When we think of Halloween, we think of pumpkins, bats, witches, and, of course, the memorable classroom Halloween parties. These spooky chemistry experiments, creepy art projects, pumpkin writing, and free Halloween printables are a great addition to any classroom party or classroom activity.
Free Halloween Printables for Grades PreK–6
These fun and free Halloween-themed worksheets from Evan-Moor include hidden pictures, word searches, coloring pages, Halloween writing prompts, thinking skills, drawing, patterning, and more! The free Halloween printables will keep students’ minds engaged in learning, amidst the spirited fun of the day. (32 printable activity pages for grades PreK–6)
Halloween Arts, Crafts, and Activities
Make and Hang Paper Spiders
Dangling paper spiders are simple to make and can become instant classroom décor or inspire spider-themed lessons and activities. Get the step-by-step instructions here.
Create Paper Skeletons
With simple art supplies and a skeleton pattern, your students can make paper skeletons. Browse this article for free skeleton printables and related activity ideas here.
Draw a Haunted House
All you need is a blank piece of paper and a writing journal for each student to have students draw a house and write a spooky story about it. Students can share their stories and illustrations with the class.
Decorate a Pumpkin
As a kid, this was always my favorite activity at my local Halloween fair. Bring in mini pumpkins for the students or have them bring in their own. Use markers, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, and glitter glue for them to decorate their pumpkins. It is the most adorable way to get everyone in the spirit and decorate the students’ desks around Halloween.
Host a Parade
Encourage students to dress up in their Halloween costumes. Then, have the students show off their creative costumes with a classroom parade.
Put Together a Spooky Mystery “Touch and Feel” Bag
In a paper bag, put items such as cotton balls for cobwebs, corn flakes for toenails, nuts and bolts for Frankenstein parts, raisins for witches’ warts, and gauze for mummy skin. Without looking in the bag, have students touch the objects in the bag and, on a piece of paper, write down adjectives to describe different textures that they can feel in the bag. After they describe the objects and guess what’s inside, reveal all of the secret objects.
Spooky Science Experiments
Spooky Slime Chemistry Experiment
Create some spooky slime with these simple ingredients and answer the question, “is slime a solid or liquid?” (The answer may surprise you.) Slime is a wonderful example of how two different substances can combine to form a new substance, which is created after the chemical reaction between the two main ingredients: polyvinyl alcohol and borate ion.
Ingredients and supplies:
- Water
- Glue
- Food coloring
- Laundry detergent
- Bags or jars
Directions:
- Measure ½ cup of water and pour it into a bowl.
- Mix in ½ cup of glue.
- Squeeze in a few drops of orange, purple, or green food coloring.
- Stir in about ¼ cup of liquid laundry detergent.
- Knead the slime with both hands until it’s firm.
Divide the slime and store in bags or jars.
Witches’ Brew Chemistry Experiment
This bubbling concoction is a fun way to demonstrate chemical reactions. The reaction between the hydrogen peroxide and the yeast is called an exothermic reaction. You will feel warmth on the outside of the container because energy is being released. The yeast helps to remove the oxygen from the hydrogen peroxide, creating tons of tiny bubbles that make all that cool foam. Experiment with various sizes of containers and watch how the mixture foams differently. And there you have your witches’ brew!
Ingredients and supplies:
- Dish soap
- Yeast
- Newspaper
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Green food coloring
- Dish soap
- Different sizes of containers or small plastic cauldrons
Directions:
- Put out newspaper; this could get a bit messy!
- Pour ½ cup of hydrogen peroxide into a container.
- Add about 10 drops of green food coloring for the witches’ brew effect.
- Mix in 1 tablespoon of dish soap.
- In a separate cup, mix a packet of yeast into warm water and stir for 30 seconds.
- When ready for the foaming chemical reaction to make the witches’ brew, add the yeast and water mixture to the beaker.
Halloween is a fun time of year for both teachers and students. Be sure to enjoy the holiday with all of these fang-tastic activities that everyone will love!
For more Halloween activities, browse 20 October and Halloween-Themed Writing Prompts.
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Natalie Robinson is a recent Communication Studies graduate from LMU. She has a strong passion for writing and loves children. Having grown up in a Montessori school and later transitioning to public school, Natalie values early childhood education and believes that social and emotional learning should be a core tenet within all homes and classrooms. In writing for Evan-Moor, Natalie hopes to build a career in copywriting and copyediting.
Heather Foudy is a certified elementary teacher with over 7 years’ experience as an educator and volunteer in the classroom. She enjoys creating lessons that are meaningful and creative for students. She is currently working for Evan-Moor’s marketing and communications team and enjoys building learning opportunities that are both meaningful and creative for students and teachers alike.
Lisa Vitarisi Mathews serves as Publisher of Evan-Moor Educational Publishers. She has over 20 years’ experience in PreK–8 education, and has worked closely with teachers across the United States through Evan-Moor product training and workshops.
Keep in mind that a reading words-per-minute grade-level chart is a simple gauge and just one measurement tool used to identify students’ readiness. Every student learns in a unique way, at his or her own pace. If a child is not at grade level, focus on increasing his or her current score by 10 to 15 words by the end of the year, and then celebrate the successes!
Heather Foudy is a certified elementary teacher with over 7 years’ experience as an educator and volunteer in the classroom. She enjoys creating lessons that are meaningful and creative for students. She is currently working for Evan-Moor’s marketing and communications team and enjoys building learning opportunities that are both meaningful and creative for students and teachers alike.
Alphabet Hunt: An alphabet hunt is a fun and interactive way to teach letter and sound combinations. For beginning readers, matching objects with the same beginning and ending sounds reinforces this concept. Assign a letter of the week and have students find objects within the classroom that have the same beginning sound as the weekly letter. Depending on your class, you could assign more than one letter per week. (Students could also bring objects from home to share as well.)
Rhyming Phonics Game: Gather sets of rhyming objects to play the game “rhyme in a bag.” Split the sets, so half are placed in a paper bag and half are placed on a table. Have students reach into the bag, pull out an object, and match it to an item on the table that rhymes.
To make a blending flip book:
To make a word-family flip book:
