Updated - October 12, 2023
Halloween is a “spooktacular” time of the year, but it can be “frightful” for educators! Trying to keep students motivated during such exciting times can be challenging, but check out these 20 “thrilling” activities to keep the engagement “creeping” around your classroom!
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20 Halloween Themed Books for Elementary Students!
“Creepy Carrots”
Jasper Rabbit loves carrots—especially Crackenhopper Field carrots. He eats them on the way to school. He eats them going to Little League. He eats them walking home. Until the day the carrots start following him...or are they?
“Creepy Pair of Underwear”
Jasper Rabbit is NOT a little bunny anymore. He’s not afraid of the dark, and he’s definitely not afraid of something as silly as underwear. But when the lights go out, suddenly his new big rabbit underwear glows in the dark. A ghoulish, greenish glow. If Jasper didn’t know any better he’d say his undies were a little, well, creepy. Jasper’s not scared obviously, he’s just done with creepy underwear. But after trying everything to get rid of them, they keep coming back!
“The Bad Seed: The Good, The Bad and The Spooky”
Halloween is the Bad Seed’s favorite holiday of the year. But what’s a seed to do when he can’t find a show-stopping costume for the big night? Postpone trick-or-treating for everyone, of course! Can he get a costume together in time? Or will this seed return to his baaaaaaaaad ways?
“The Adventures of Beekle:
The Unimaginary Friend”
This magical story begins on an island far away where an imaginary friend is born. He patiently waits his turn to be chosen by a real child, but when he is overlooked time and again, he sets off on an incredible journey to the bustling city, where he finally meets his perfect match and--at long last--is given his special name: Beekle.
“Bonaparte Falls Apart”
Bonaparte is having a tough time. It’s hard for this young skeleton to just hang loose when he can’t keep hold of himself. When he plays catch, his throwing arm literally takes a flyer. Eating lunch can be a real jaw-dropping occasion. How can he start school when he has so many screws loose? Luckily, Bonaparte hit the bone-anza when it came to his friends. Franky Stein, Blacky Widow, and Mummicula all have some bonehead ideas to help pull him together. But will it be enough to boost his confidence and get him ready for the first day of school?
“Crankenstein”
BEWARE OF CRANKENSTEIN! He's a little monster of crankiness that no one can destroy! MEHHRRRR!!! He may look like any ordinary boy, but when faced with a rainy day, a melting popsicle, or an early bedtime, one little boy transforms into a mumbling, grumbling Crankenstein. When Crankenstein meets his match in a fellow Crankenstein, the results could be catastrophic--or they could be just what he needs to brighten his day! This hilarious and relatable tale of grumpiness gone awry will turn toddler tantrums to giggles in no time.
“Ghost Afraid of the Dark”
Follow Boo the Ghost as he celebrates his first Halloween with all his Monster friends! He is a shy little ghost and quickly realizes he is afraid of many things. Read as Boo discovers to be brave in this adorable, spooky story! With charming illustrations and a glow-in-the-dark cover, makes this the perfect bedtime read
“The Hallo-Wiener”
Oscar is a little dog with a big problem -- he gets more tricks than treats because other dogs tease him all the time. But one brave act on Halloween makes Oscar a Grade-A hero, proving that a little wiener can be a real winner!
“Leo: A Ghost Story”
You would like being friends with Leo. He likes to draw, he makes delicious snacks, and most people can't even see him. Because Leo is also a ghost. When a new family moves into his home and Leo's efforts to welcome them are misunderstood, Leo decides it is time to leave and see the world. That is how he meets Jane, a kid with a tremendous imagination and an open position for a worthy knight. That is how Leo and Jane become friends. And that is when their adventures begin.
“How to Make Friends
With a Ghost”
What do you do when you meet a ghost? One: Provide the ghost with some of its favorite snacks, like mud tarts and earwax truffles. Two: Tell your ghost bedtime stories (ghosts love to be read to). Three: Make sure no one mistakes your ghost for whipped cream or a marshmallow when you aren't looking! If you follow these few simple steps and the rest of the essential tips in How to Make Friends with a Ghost, you'll see how a ghost friend will lovingly grow up and grow old with you.
“Even Monsters Need Haircuts”
Just before midnight, on the night of a full moon, a young barber stays out past his bedtime to go to work. Although his customers are mostly regulars, they are anything but normal - after all, even monsters need haircuts. Business is steady all night, and this barber is prepared for anything with his scissors, rotting tonic, horn polish, and stink wax. It's a tough job, but someone's got to help these creatures maintain their ghoulish good looks.
“Room on the Broom”
The witch and her cat are happily flying through the sky on a broomstick when the wind picks up and blows away the witch's hat, then her bow, and then her wand! Luckily, three helpful animals find the missing items, and all they want in return is a ride on the broom. But is there room on the broom for so many friends? And when disaster strikes, will they be able to save the witch from a hungry dragon?
