Halloween week brings a lot of excitement into PreK–2 classrooms. Costumes, class parties and changes to the daily schedule can make it hard for young children to settle. Short, familiar learning activities with a Halloween theme help: children get the fun of bats, pumpkins and moons, and you keep math and reading practice going.

This guide collects simple Halloween activities for preschool, kindergarten and 1st–2nd grade, one subject at a time: math, phonics and sight words, reading, writing, science, coloring and crafts, plus a plan for a calm party day. Most take less than fifteen minutes and work any day of Halloween week.

Keep Halloween Friendly, Not Frightening

For three-, four- and five-year-olds, the best Halloween activities are cute rather than scary. Choose pictures such as pumpkins, bats, owls, black cats, moons, stars and spider webs, and skip anything gory or frightening.

Some families do not celebrate Halloween. A simple way to include everyone is to offer a fall version of the same activity, with leaves, apples and acorns instead of bats and costumes. The skill stays the same; only the pictures change.

Día de los Muertos, celebrated mostly on November 1 and 2, often comes up at the same time of year, but it is a different holiday: a joyful tradition from Mexico for remembering loved ones, not a scary one. Our guide on how to teach Día de los Muertos to young kids explains its symbols simply, and the papel picado and marigold craft brings it into PreK–2 classrooms with care.

Halloween Math Activities

Halloween math works best when children can see and touch what they count.

Count and Color (PreK–K)

Give children a page with small groups of pumpkins or bats. Ask them to touch each picture as they count, then color the group or write the number. Touching each object helps them match one number word to one object. For a whole set of seasonal pages, the Broomstick Magic Preschool Activity Book includes count-and-write, I spy and count, number search and sum puzzle pages for PreK–K, with answer keys. The Fall Coloring Pages | Fall Math Coloring Sheets are a gentle fall option for families who skip Halloween.

Ten Frames With Halloween Counters (PreK–1)

Ten frames show children how a number is built, for example that 7 is “5 and 2 more.” Print practice pages with the free Ten Frame Worksheet Maker (to 10 or to 20, with answer keys), then let children fill an empty frame with paper bats or orange pom-poms before they write the number. Ask:

  • “How many are in the frame?”
  • “How many empty spaces are left?”
  • “How many more do we need to make 10?”

More or Fewer (PreK–1)

Put two groups side by side, for example 4 bats and 6 pumpkins, and ask which group has more. Children can line the groups up to check. Kindergartners who are ready can move on to the words greater than and less than: our Greater Than Less Than Worksheets and the article on how to teach greater than and less than show a step-by-step approach.

Measure a Pumpkin (K–2)

A real pumpkin is a great math tool. Children can measure around it with yarn, compare it with a classmate’s pumpkin, or guess how many cubes tall it is and then check. Line several pumpkins up from shortest to tallest, or lightest to heaviest using a balance scale.

1st and 2nd Grade Halloween Math

By the end of October, many 1st graders are adding and subtracting within 10 or 20, comparing numbers and starting place value. A Halloween picture or two is all you need:

  • Story problems: “There were 7 bats in the cave. 3 flew away. How many are left?” Children draw the bats, cross some out and write the number sentence.
  • Compare with symbols: show 8 pumpkins and 12 pumpkins and have children write <, > or = between the numbers.
  • Ten and some more: show ten bats grouped together and a few extra, and ask for the total as tens and ones.
  • Spider legs (2nd grade): spiders have 8 legs. How many legs do 2 spiders have? 3 spiders? Children can use repeated addition: 8 + 8 + 8.

Before you print a holiday page, ask: does it practice the skill my class needs right now, or is it a coloring page with a few numbers tucked in? A short page with four to six mixed problems (one addition, one subtraction, one comparison and one word problem) works well as a Halloween-week warm-up or a quick check.

Halloween Phonics and Letter Sound Activities

Phonics practice can follow the same theme without many new materials.

Beginning Sounds (PreK–K)

Say a Halloween word slowly and ask children for the first sound: bat starts with /b/, moon with /m/, pumpkin with /p/ and web with /w/. A simple page can show a picture and two letters, and children circle the letter that matches the first sound.

Halloween Letter Hunt (PreK–1)

Hang Halloween alphabet posters and play “I spy a letter”: you say a sound, and children point to the poster that starts with it. You will find more daily routines in our article on how to use alphabet posters for letter recognition.

Rhymes and CVC Words (PreK–1)

Halloween words rhyme easily: bat, cat and hat; moon and spoon; boo, two and zoo. Say three words and ask which two rhyme, or let children make up a silly rhyme for each picture. Kindergartners and 1st graders can build and read short words such as bat, cat, hat, web, pot, bug, fog and wig with letter tiles, then read a decodable sentence: “The cat sat on the hat.”

Blends and Digraphs (1st Grade)

For 1st graders, try a word hunt with black, broom, trick, treat and spider. Children circle the blend at the start of each word, then look for the ck at the end of black and trick.

Halloween Sight Word Activities

For kindergarten and 1st grade, keep sight word practice short and playful.

  • Sight word bingo. Type your class’s words into the free Bingo Card Maker. Every card is different, and it prints caller cards to cut out.
  • Sentence frames. Use frames such as “I see a ___.” or “I can see the ___.” and let children add a Halloween picture word.
  • Flashlight word hunt. Tape sight words around the room, dim the lights a little and let children take turns finding and reading a word with a flashlight.
  • Word search. Older kindergartners and 1st graders can look for the week’s words in a puzzle from the Word Search Maker, which comes with an answer key.

