October can be an interesting month in the kindergarten classroom! You feel like you’re hitting your stride with the daily learning routine and then realize a much-loved holiday is just around the corner. As your students daydream about their costumes and trick-or-treating plans, it can be difficult to keep them engaged in learning activities! You can use these fun Halloween activities for kindergarten to embrace the season and bring some extra engagement to your classroom this October.
Engaging Halloween Activities for Kindergarten
Here are some of my favorite ideas for Halloween-themed learning in the kindergarten classroom. You could use any or all of these ideas to keep your students engaged during all of the Halloween excitement in October. You could also use all of these ideas for a fun Halloween unit!
1. Halloween Addition Game
This skeleton-themed activity is a fun way for students to practice addition! This game is perfect for math centers or small group addition practice. Students will use a game format to identify two numbers and then add them together.
Students will choose a ten-frame task card and identify the number of bones shown on the card. Once they have counted the bones, they will write the number on their response sheet. Then, they will spin the spinner and record the number they land on. Once students have both numbers, they will add them together and write down the sum on their response sheet.
2. Costume Data Collection
Kindergarteners are always so excited to talk about what they will wear for Halloween! You can channel this excitement into a fun whole-group math activity that gives students the chance to practice data collection.
Students can vote on whether they will wear a scary, fun, superhero, or prince/princess costume. (They’ll be so excited for this part!) After everyone has had a chance to vote, students can practice their number sense and data collection skills by counting, tallying, and graphing the results of the vote.
3. Haunted House Eye Spy
For even more counting and number sense practice, students can complete this haunted house eye spy activity. This low-prep printable is a perfect addition to math centers or morning work. It’s also a great activity option to have on hand for early finishers during October!
Students will tally the number of each Halloween-themed object they find in the haunted house picture. As they do this, they can also practice graphing and representing numbers on a ten frame. Once they have the final numbers of each object, they can also practice their number formation skills by writing the correct numbers on the chart.
4. Franken Number Matching Game
If your students could use more practice with counting and number recognition, this Halloween learning game can give them the repetition they need in a fun way! This matching game is another festive option for math centers in October.
Students will place a set of ten frame task cards face down on the table or carpet. They will do the same with a set of number cards. When it is their turn, they will turn over one ten-frame card and one number card. After they have counted the number of candies on the ten frame, they will decide if their cards match. If they do, they will record it on their response sheet. If not, they will turn them back over and try again.
5. What Will You Be?
You can also bring some Halloween festivity to your literacy practice! This easy reader gives students the chance to practice their budding phonics skills and reading fluency.
This easy reader also comes in a small black-line version that students can take home after practicing at school. Your students will be excited to show off their reading skills to their families!
This story can also be used as a shared reading activity. You can put the word and picture cards in a pocket chart and read it together as a class.
6. Frankie Friend Glyph
Crafts can also help you bring some festive fun to your classroom! Your students can practice their fine motor skills as they create a Frankie friend glyph.
Students will use a key to help them assemble their glyph craft. For example, the number of hair pieces on their monster represents how old they are. The color of their monster’s jacket represents the type of costume they will be wearing for Halloween. The students’ final creations will look great on a festive Halloween bulletin board!
Ways to Use Halloween Activities
You can use engaging, hands-on learning activities throughout your lesson plans. I’ve mentioned a few ideas throughout this post. Here’s just a sample of the many different ways that you can incorporate these Halloween activities into your October plans:
- Morning Work: Help your students ease into a day of learning with an attention-grabbing Halloween printable.
- Centers: Many of these engaging games are perfect for partner work during centers time!
- Small Group Practice: You can choose specific skills that you’d like to target with engaging seasonal activities.
- Classroom Party: If you’d like your students to participate in meaningful activities during your classroom Halloween celebration, these activities are a great option! You can set up the activities as stations or use them as whole-group activities.
I hope this gives you some inspiration for adding in some seasonal excitement to your classroom while keeping learning on track!
Printable Halloween Activities for Kindergarten
Would you like to use these Halloween activities in your classroom this fall? You can find all of the activities in this post (and more!) in one easy-to-download resource. These literacy and math activities will help your students practice important skills with a touch of seasonal fun! You can add these to your lesson plans wherever you think your students could benefit from the engaging, hands-on learning.
If you’d like to take a closer look at everything included in this resource, you can find it in my TPT store.
Save These Kindergarten Halloween Activities
Be sure to save this post so you can come back to it later! Just add the pin below to your favorite kindergarten board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find these Halloween activities when you’re putting together your October lesson plans.