“Stumpkin”
Stumpkin is the most handsome pumpkin on the block. He’s as orange as a traffic cone! Twice as round as a basketball! He has no bad side! He’s perfect choice for a Halloween jack-o-lantern. There’s just one problem—Stumpkin has a stump, not a stem. And no one seems to want a stemless jack-o-lantern for their window.
“The Dark”
Laszlo is afraid of the dark. The dark lives in the same house as Laszlo. Mostly, though, the dark stays in the basement and doesn't come into Lazslo's room. But one night, it does. This is the story of how Laszlo stops being afraid of the dark.
“The Little Ghost Who was a Quilt”
When you're a quilt instead of a sheet, being a ghost is hard! Ghosts are supposed to be sheets, light as air and able to whirl and twirl and float and soar. But the little ghost who is a quilt can't whirl or twirl at all, and when he flies, he gets very hot. He doesn't know why he's a quilt. His parents are both sheets, and so are all of his friends. (His great-grandmother was a lace curtain, but that doesn't really help cheer him up.) He feels sad and left out when his friends are zooming around and he can't keep up.
But one Halloween, everything changes. The little ghost who was a quilt has an experience that no other ghost could have, an experience that only happens because he's a quilt . . . and he realizes that it's OK to be different.
“Stellaluna”
Knocked from her mother’s safe embrace by an attacking owl, Stellaluna lands headfirst in a bird’s nest. This adorable baby fruit bat’s world is literally turned upside down when she is adopted by the occupants of the nest and adapts to their peculiar bird habits.
“Snowmen at Halloween”
After an early snowfall, a few kids build some snowmen before going trick-or-treating. And when the kids go off to bed, the snowmen have their own Halloween festival! There's candy and apple-bobbing and costume contests and all sorts of autumn activities. When the kids wake up the next morning, the snowmen are gone... but they've left a very special message behind.
“The Little Kitten”
Ollie and her cat Pumpkin are out frolicking on a beautiful fall day when they come upon a tiny kitten shivering in a pile of fallen leaves. Ollie warms the kitten up and the three become fast friends, but when Ollie sees “Lost Kitten” posters hanging on the trees in the forest, she knows she has to help her new friend get home. As Halloween draws nearer, magic is afoot, and Ollie’s good deed is rewarded in an unexpected way.
“Gustavo - The Shy Ghost”
Gustavo is good at doing all sorts of ghostly things: walking through walls, making objects fly, and glowing in the dark. And he loves almost nothing more than playing beautiful music on his violin. But Gustavo is shy, and some things are harder for him to do, like getting in a line to buy eye scream or making friends with other monsters. Whenever he tries getting close to them, he realizes they just can’t see him. Now that the Day of the Dead is fast approaching, what can he do to make them notice him and to share with them something he loves?
“Ghosts in the House!”
At the edge of town lives a clever girl with a spooky problem: Her house is haunted! Luckily, she happens to be a witch and knows a little something about taking care of ghosts. She catches them, puts them in the washing machine, airs them out to dry, and gives them new lives as sofa covers, table cloths, and, of course, bed sheets to cozy up under. Fresh and charming illustrations in dynamic orange, black and white bring this resourceful heroine and these spooky ghosts to life.
Turn yourself into a Ghost
That Visits Your Classroom!
Here’s a “spooktacular” way to keep your students engaged during the Halloween season! Try “ghosting” yourself into your classroom! Here’s how:
Take a picture of your empty classroom.
Hang a green table cloth on a wall.
Use a green shirt and wrap it around your head (of just don’t put your head all the way through).
Put sunglasses or glasses (even a hair bun through the top of the shirt) and wear them over the shirt.
Record yourself in the app Do Ink Green Screen.
Export the video and save!
For a step-by-step tutorial of how this works, check out our book, “The InterACTIVE Class!” Click here or below to purchase!
Creepy Carrots: Become a Ghost and Place Yourself in the Text!
In this activity, your students will become ghosts that appear right in the text! We used the text Creepy Carrots and had the students trace the main character Jasper’s emotions throughout the text. Then, we put ourselves “in” the text using Do Ink’s Green Screen app! Here’s How:
Take a photo of a page from the book
Hang a green table cloth on a wall and stand in front of it
Open Do Ink’s Green Screen app and insert the photo from the book on the bottom layer
Add a video to the top layer - which will be you! (tip: for a more “ghostly” effect, drop the opacity of your video)
Creepy Pair of Underwear
(Design a Pair of Underwear!)
