7 Last-Minute Halloween Activities for Distance Learning

Like many things this year, Halloween is going to look a little different. However, as we’ve adapted to distance and hybrid learning, we can also adapt our Halloween activities to work in a virtual manner. So, without further ado, here are 7 fun last-minute Halloween activities to try in your virtual classroom.

1. Have a Halloween Zoom Freeze Dance Party

Get your students up and moving with a freeze dance party set to spooky music. For added fun – when the music stops, students must freeze in with their scariest face or pose!

2. Plan a Halloween Scavenger Hunt

Send parents a list of generic items for kids to find ahead of time (to help make sure the game is fair) and challenge the class to see who can find the most items the fastest!

3. Host a Scary Storytime

Set up spooky music in the background, or even eery lighting, and read classic spooky works out loud. Great options are “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe, or “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving.

4. Make Spooky Masks

Have students draw or paint jack-o-lantern faces, skeletons, ghosts, and other ghoulish designs on a reusable face mask and show their friends!

5. Play Halloween Pictionary

This works best in small groups, such as a breakout room. Give each student, one at a time, a limit to draw a Halloween-themed object. Students can use a dry erase board, or a piece of paper and a marker. Once the student drawing runs out of time, have them hold the picture up to the screen and give the rest of the group a time limit in which to write an answer on their dry-erase board or paper. When time’s up, have everyone hold up their answers to see who guessed right!

6. Teach students about Halloween & Other Holidays Around the World

From Halloween’s origins in Ireland as the Celtic Festival of Samhain to holidays like Dia De Los Muertos, Día de los difuntos, or Día de todos los santos there’s a lot to learn and discuss! Access our free Dia de Los Muertos course in Autentico here for inspiration.

7. Have a Virtual Costume Party

A given, have students dress up in costumes for their zoom classes this week and do a costume show & tell! Have students take turns sharing the fun home activities they are doing for Halloween and why they chose their costumes.

We hope these last-minute Halloween activities inspire you and can help you have some socially-distanced fun in your classes this Hallo-week!

Note: Fresh Ideas for Teaching blog contributors have been compensated for sharing personal teaching experiences on our blog. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company.