Halloween Reading Activities

For the youngest readers, comprehension often starts with pictures rather than sentences:

  • Show a simple Halloween scene and ask children to point to and name what they see.
  • Read a short sentence aloud and have children circle the matching picture.
  • Ask “first, next, last” questions about a simple sequence, like a pumpkin going from the patch to a jack-o’-lantern.
  • Retell a short story in the child’s own words, using pictures as prompts.

Once children are reading short passages on their own (usually 1st and 2nd grade), they can answer who, what, where and why questions, say the main idea in one sentence, put events in order on a simple chart, or compare two characters.

Halloween brings fun, slightly tricky vocabulary like costume, spooky, skeleton and lantern. Preview these words before reading, not after, so children can enjoy the story instead of getting stuck.

Halloween Writing Prompts

Most young children already have something to say about Halloween, which makes the hardest part of writing, getting started, much easier. Offer a few prompt levels at once so every child can write successfully:

  • Drawing and labeling (PreK–K): “Draw your costume” or “Draw a friendly monster” with space to label one or two parts.
  • Sentence starters (K–1): “I see a ___.” “My pumpkin is ___.” “At night I hear ___.”
  • Small stories (1st–2nd): “Write about a time you felt brave.”
  • Opinion writing (1st–2nd): “What is the best fall treat, and why?”

Design a jack-o’-lantern face. Children draw a pumpkin face and describe it: happy, surprised, sleepy or silly. The Pumpkin Carving Stencils show happy, winking and other jack-o’-lantern faces that children can compare before they design their own.

Support every writer: let children say their sentence out loud before writing it, keep a Halloween word bank on the board, allow drawing first, and celebrate ideas more than spelling. If a child doesn’t celebrate Halloween, offer a fall or nighttime topic, such as a fall walk or a favorite nighttime sound.

Halloween Science Activities

You don’t need a lab for Halloween science. Most of these ideas use things you already have, and all of them practice predicting, observing and describing.

Pumpkin Investigation

Before cutting a pumpkin open, let children guess how much it weighs by holding it, measure around it with yarn, tap it and listen, and draw what they think is inside. An adult should always do the cutting. Then children can scoop the inside with a spoon and talk about the stringy pulp and the shape of the seeds.

The Pumpkin Life Cycle Worksheets offer parts-of-a-pumpkin, sequencing and investigation pages for kindergarten and 1st grade that pair with a real pumpkin, and our guide to the pumpkin life cycle explains each stage.

Sink or Float

Fill a clear bin with water and gather mini pumpkins, gourds, a small plastic spider and a few classroom objects. Children predict whether each item will sink or float, test it, then sort the items into two groups and talk about what they noticed.

Spider Science

Spiders are a perfect Halloween science topic. Spiders have 8 legs, while insects have 6, so a spider is not an insect. A spider’s life cycle goes from egg sac to spiderling to adult spider, and spiders grow by shedding their outer skin several times. Look for real webs outside (look, don’t touch), and draw what you see. The Life Cycle Crafts Bundle includes a spider life cycle craft along with a pumpkin one, and our article on teaching life cycles with crafts has more ideas.

Night Animals and Shadows

Bats and owls are favorite Halloween animals, and most bats and many owls are active at night. Bats are mammals, and many bats eat insects. Sort animal pictures into “awake in the day” and “awake at night.” Then explore shadows: outside on a sunny day, notice whether shadows are long or short, or use a flashlight indoors to make bat and cat shadow shapes on the wall.

Fizzing Cauldron

Put a spoonful of baking soda in a cup or toy cauldron, add a drop of food coloring, and let children pour in a little vinegar to watch it fizz. Ask them to predict what will happen before they pour. An adult should stay at the table and keep the vinegar away from eyes.

Supervise water play closely, and keep small items such as dried corn or candy away from children who still put objects in their mouths.

Coloring, Crafts and Fine Motor

Calm hands-on work is the perfect balance to a busy Halloween week.

  • Friendly coloring pages. Choose large, simple pictures for younger children. The Broomstick Magic book includes 20 coloring pages with friendly pictures such as a cat, a frog, a pumpkin, a moon and a star.
  • Name coloring pages. The free Name Coloring Page Maker turns your class list into bubble-letter name pages. Pick the Fall design with pumpkins and leaves and print a page for every child at once.
  • Pumpkin stencils without carving. Children can color their favorite pumpkin stencil, trace the main shapes or turn it into a decoration. If you do carve, adults handle all sharp tools while children choose designs and scoop the insides. Our guide to using printable pumpkin carving stencils walks through each step.
  • Fine motor tips. Offer short or broken crayons for a better grip, keep sessions to about ten minutes for preschoolers, and praise care rather than staying perfectly inside the lines.

A Calm Halloween Party Day

Party days are loud. A little planning keeps them fun for everyone:

  • Review voice levels first. Use Halloween voice level posters to agree on how loud each part of the day can be. Our guide to teaching voice levels has more ideas.
  • Use a visual timer. The free Classroom Timer helps with clean-up and transitions.
  • Set up stations. Rotate small groups through a coloring table, a bingo game, a maze table and a snack, so children always know what comes next.
  • Keep a quiet corner. Some children find costumes and noise overwhelming. A calm spot with books and coloring pages helps them reset.

Quick Printables From Free PreKPrints Tools

Halloween word bank to start with: pumpkin, bat, cat, owl, moon, star, web, spider, ghost, witch, hat, broom, costume, mask, candy, treat, lantern, night, leaf, October. You can find every tool on the free teacher tools page.

Keep the Learning Going

A few short math, phonics and science activities with a Halloween theme give the week a fun focus without losing the learning. The same skills carry straight into November, so nothing you practice is wasted once the decorations come down. Browse more ideas in our seasonal activities, math activities, literacy activities and science activities collections.