenge. I told my students to “convince me” I should wear their costume in the writing portion. I chose a few favorite costumes based on their creativity in their costume and arguments. If you REALLY want to go the extra mile, you could even mimic the winner’s costume in a photo or on a school dress up day. You know your students would go ballistic to see you dressed up in their design!
Furthermore-this template is available for free! Snag yours here! Thus, you’ve got nothing to lose! Simply add your photo, print, and go! Click on the image to go open the link.
#2 Novel Effect
The following activity is one you need to see to believe! Novel Effect is a free app that listens to you as you read, providing fitting background noises and sound effects to match the book! I can tell you from experience, it gives read alouds a whole new layer of magic I didn’t know was possible! You can see the app in action with the text above Creepy Carrots here.
Novel Effect is a free app, giving every user 5 free book experiences monthly! For those who want to use the app more often, subscriptions are available as well. Again, you do not have to pay a penny for the 5 reads a month (or give out your credit card information!) I would highly encourage all educators to give this one a try! Your students will LOVE IT!
Bonus Tips:
*Not ALL books work with Novel Effect! Download the app to view their library of available texts.
*Halloween is GREAT time to try this app, as they already have many popular festive books in their library. Some examples of these titles include The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything, Room on the Broom, Crankenstein, Creepy Pair of Underwear, and I Need My Monster.
*Some teachers have said their phone volume was not loud enough for using in the classroom. Therefore, pairing your phone with a speaker to make the sound effects more audible is something to consider. I use the “audio boost” feature in the app to amplify the sound as well. Test things out in your room alone before using with your class to see what works best!
#3 Directed Drawings
Another amazing activity your students will adore: directed drawings! Students will go bananas for these any day of the week. My favorite source for directed drawings is the YouTube Chanel Art for Kids Hub. On this platform, a father (who is the artist) guides students to complete a drawing, start to finish, in simple step by step movements.
One of the best parts of these videos is that the father always has one of his kids next to him, doing the drawings themselves! This allows students extra time to follow the movements and also makes them feel more confident about their pictures.
Additionally, Art for Kids Hub has hundreds of videos fit for all occasions! I personally like to use one at every Holiday party because kids love them so much. You can view their page of amazing videos here.
#4 Save Halloween Escape Game
For this next activity-I’m speaking to 1st-3rd grade teachers specifically. Although there are many cute themed worksheets available that your students could complete on a holiday such as Halloween-there is a more engaging alternative!
Enter the Save Halloween digital math game on Google Forms! Undoubtedly, your students will be all IN with this fun, escape style math game. I like to divide my students into pairs or trios for this activity. Then, I set the stage by reading the “email” Gia the Ghost sent us. The email invites students to help Gia set up for her Halloween Costume Party.
Next, I tell students I wrote back to Gia the Ghost and told her we’d LOVE to help-but we only have 35 minutes to do so! Students must solve the four levels of challenges before the time runs out. Talk about engagement! Students are so eager to get started, they hardly recognize they are reviewing math concepts during the game.
Because my students have loved these Save Games so much, we use one for every month of the year! Subsequently, the Save Series resource was born. This will be linked here. I love pairing them with holiday parties and always pull them out before a break from school.
#5 Halloween Bingo
Finally, the last idea I have is another tried and true staple-bingo! Even though it’s been around for ages, the aspect of the game still excites and engages. Kids enjoy the simplicity and the chance they have to be a winner. Though I do not believe prizes are necessary, I sometimes award random items I want to get rid of in the classroom during these times. The students love taking home these little things and I’m happy to be rid of them. For example: notepads that have been sitting in my desk for years, pens, books, etc.
As another bonus, I like to provide candy pieces as bingo markers (fun sized M&Ms and Skittles are a big hit.) There are many templates available for this on Teachers Pay Teachers, the one above is a free template I use.
In Conclusion…
The day of (or day before) Halloween with a room full of 8 year olds will always be an exciting time! I hope you’ll find these activities make your day MORE fun and help you spend LESS time prepping and planning!
Want even more?!
Check out my YouTube video below for three more bonus ideas!
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