If October has caught you by surprise and you haven’t had time to plan anything spooky, don’t worry! These six activities are easy to set up, require little or no preparation, and guarantee lots of laughter and communication. Whether you teach kids, teens or adults, you’ll find something here to bring the Halloween spirit into your lessons.
1. Halloween Would You Rather…?
A great warm-up or end-of-class activity for all levels. Ask fun and spooky questions such as:
“Would you rather sleep in a haunted house or in a graveyard?”
“Would you rather fly on a broom or turn invisible?”
Students can either move to different sides of the classroom depending on their answers or simply take turns explaining their choice. It works well in pairs, small groups or as a whole-class discussion.
Focus: expressing opinions, agreeing and disagreeing, fluency
2. Monster Maker (Listening and Speaking)
Students listen and draw the monster you describe.
“It has got purple, spiky hair. Three eyes. Two noses. A very long tongue. And it’s wearing roller skates.”
Once everyone finishes, they compare drawings in pairs (“Mine has got four arms!”), vote for the funniest one, or describe their monster to the class so others can guess which picture it is.
Focus: body parts, colours, adjectives, “has got”
Skills: listening, speaking, creativity
3. Roll a Story
Students roll a die to choose a character, a setting and a spooky object from your board (for example: a vampire, a forest, a candle). They then create short stories using their combinations, either orally or in writing.
Focus: storytelling, past tenses, connectors
Skills: speaking, writing, collaboration
Here are you can download a couple of ideas:
4. Spot the Difference (Listening and Speaking)
Choose a Halloween-themed Spot the Difference video from YouTube and play it twice. Students describe what they see and try to name all the changes.
Focus: describing pictures, prepositions, Halloween vocabulary
Skills: listening, pair work
Tip: pause the video so students can discuss before showing the answers.
Here is an example:
5. Find Someone Who… (Halloween Edition)
Prepare a simple bingo-style sheet, for example:
- …has dressed up as a ghost before
- …likes horror films
- …has carved a pumpkin
Students mingle and ask questions to find classmates who match each description.
Focus: question forms, fluency, interaction
Skills: speaking, social communication
6. What’s in the Cauldron?
Draw a large cauldron on the board and call out a category such as “Things that fly”, “Things you can eat”, or “Adjectives to describe monsters”. Students race to “throw” words into the cauldron by shouting them out or writing them on the board.
Focus: vocabulary recall, spelling, teamwork
Skills: quick thinking, vocabulary activation
Halloween lessons don’t need to be elaborate to be memorable. A few creative prompts and a playful atmosphere can turn a simple class into one your students will remember!
Let us know which ones you have used in your classroom!
Happy Halloween!