Aaron Reynolds & Peter Brown’s “Creepy Pair of Underwear” is a classroom favorite! For this activity, students can design their own creepy pair of underwear, then share why they think Jasper would be afraid of them on Microsoft Flip! Follow these steps:
Download the Creepy Pair of Underwear Template by clicking here (or the image)
Print / copy for your class
Students design a creepy pair of underwear using crayons or markers
Students hold up the creepy pair of underwear in their Flip video, explaining why they think Jasper would be afraid of them.
The Bad Seed Presents: The Good, The Bad and the Spooky
(Design a Costume for the Bad Seed)
The Bad Seed is back and right in time for Halloween! When we last left The Bad Seed, he was committed to doing acts of kindness. But what’s a seed to do when he can’t find a show-stopping costume for the big night? Postpone trick-or-treating for everyone, of course! In this activity, your students can use Flipgrid to help design a costume to save both The Bad Seed and Halloween! Act quickly, though, or will this seed return to his baaaaaaaaad ways! Here’s how (note, this activity will only work on computers, mobile devices are not supported at this time):
Download the Bad Seed sticker (click here or the image)
Open Microsoft Flip and add the Bad Seed sticker as “Media” in the Flipgrid camera
Use the Flip drawing, stickers, and GIF tools to decorate the Bad Seed’s costume!
Hallo-wiener: Design a
Costume for Oscar
Similar to the activity above, Oscar has a problem. He desperately needs a costume for Halloween! All the other dogs tease him, so it’s your (students) job to create another costume that will work for him (other than the hot dog costume)! Here’s how:
Download the Oscar media sticker by clicking here or the image above.
Open Microsoft Flip and add the Oscar sticker as “Media” in the Flip camera
Use the Flip drawing, stickers, and GIF tools to decorate Oscar’s costume!
Explain why you think the other dogs will like his costume in a Flip video!
Room on the Broom:
Retell the Story using Flipgrid
Room on the Broom is a classroom favorite and being able to retell the story is an important skill for all students to have. With Microsoft Flip, students can easily retell the entire story without ever having to leave the app. Here’s how:
Read Room on the Broom
We recommend pausing as you read to have students maintain some type of flow map (click here to see an example) so that they are able to recall the events of the story.
After you have read the story, have the students use the Stickers, Drawing and GIF’s to retell the story right in the Flip camera. Tip: Have the students take advantage of the Pause Feature and layering. Layering their stickers and gifs behind the witch can create an effect where it looks like each one is falling from the broom - see example.
Once finished, students may watch each other’s videos to see if they sequenced everything correctly.
Stellaluna: Retell the Story Using Flip Stickers
Here’s another interACTIVE way to get your students retelling the story Stellaluna! After reading, have your students use the Microsoft Flip stickers to retell the events. Check it out below!
Stumpkin: Halloween from Stumpkin’s Point of View
In the book Stumpkin, Stumpkin is the most handsome pumpkin on the block. He’s as orange as a traffic cone! Twice as round as a basketball! He has no bad side! He’s perfect choice for a Halloween jack-o-lantern. There’s just one problem—Stumpkin has a stump, not a stem. And no one seems to want a stemless jack-o-lantern for their window. In this activity, your students will put themselves into Stumpkin’s perspective by becoming Stumpkin and explaining his point-of-view. Why is Stumpkin feeling the way that he does? How does he feel throughout the story? What about the end? Here’s how it all works:
Read Stumpkin and download the Microsoft Flip Photo Stickers below.
Open Flip and click Media to upload the city building. Stretch it across the screen to make it become a background.
Next, click on either the Stickers or GIF’s to add jack-o-lanterns in the city building’s windows.
After that, click Media and this time upload the Stumpkin POV sticker. Resize the image so that it goes well beyond the frame of the screen (make it really big, trust us!).
Move the Stumpkin POV sticker around the screen to see the city building through Stumpkin’s eyes.
Repeat as necessary! To add more or less jack-o-lanterns, just move the Stumpkin POV sticker off the view of the screen (but not all the way - otherwise you’ll have to reupload it).
Crankenstein: InterACTIVE Read Aloud with Novel Effect
Crankenstein's favorite day of all—Halloween—has gone rotten! With problem after problem, today is bound to go down as the worst Halloween in history!
Kids love this book, but they’ll love it even more if you read it while using the app Novel Effect. Novel Effect uses your devices’ microphone to detect when and where you are reading in the book. It will then add sound effects as you read - all of which match the mood of the story! Novel Effect offers both free and premium versions, and you can find Crankenstein in the library now!
Even Monsters Need Haircuts: Design a Monster’s Haircut
In Even Monsters Need Haircuts, the main character’s father owns a barber shop. At night, the main character volunteers to cut monsters hair, because no one else would. In this activity, your students can give a monster a haircut and use evidence from the text (rotting tonic, horn polish, stink wax, etc.) to explain what they used to “style” their monster’s hair. Here’s how:
Download the Even Monsters Seesaw activity here, or Flip Photo Sticker Here.
