5 Easy Halloween Activities for Kindergarten
Let’s find fun ideas from kindergarten teachers to use in the kindergarten classroom for Halloween. Here are some awesome Halloween activities, ideas and read-aloud books for kindergarten.
Whether you’re planning a Halloween classroom party or just want to know what other teachers do to celebrate Halloween in kindergarten, then this list can help.
Let’s start with easy Halloween activities. Easy is my style, especially when it comes to planning minor holidays in the classroom.
Make funny pumpkins
One of my all-time favorite projects I’ve seen floating around the internet is this funny pumpkins project.
I love how it turns out and that every single pumpkin is unique. In fact, I share it with my readers every year because I love it so much.
To make it with your class you essentially paint paper, let it dry, let students cut and embellish with their own black and white cutouts. Don’t use templates or patterns – they turn out so much cuter this way!
You may need to start painting in the morning – or start this project the day before if you want to complete this project for a classroom Halloween party.
Use a themed emergent reader
Here is a last-minute, easy to pull together emergent reader for Halloween. It’s a make & read activity – they’ll love the interactive component of reading it.
It features position words: above, below, inside, outside, between, on and in.
Students move a pumpkin (make their own or color the one provided) to match the text. Attach the pumpkin to the book with a string so it can easily be used and won’t get lost.
Have them color the book to finish it off.
Here are two more emergent readers that are perfect for October:
Create an easy bat silhouette
I fell in love with this easy Halloween bat art project.
Simply spray watered down acrylic paint onto black construction paper – you could do orange, purple or white paint and use any number of Halloween inspired shapes.
Or you could use paint to make this handprint pumpkin life cycle mini-book instead.
Make Halloween masks
Or if you’re in need of a craft then check out these Halloween masks to print and color – talk about easy peasy!
No worries if kids come to school without a costume {unless costumes aren’t allowed in your school}.
Make a Halloween snack
Create an easy snack for your Halloween party – an easy snack mix that can pretty much include whatever works for you and your classroom (considering allergies).
Think of a basic snack mix or trail mix recipe and add in a Halloween flavor like candy corns! It comes editable recipe cards or toppers for Ziploc bags to make these ready to go.
Read the best Halloween books
Reading books aloud is something we do every day in kindergarten. Here are the top Halloween book recommendations for kindergarten.
Remember – if you have a favorite read-aloud – search for it on YouTube. It’s a fun and different way to present the book to your kinders, or a good way to preview the book for yourself. Affiliate links are included for these books.
My personal favorite Halloween read-aloud is Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman.
This book is fantastic and if you can play the audio version for your party while you hold up the book (or have a parent volunteer do it) – even better!
The most classic Halloween read-aloud is probably The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything.
It’s a great pattern-based story that will have kids chiming in. Plus it’s easy to add motions for the repetitive parts to help keep the wiggles under control during a sugar-filled-kind-of-day.
We’re all fans of Pete the Cat in kindergarten. So, why not Pete the Cat: Trick or Pete?
Spookley the Square Pumpkin could also be considered a pretty classic story to read to your class. The lesson about learning to not judge is a sweet one and be great to tie into the funny pumpkins project.
If you want to read something that feels Halloween-related but refreshingly isn’t – go for Crankenstein.
Because… we all feel a little cranky sometimes and you can call in what they learned in this book on the day they come back after Halloween {wink}
Go full-on Halloween with Ten Timid Ghosts. It’s quick, cute and full of classic, Halloween-y things without being scary.
These books are also pretty good read-aloud books kindergarten teachers read to their classes:
- Creepy Carrots
- Creepy Pair of Underwear
- There’s a Witch Under the Stairs
- Room on the Broom
- Go Away Big Green Monster
Halloween-alternative
Would you rather do a themed day that isn’t strictly Halloween? I’ve got your back.
Here is an entire day’s worth of monster-themed lesson plans (complete with alternative options) for free.
They were designed to be emergency sub plans, but there’s no reason you can’t just use them yourself and let me have done the leg work of planning an ENTIRE DAY for you {wink}
What other teachers do
Teachers were asked, “What plans do you have for Halloween in your kindergarten classroom?” Here’s what they had to say:
“We make toilet paper pumpkins, sort & graph Bag of Bones Cheetos, color sort skittles with Go Away Big Green Monster, create pumpkins and end the day with a costume parade around our school block, I love it!!” – Jill
“We’ll all be dressed up as our favorite book characters & have a parade. Our entire K Team is doing Laura Numeroff book characters & I chose the mouse from If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. We will be reading The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything & making a scarecrow craft afterward. All of our Guided Reading & Math Centers are Halloween-themed. We’ll write about facts we learned about bats from last week to be hung with our bat craft hallway display. Also planning to make “Franken-Pudding” with the kiddos for a Halloween treat.” – Tammy
“Breakfast, parade at the nursing home, Halloween poems with sign language.” – Jenn
“Plans? I’ve given up planning for Halloween! School costume parade which makes planning impossible. But it will be a fun day. Halloween centers. Monster Munch snack. Stories and Songs. Home early to greet the ghouls and goblins.” – Kathy
Let’s wrap it up
No matter what craziness you’ve got going on this year – I hope you have a Happy Halloween {and that somebody shares their chocolate with you}. Hopefully, these easy Halloween activities and ideas will come in handy.
Share what you do with us too in the comments below and I’ll add new ideas to this post.
If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.
