Halloween

I don't know about other countries but if you're teaching English in Japan, October means only one thing....Yes, that's right, Halloween. So if you've never trick or treated, dressed up for a Halloween Party or carved a jack'o'lantern from a pumpkin. You better learn quick!

Below we present a few ideas you can use to bring the thrill of Halloween to your younger students.

Halloween Flashcards

Essential for teaching that all important Halloween vocabulary.
Included in this easy to print adobe flashcards are flashcards for a ghost, witch, skeleton, haunted house, black cat, owl, tombstone, vampire, spider, bat, candle, monster, candy, moon and not forgeting a pumpkin!
Print and cut the cards for use in your various Halloween games. See below for some ideas.

Click flashcards to download the Halloween Flashcards.

Halloween Bingo

A version of this bingo game was knocked together 3 years ago, and has proved extremely popular ever since, especially with elementary school aged students. So much so, that as soon as we decorate the classrooms with pumpkins, witches, etc. they all request "Halloween Bingo please!"

The easy to print pdf file contains 6 gamecards, 1 sheet of 'BOO' markers and full instructions for varying the game play.

You'll also need to print off the flashcards, which will be used to call the vocabulary.

Teacher Tip: Although this bingo game is relatively easy, I like to increase the difficulty level. Instead of just saying the various vocabulary, provide clues that the children have to solve. For example '...it only comes out at night...' '...it's high in the sky...' etc.

Click here to download the Halloween Bingo package.

Trick or Treat

The rhyme should be familiar to all of you, and this version utilizes a bit of the rock, paper, scissors game, which all your students should be familiar with. First you'll need to practise the following rhyme

Trick or treat, smell my feet,
Give me something good to eat,
If you don't, I don't care,
I will pull your underwear.

Trick or treat, I'm a bat (rock)
Trick or treat, I'm a ghost (paper)
Trick or treat, I'm a cat (scissors)
Jack-o'-lantern, Jack-o'-lantern,
TRICK OR TREAT (result)

Now the actions: For the bat (rock) fold your arms like a sleeping bat. For ghost (paper) move your hands in ghostly fashion WHAAHAAHA! And for the cat (scissors) make cat ears with both your hands. Great game if you are giving out prizes.

Flashcard Duel (or Cards at Dawn...)

Print and cut out the Halloween themed flashcards. Choose two students and let each take a flashcard from the pile, taking care not to let their card be seen by the other player. The two then stand back-to- back holding the card face out at chest level. Direct them to walk a set number of steps and then turn around to face each other. The winner is the player who is quickest to correctly identify his opponents flashcard

A good game for deciding who gets the candy

What are you?

Again this game makes use of the flashcards, so you'll need to have a set pepared.

Place the cards face down on the table. The first students takes a card, taking care not to let the other students see it. The other students then ask,

'What are you?' to which he answers 'I'm a ...'.

Great for differentiating between questions and answers.