Using the Seesaw or Flip Drawing Tools, have your students create haircut for their monster
Students can record their voice explaining what “products” they used on the monsters hair and why.
If using Flip, students can comment back and forth on each other’s creation!
Bonaparte: Read aloud
& STEM Project
Bonaparte Falls Apart is a humorous story of a skeleton who “just can’t keep it together.” Luckily for him, his friends help him out. That’s exactly what your students will do in this activity!
Image courtesy of: Mombrite.com
After reading Bonaparte Falls Apart, Give group students into pairs (this can also be done individually)
Give each group / student a black piece of construction paper and a handful of q-tips.
Have the students use glue to make Bonaparte’s skeleton. Groups / Students may cut the q-tips to better fit their skeleton if they see fit.
Last, give each student a half-piece of white printer paper. Students will use this to make the Bonaparte’s skull.
For a detailed step-by-step tutorial on this, check out this post from Betty!
How to Make Friends With a Ghost: A How-to Guide
In How to Make Friends with a Ghost, you’ll learn the basics of what to do in order to befriend a ghost For example, you’ll need to provide the ghost with some of its favorite snacks, like mud tarts and earwax truffles. In this activity, your students will add a ghost to their Flip video and explain what they would do in order to become friends with a ghost. Here’s how:
Download the Ghost media sticker by clicking here or the image above.
Open Flip and add the Ghost sticker as “Media” in the Flip camera
Press record, move your ghost around in your video and explain what you would do to become friends with a ghost in your Flip video!
Ghost Afraid of the Dark:
Read Aloud on Vooks & Guide
to Being Brave
Boo the ghost is getting ready for his first Halloween with all his monster friends. There’s just one problem…He’s a little shy and is afraid of many things. But have no fear, your students will bravely be able to fly through this activity! Here’s how:
Read or watch Ghost Afraid of the Dark using the book or the app Vooks (click here to download) - or do both!
Think about how Boo needed to be brave as he went through the story. What did he do to show bravery?
Download the Boo Flip Media sticker here (or click the image).
Open Flip and add the Boo sticker as “Media” in the Flip camera
Press record, move Boo around in your video and add some stickers or gifs. Explain how he was brave throughout the story in your video!
The Dark: InterACTIVE Read
Aloud & Add “The Dark” to
Your Flipgrid Video
The Dark is a book that all kids (and let’s face it, some adults, too) can relate to. In The Dark, the main character, Laszlo is afraid of the dark. “The dark” lives in the same house as Laszlo. Mostly, though, the dark stays in the basement and doesn't come into Lazslo's room. But one night, it does…
This is a great book to pair with Ghost Afraid of the Dark, as both deal with being a little nervous at night. For this activity, your students can download a Flip Media sticker of “The Dark” and add it to a Flip video. Check it out:
Read The Dark using Novel Effect. This will create an interACTIVE read aloud!
Download The Dark Flip Media sticker here (or click the image).
Open Flip and add The Dark sticker as “Media” in the Flip camera
Resize the rectangle as needed and explain what areas make you nervous. Why? How are you brave?
Steve Spangler Halloween
Science Kits!
Steve Spangler always brings the fun and his Halloween Science kits do not disappoint. If your students are into things like Vampire Slime, Ghost eggs, Invisible paper and much more. Check out the experiments and products to purchase below!
Halloween BreakoutEDU Kits
BreakoutEDU kits always keep students thinking. Luckily for educators, BreakoutEDU has uploaded 43 different games to help us get through the Halloween holiday. Everything from a pumpkin design party to tricks and treats. Check them all out by clicking here or the image below!
Name Skeletons: Create a
Skeleton Our of Your Name
This fabulous idea comes from Cindy deRosier. Create a skeleton body using your name! Learn how to do it on Cindy’s blog post by clicking here or the images below!
Halloween on Wonderopolis
Do your students have big questions when it comes to Halloween? For example, maybe they’re wondering if other countries celebrate Halloween? Perhaps they’re curious about when candy was invented? Wonderopolis has you covered! Check out the entire Halloween themed list of topics by clicking here or the image below!
Halloween on Nearpod
The Nearpod Library is a great place to find resources. Educators can find plenty of content on Halloween here, too! Everything from stories to the actual history of Halloween. Check out the collection by searching “Halloween” in the Nearpod library, or click here or the image below!
-- Let us know if you’re using any of these ideas in your classroom! Be sure to follow us on social media (@TheMerrillsEDU everywhere) and tag us! 👓👗
For more tips, tricks and lesson ideas for making learning more interACTIVE, check out our books The InterACTIVE Class and Flipgrid in the InterACTIVE Class on Amazon!
