In the classroom, as soon as October comes around, the hype of Halloween tends to be the focus. With that comes talk about costumes, decorations, themes and candy. But for many children, especially those who are neurodivergent or who have sensory sensitivities can feel overwhelmed by the celebrations.
A bit of sugar can be a good thing, but as teachers and parents, we need to find a way to help all of our kids feel included and safe during this time. This means switching the focus to learning and developing connections with curriculum with a spooky twist. This might seem impossible but…there is some good news.
There are a lot of inclusive, candy-free Halloween activities that are engaging, exciting, and educational. Here are some of my favorite inclusive Halloween classroom activities.
Actionable Steps:
#1. Halloween Games
While Halloween can be entertaining, it’s important to have some instructional time. You can do it with these themed learning centers.
The activities that are included are:
- Math: Count the Halloween images.
- Writing: Learn Halloween words and find the secret message.
- Art: Decorate and color Halloween images.
You can find these all-in-one in my Fun Halloween Activities: Math, Writing & Art pack. It’s low-prep, standards-aligned, and works great for whole group, small group, or independent centers.
#2. Scarily Creative
During the month of October, have your students create and collaborate together as they plan, design and even “host” their class haunted house party. Your students can do this on an individual basis or together. They will develop their writing, artistic, problem-solving, teamwork and presentation-skills.
You’ll find everything you need in my Haunted House Party: Project Based Learning resource. It’s perfect for grades 3–8 and includes templates, writing prompts, and bulletin board display ideas.
Make this even more enjoyable by combining this activity with the storytelling activities in step #3.
#3. Spooky Storytelling Circle
Instead of focusing on sweets, let your students use their imagination with the following Halloween storytelling activities.
- 1. Create a story as a class with themes like, “Hug-The-Frankenstein” story where each student adds one word or one sentence. Keep going around the classroom until all of your students have had a chance to contribute to the story and the story has been completed. This will help your children develop their language skills.
- 2. For language arts, your children can illustrate or write a Halloween comic strip.
- 3. For drama, have your students act out a short Halloween skit that you find or that you write together as a class.
BONUS: 🎥 On my YouTube channel, I share ways that children can talk to their friends about Halloween
Recap:
Let’s recap really quickly. Today, we looked at the following:
- The reason why it’s important to move away from the excitement of candy and to enjoy Halloween and curriculum focused learning.
- Inclusive Halloween classroom activities that aren’t just about candy: Halloween games, scarily creative, and spooky storytelling circle.
Free Resources:
For a taste of the resources that were mentioned in step two, check out the following resource in my FREE Education Resource Library.
Teach your little ones how to make good choices with the following FREE Resource:
Next Steps:
If you found this video beneficial, would you do me a favor? Share this with your family, your friends, your loved ones, your co-workers or someone who you think could benefit from this. Thank you!
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I’ll see you next Friday at 5:30pm PST.
Until I see you next time, remember to create, experience & teach from the heart.
Take care,
Charlotte
Disclaimer: I’m a teacher and a parent. I’m not a medical professional, so please don’t take this as medical advice. The advice that I provide in my videos and online are strategies that I have used in my own class or at home that have worked beautifully.
