Halloween is right around the corner, and if your students are anything like mine this time of year, they are bouncing off the walls! My students are so excited to share candy, plan out costumes, and plot their trick-or-treating route. Shockingly, they are not as excited about practicing math…WEIRD! It goes without saying that surviving this time of year takes some patience, extra coffee, and a game plan! Here are my favorite ways to easily celebrate the spooky season and keep my students engaged, without adding a ton of extra prep to my plate!
Halloween Ice Breaker Game Set
If we have downtime in class or need a brain break, I love using a holiday-themed game set to focus student conversations. This no-prep game set is Halloween-themed for morning meetings or team building time and includes six games, like corny jokes, “What’s That?” mystery pictures, and Would You Rather games! Every year, my students love it as a way to celebrate Halloween, without seeming too baby-ish! Simply project it through Google Slides or as a PDF, and click to navigate each game.
Interactive Ice Breaker sets are no prep games that are life savers when you have a few extra minutes in class! They also fit seamlessly into morning meetings and make great brain breaks!
Math Escape Room
Harness your students’ extra energy through a Halloween escape room! A few years ago, I had a group of students who were high-energy and highly competitive. As October ticked by, they were getting rowdier and rowdier, barely listening to a word I was saying. How was I supposed to compete with talk of Halloween costumes and the best spots to trick or treat? To save my sanity, I got creative! I had my students pick their partners (a gamble that paid off) and gave them some challenges resulting in a code word. The only thing that was festive about it was the packet cover! They loved competing against each other to solve each challenge, and I loved that they were using math to do so! I added some extra Halloween flare by giving each group a piece of candy as they finished (I also ate some while they worked…). Don’t worry about spending your time creating detailed and intricate escape room challenges for your students – I’ve already done the work for you!
Lowkey Halloween Math Practice
If you’re a lowkey teacher (like me!) or don’t love celebrating holidays in your classroom, ready-to-go themed practice pages are a happy middle ground! For example, use a corny joke math page with a Halloween theme to bring a festive touch to your independent practice activities – like this long division one, which is perfect for practicing long division! It takes the same prep time as any other printable worksheet, but adds a fun touch to your classroom this time of year!
Don’t have time for the copy machine? Use digital task cards with a Halloween-themed background (like these integer operation ones) that you can assign within minutes. I love them because you can also print, laminate, and hide around the room for a fun scavenger hunt!
Themed Digital Mystery Pictures
Another awesome, low-prep activity is a Halloween-themed pixel art assignment! I love pixel art activities to practice a math concept any time of year, but the unique mystery pictures add a festive flair! As students answer questions correctly, parts of a mystery picture are revealed, making these so easy to incorporate around any holiday. I love this Halloween Cat Pixel Art for multiplication practice or this Day of the Dead-themed sugar skull for integer operations!
Celebrating Halloween in your classroom doesn’t need to take a ton of extra preparation and doesn’t need to compromise on academics! Which of these activities are you going to try?
