It's Spooky Season: Halloween Resource Roundup for Upper Elementary Centers

Written by Emily Upton - Posted Oct. 17, 2023

Can you feel it? The leaves are turning, and the air is getting that unmistakable chill – it's finally spooky season! 👻 

And, let's be honest. When your students are all hopped up on candy and the excitement of what costume they will wear, it can be tough to get them to focus on their schoolwork. Lucky for you, this blog post is a roundup of resources and freebies to help keep your kiddos on task and learning this Halloween season! Let's get those centers planned so you can get back to watching Hocus Pocus for the hundredth time.

Click on the images below to check out the resources.

READING CENTERS

Looking to engage your readers in a spooky good time? These no-prep reading activities will get your students referring to the text for evidence and foster cross-curricular connections in your ELA classroom! 

Have you ever wondered how Halloween is celebrated around the world? This reading and writing activity will give students a global perspective as they learn about major Halloween celebrations in different countries. Prefer the printable version? Click here!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "This is the perfect resource for in-between units in October! My kids loved learning about the different cultures."

Your students have probably heard of Frankenstein, but do they know how this monster became such an icon in pop culture? This reading passage and timeline activity will teach your kiddos all about the history of Frankenstein!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐"Perfect holiday reading selection! My students had heard of Frankenstein but didn't know much about the story until they read this."

We both know your students are hyped to tell you about their Halloween costumes. But, have they ever thought about how costume trends have changed over time? This digital activity is super fun because it's a self-checking game! As students correctly answer the questions, the images to the right change. Once they have 4 of the same image, they know their answers are correct!

MATH CENTERS

Math centers can have a Halloween-themed spin while still reviewing important content! Check out these math resources that are sure to keep your little goblins focused during centers.

Do you remember when Deal or No Deal was all the rage? Contestants chose numbered cases to try to find the hidden million dollars. This multiplication game is just like that, except students are trying to find the haunted house! They have chances to change the house they chose throughout the game, and when all of the 2-digit multiplication questions are answered correctly, they find out if the house they chose was haunted, or just a normal house. This is self-checking, so it's perfect for centers (and saving you time grading!).

Nothing gets my kiddos hyped like trivia. They looove random facts & those world record books in my classroom library, so I wanted to connect those fun facts to math! Students answer questions to learn about trivia related to Halloween, like how much candy is sold each year.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "...I love these products to help them practice skills, get comfortable completing digital assignments, and the fact that it's self-checking is perfect for independent work!"

Want to review place value skills with your students? This puzzle pack has 10 self-checking puzzles that review skills like expanded form, identifying place value, and the value of a digit. Both digital and printable versions of each puzzle are included, so you can choose what works best for your centers!

Want to grab one puzzle for FREE? Click here!

Early Finisher Option: Greg Tang Puzzles

I absolutely love these seasonal challenge puzzles from Greg Tang! While I wouldn't use them as an assignment because there's no way to check if students completed each part, these are GREAT early-finisher activities! They're also differentiated by grade level. Click the link above to check them out!

SCIENCE CENTERS

If you teach science, these engaging center ideas are a must! 

Bubble, bubble, toil, and trouble...your students will be mixtures and solutions experts at the end of this witchy fun activity! Includes everything you need for Halloween-themed science centers, students show what they know about the differences between mixtures and solutions analyzing the weird witchy potion ingredients. This culminates in a project where students create their own witch's brew, and explain how they determined if their concoction was a mixture or a solution.

Halloween is just around the corner! I hope that these center activities will keep your little goblins and ghouls engaged and focused during the spooky season. Happy teaching!