Are you looking for some fun Halloween writing activities to add to your unit this October? Maybe you’re in the middle of a narrative unit that could use a few skill-building tasks that incorporates the spooky season or maybe you run a creative writing elective (lucky!) that could use some fun this season. No matter what you may need Halloween writing activities for this year, Samantha from Samantha in Secondary has you covered with five ideas so creative, they’re scary. 👻
#1: Candy Sensory Writing Activity
My students LOVE this activity, of course, because it involves candy. To prep for this activity, I always got a big bag of assorted candy and set a bowl on each table grouping. Students take a piece and immerse themselves in a sensory experience while recording the details.
- How does the candy taste?
- How does it smell?
- How does the candy look?
- How does it sound? (When chewed, when unwrapped, when placed on the table?)
- How does the candy feel?
Encourage your students to really dive into the details. Then, have them take all of the information they’ve gathered and turn it into an extended response using all of the sensory details they found. (If you want to make it even slightly more challenging, require that they use a certain number of figurative language examples, too.)
I have a pre-made resource ready to go with a graphic organizer, student example, and seven different Halloween-themed writing papers. You can even use them as a fun bulletin board idea! Click here to check it out.
#2: Spooky Flash Fiction
Flash fiction is a type of fiction that is very short, usually around a few hundred words. Give your students a challenge by asking them to write spooky flash fiction stories. When I do this, I usually vary the length to give students a chance to stretch their writing muscles. Have them try to write spooky flash fiction in 100 words, 300 words, and 500 words. (Hint: Allowing them to use a word processor is always a good option so it helps to count for them.) When finished, have your students place their best piece of flash fiction on a slide and create a class “spooky stories” slideshow. Grab some candy, campfire ambiance, and read them together.
#3: Roll a Mystery Creative Writing Stories
Mysteries are always a fun genre to study in October. Why not give your students a chance to write their own mysteries with the help of a little luck?
Try a Roll a Mystery activity with your students this Halloween. Find a few dice, print the worksheets, and watch your students’ creativity soar. (If you’re teaching virtually or 1:1, my resource has a Google Slides companion with a digital dice you can use!)
#4: Fact to Fiction Haunted House Stories
Do your students LOVE to learn about real-life haunted houses? Mine do, too, which is why I created a bundle of close reading passages all about them. Click here to see my Most Haunted Places in America close reading passages all about spooky places in the US. Have your students read about some of the most haunted places in the United States and then let them write a spooky short story incorporating details from the text. They can write a fictional passage about some of the real-life players from the passages or create a story from scratch about visiting! The possibilities are endless.
#5: Mad Libs Mania
I love using Mad Libs in the classroom. I use them as a parts of speech review in the beginning of the year, but I incorporate them in other ways, too. For instance, students can practice parts of speech with a fun Halloween Mad Libs activity. Then, have your students create their own! Allowing students to write their own Mad Libs is such a fun way to flex those creative writing muscles. Share them out loud for some spooky, festive fun!
Are you incorporating any fun Halloween writing activities this year? Let us know all about them by sounding off in the comments below or follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more fun ideas!