Halloween should always be celebrated on Saturday am I right?
But if you have to teach ON Halloween here are 7 ideas to tame the crazies!
- Scoot
- Would You Rather
- Ghost Writing
- Who Am I?
- Ghost Ball (aka Silent Ball)
- Heads Up 7 Up
- Flashlight reading
Halloween Party Idea #1 and 2
Scoot is a whole class game that can be used with any content. All you need for scoot is task cards and a structure for students to complete the task cards as they move around the room. Once your students have played scoot, they’ll be excited to play again! Read more about how to play here
For Halloween scoot you can review blends and digraphs with eyeball theme
Or play scoot with Halloween would you rather questions
Halloween Party Idea #3 Ghost Writing
Ghost Writing can be done with spelling words, vocabulary or even math facts. All you need is white crayons and markers! Grab this FREEBIE for your students!
Halloween Party Idea #4 Who Am I?
Students love to talk about their Halloween costumes so give them practice in speaking and listening. Students can describe their costume (or you can use a future career if you can’t dress up in costumes) and their classmates can guess. Want this activity for your students? Click on the picture below
Halloween Party Idea #5 and #6
Silent Ball
These last 2 ideas are classic games I remember playing in elementary school. First silent ball (or you could call it ghost ball) is great for students to practice their non-verbal skills. When I played, we sat on our desks, but students could stand behind their chairs too. You can use a soft ball such as a nerf style or even a bean bag. Each round starts with students standing behind their chairs. The rules are simple: you (gently) toss the ball to another classmate with no talking or sound! If you talk or make sounds or don’t catch the ball, you sit down and you’re out for that round. The winner can start the next round.
Heads Up 7 Up
I also remember playing this game in school. First you start with 7 students who stand up front. The leader of the 7 students says, “Heads down and thumbs up.” All the other students close their eyes, put their heads down and put their thumbs up on their desk. Then the 7 students go around very quietly and touch only 1 other student on the thumb. When a student’s thumb is touched, he/she puts the thumb down. The 7 students return to the front of the room and the leader says, “Heads up stand up.” Only the students whose thumbs were touched stand up. One at a time, they guess who touched them. If they are correct, they trade places with the student up front. At the end all the students up front tell who they touched. I am many memories of playing this game during rainy day recess or during a class party.
Halloween Party Idea #7 Flashlight Reading
For this you can buy finger flashlights online or have students bring flashlights from home. Turn off all the lights and student use their flashlights to read by themselves or with a partner. You could also put words up on the ceiling or on the walls around the room and students could shine their flashlights on the words to read. This is fun (and easy) way to engage students in reading!
What’s your favorite?
Let me know your favorite idea from the list or share your best Halloween party idea! I look forward to hearing from you!
Supporting you always!
💗