Hooray for Halloween

Hooray for Halloween

Halloween is a really fun time of year. But in the midst of an emphasis of fear and spooky themes, I believe that the games that are played in my classroom should focus on teamwork, cooperation, and good, clean fun. This routine can be used in a classroom that will celebrate this time of year without emphasizing the negative dark aspects of this holiday. Get ready to work together and have some fun.

Materials:

Inflatable dice with Halloween pumpkins on it

Hula hoops

Pumpkin puzzle

Plastic skeleton

Labels of body parts

Large cut out of a pumpkin

Black beanbags

Number cards

Buckets

Pumpkin bucket

Laminated black spiders

Matching fabric or laminated leaves

Plastic web tablecloth

Timer

Scarves

Pumpkin Dice Calisthenics

Throw a dice. Have the children act out the number that appears with some kind of activity: four jumping jacks, five sit-ups, etc.

Pumpkin Puzzles

Take a hula hoop and put a simple 3-4 piece puzzle of a pumpkin inside of it. Time each student and see how long it takes them to put the puzzle together. See which pumpkin puzzle is easiest for the group to put together.

Pumpkin Toss

Take an orange pool noodle and cut it into little wedges. Draw faces on the wedges. Scatter hoops on the floor. See if your students can throw an orange pumpkin into the hoop. The group that accurately throws the most pumpkin wedges wins.

Skeleton Id

Hang a plastic skeleton on a wall. Have each child take a turn running to the skeleton and identifying the various body parts by putting that particular body part by the skeleton. The child that accurately identifies the most body parts wins.

Pumpkin Throw

Hang a pumpkin cutout on the wall. Give each child a turn trying to hit inside the pumpkin’s eyes, nose, and mouth. The child that successfully hits the most body parts wins.

Webster

Lay a plastic web tablecloth on the floor with various number cards scattered on it. Have children take a black beanbag and see if they can make their beanbag land on any of the numbers in the web. Generally, the numbers that are deep inside the web are larger. The child who gets the most points from the number hits wins.

Pumpkin Pursuit

See how many pumpkins disks (orange balls) can be thrown into the pumpkin bucket.  The student who throws the most balls into the bucket wins.

Spider Relay

Make a row of buckets and place a laminated black spider beside each bucket. Time each student and see how long it takes to put the spider into each bucket. When they have put the spiders in the bucket, they are to turn around the last bucket and run back to the start.  The goal is for the groups to race to complete the relay in the shortest amount of time.

Leaf Relief

Practice colors and shapes by having students go to the hula hoops and find the matching leaves. The goal of the game is for the group to match the most leaves in the shortest amount of time. Other shapes such as apples cutouts or scarecrows can also be substituted.

Skeleton says

Instead of Simon Says, have students follow the leader (skeleton) and perform locomotor movements or identify various body parts that the caller calls outs. No one is out, even if the skeleton does not say.

Scarf Play

Instead of focusing on white ghosts and black spirits, celebrate the fall colors of leaves and changing seasons with scarves. Play mellow music and have the children follow you as you teach direction and motion using the scarves. End the session with gentle stretching and slow movements. 

This series of games are appropriate for a variety of settings such as gyms, classrooms, church groups, recreational centers, and even daycares. I challenge you this holiday to take the approach of starting new traditions with this routine. With the focus on fun and fitness, you can teach new habits for life.

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