4 Ways to Use the Excitement of Halloween to Sneak in Extra Learning

Keep learning on track with these outside-of-the-box instructional ideas

Halloween is in the air - and on every kid’s mind! Rather than fight the excitement, get students out of their seats (and comfort zones) and treat them to fun, Halloween-themed instructional tricks to keep learning moving forward.  

As Halloween approaches and attention spans wane, these simple thrills have students dress up, write up, speak up, and create while learning despite this high-energy time of year. 

  1. Dress up

Breakout EDU offers customizable avatars to personalize the user experience year-round, but throughout the month of October, users can choose to dress up their avatars in new and exciting ways. 

Students and Teachers can choose from astronauts, sea monsters, vampires, chefs, zombies, and so much more! Motivate students to race the clock to log in when the bell rings with a warm-up challenge to dress up their avatar in spooky, kooky ways.

2. Write up

Ask students to respond to creative Halloween-themed prompts! Students will have a blast responding to prompts like: 

  • You are a vampire. Write a cover letter expressing your interest in an open phlebotomist position at the local hospital. 

  • You are the president of the Vampire Neighborhood Association (VNA). Write a formal letter explaining the reasons your Association opposes the development of a garlic farm in your neighborhood. 

  • You are a vegetarian zombie. Write a speech for the Meatless Monsters convention in which you propose a new campaign to raise awareness of the general public about what foods zombies really eat. 

3. Speak up

Keep lesson plans on track with a Halloween-themed twist! Challenge students to participate in class with their best spooky voices like vampires, zombies, mummies, witches, and more!

Add some extra fun when your lesson plans call for deliberation circles, close reads of historical documents, or even theatrical readings. Students can also use their spooky voices to respond to review game questions or present oral assignments to the class.

4. Create

Using manipulatives to demonstrate conceptual understanding is a common instructional technique. With Halloween quickly approaching, trade out your go-to manipulatives for sweet candy treats. 

Students can show their thinking in math with Jolly Ranchers or practice their spelling words with Twizzlers. You can also provide a small bowl with a variety of candies and challenge them to use the candy medium of their choice to complete their exit tickets!

Conclusion

There are many ways to keep students' attention during class time - even with exciting holidays like Halloween on the horizon. 
In addition to the ideas shared here, remember that standards-aligned games from Breakout EDU are designed to challenge student thinking, encourage collaboration, and drive learning every day of the year. Choose from a variety of Halloween-themed Breakout EDU games here.