Halloween in schools often gets a bad rap. “Too chaotic,” “distracting,” or my personal favorite, “it’s just sugar” But here’s the thing: as someone who’s been wrangling classrooms for years, I can tell you that seasonal themes like Halloween aren’t a distraction they’re a golden opportunity.

When lessons tap into what kids are excited about, learning sticks. Really sticks. And yes, you can have fun without losing control (mostly). So grab your pumpkin-spiced coffee, and let’s talk about how Halloween can actually make teaching a little easier and a lot more memorable.

Preschool & Pre Kindergarten: Learning Through Play

For the littlest learners, ages three to six, school isn’t all about worksheets (yet). It’s about touching, exploring, imagining. Halloween fits perfectly into this hands on, curiosity-driven learning.

Think sensory bins loaded with candy corn, tiny pumpkins, and plastic spiders. Kids count, sort, and talk about what they feel. It’s messy, yes, but also brilliant for fine motor skills and early math concepts. 

Halloween Peeps Slime

If you aren’t afraid to get a little messy (and probably a little sticky) this is a great activity for kids of any age. You’ll need a few packs of peeps (grab the pumpkins and ghosts if you can find them), cornstarch, and a table spoon vegetable oil - toss it all in a bowl and put it in the microwave. You will want to let this cool before letting your kiddos start handling it, then add a little bit of cornstarch. Now stretch and roll until smooth and play with your creation! Thanks to Little Bins for Little Hands for the inspiration for this craft. 

Paper Plate Pumpkins or Coloring Pages

Give each child a paper plate and orange paint or markers. Have them decorate the plate with green stems, facial features, or fun patterns using stickers, markers, or cut-out paper and glue. If you want a little less clean up you could also opt for a printable Halloween themed tracing or coloring sheet.

Halloween Activities for Elementary Students (Grades K through 3rd)

These Halloween activities and printables are both fun and educational. In the activities below we have referenced a handful of specific worksheets, however, there is a wide range of free Halloween themed vocabulary, crossword, word search puzzles and more available for download on LiveWorksheets 

Spooky Listening Comprehension (ela)

Listen to a Halloween story and have students place events in the correct order. Here is an interactive activity that includes a spooky story about a kid, a jack-o-lantern, and too much candy. Have your students watch along and complete the online worksheet.

Free Halloween Math Worksheets (subtraction)

Subtract bats, pumpkins, witches, and candy apples on this interactive worksheet. Once your students solve the problem they can draw a line to the right answer and have it graded automatically or you can print it out and do it together in class. 

Learn About the History of Halloween 

Older elementary students can watch along with Dr. Binocs to learn about how Halloween originated and find out what was originally carved instead of pumpkins! You could take it a step further and create flashcards for these new fun facts and Halloween vocabulary.

Upper Elementary & Middle School Halloween Ideas (fourth and fifth grade)

Fourth and fifth graders may protest they’re “too old” for Halloween crafts, but don’t buy it. They just want challenges. Enter science experiments that sneak in some seasonal excitement.

Take the classic static electricity ghost. Inflate a balloon, rub it on hair, and hover it over tissue paper ghosts. Physics in action, with ghosts that really move. Or the exploding Peeps geyser (You can find step by step instructions for this experiment here). Yes, leftover slime from preschool activities can become a high energy experiment that shows chemical reactions and cause-and-effect. Learning sneaks in when they’re too busy laughing to notice.

Halloween Reading Comprehension (freebie)

Match the definitions, read the passage, and answer questions about the text. This free worksheet is an adaptation of the history of Halloween from www.history.com. Your student will learn about the origination of Halloween, the Celts, and the traditions that evolved over time.

5. Keeping the Spirit Alive 

No matter the grade, Halloween is a reminder that learning can be playful. Crafts, games, worksheets, and science experiments give students hands-on engagement, spark curiosity, and yes, even build community in the classroom.

The goal isn’t chaos; it’s connection. It’s laughter, a little mess, and a lot of memorable moments that reinforce lessons without feeling like lessons at all. So whether you’re printing worksheets, whipping up sensory bins, or orchestrating a full-on classroom “haunt,” embrace the season. The smiles alone are worth it and you’ll probably learn a thing or two along the way.

Halloween isn’t just about costumes or candy. It’s about seizing the moment to make learning tangible, engaging, and yes, even fun. Some colleagues might argue that holidays disrupt the “serious” school rhythm, and sure, there’s a point there. But I’d rather see kids excited, curious, and actively learning than quietly bored.

Take it from a teacher who’s been there: Halloween in the classroom is more than a party.

Happy Halloween, and may your classrooms be delightfully spooky and academically satisfying!