I love celebrating holidays in my classroom. However, my administration still expects me to follow my regular schedule. That’s why I’ve found ways to work holiday activities into each of my daily subjects. Here are 5 fun Halloween activities for your classroom.
5 Fun Halloween Activities for Your Classroom
#1 – Halloween Math Problem Solving
As part of our guided math rotations, my students do a problem solving center each day. They apply the skills we’ve learned through performance tasks and word problems.
I will still be teaching my regular math lesson on Halloween, but we will have a special problem solving center. My students are going to love this Halloween performance task. While having some holiday fun, your students will apply their money, geometry, and multiplication skills.
#2 – Inferences and Predictions with The Witch’s Broom
I love reading seasonal books during my reading workshop minilessons. Normally, I read a small amount of the book each day and stretch it over a week to keep my minilessons short, but for this special day, I read The Witch’s Broom from cover to cover. My reading workshop lessons already covered predictions and inferences, and this book is the perfect way to practice both skills.
I stop every few pages to ask my students a question. They turn and talk with their reading partners before recording their answers. Chris Van Allsburg books are always a favorite in my classroom!
If you want to extend your Halloween lessons all week during reading workshop, check out these Halloween-themed units that review the reading literature standards.
Fiction Halloween Reading Workshop Lessons for Grades 1 and 2
Fiction Halloween Reading Workshop Lessons for Grades 3-5
Nonfiction Halloween Reading Workshop Lessons for Grades 1 and 2
Nonfiction Halloween Reading Workshop Lessons for Grades 3-5
#3 – Pumpkin Head Writing
This activity is one of my students’ favorites each year. We get a class set of little pumpkins. Sometimes they are donated by a parent. Other times, I buy them at my local farmer’s market. My students spend some time decorating the pumpkins with faces and accessories. Then, I take their pictures with the pumpkins in front of their faces.
This leads to a creative writing activity where the students tell how their heads were turned into pumpkins and what they did when they had a pumpkin head. My students always get really creative. I’ve had superhero pumpkin heads, princess pumpkin heads, and ghost pumpkin heads. These make a really cute hallway display for fall!
#4 – Candy Corn STEM Activity
My students love STEM activities. For Halloween, we are going to build candy corn towers. My students will work with their groups to plan their towers. Then, they will have 15 minutes to build their creations. A pumpkin candy needs to be able to sit on top of the tower.
#5 – Halloween Unlock the Box Mystery
An Unlock the Box Mystery is the perfect way to wrap up a day of Halloween fun! Your students will love solving the four clues and getting a special surprise from the locked box. Get more details about how Unlock the Box Mysteries work.
A Prep-Free Halloween
Get everything you need to have the best Halloween ever in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.
The Halloween Activities Pack includes everything for math, reading, writing, and the STEM activity.
You’ll get:
- The 5-page math performance task with an answer key
- A teacher guide and student response sheet for The Witch’s Broom
- A prewriting sheet and final copy paper for the pumpkin head writing
- A teacher’s guide and planning page for the STEM activity
You can also get everything you need for the Halloween Unlock the Box Mystery.
You can even purchase them together in my Halloween Bundle.
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What Do You Think?
What are your favorite activities to do for Halloween in your classroom?
Let me know in the comments below.
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