I don’t know about you, but I love everything about the month of October. The weather is starting to cool, pumpkin spice is in the air, and we have so many opportunities to create engaging and fun thematic activities for our students! I once heard this at a workshop: students thrive on routine but crave novelty. This really stuck with me. Kids love seasonal activities, but they also need structure. We want our students to be excited about learning, right?

The week of Halloween is a busy one, and the kids are wild. I try not to plan too much new learning on Halloween or the day after because…well, most students are a little distracted and feeling the effects of too much sugar. I like to plan fun activities, lots of thematic review, and a few fun crafts as well!

In this post I’ll share with you two October art activities that I love, math activities that review important skills while still having fun, and some FREEBIES for you classroom! Read on!

I seriously love getting crafty in the classroom. I even schedule a once a month “Creation Station” where parents come in and read a story and do some sort of connecting art project with the students.

One of my favorite activities that we did last year was these precious torn paper owls. The parent volunteer read a story about a little owl at night (which I cant for the life of me remember), and then the students created these owls. She had the outline prepped on the black paper with white crayon. This is a ton of work, and I probably would’ve drawn it with black marker and then copied that on to black construction paper OR made some templates for the kids to trace. Whatever works for you!

The students then got brown, gray, and white paper which they tore and glued the pieces to the owl. Super cute and easy! I believe she found the directions for this craft HERE.

Another fun craft for the classroom are these Halloween luminaries. In the past, I’ve used tissue paper and watered down glue (Yes. It was MESSY.) This year, Kwikstix sent me a sample of their awesome product, and it made things SO MUCH EASIER! I did this project at home with my 3 year old, so that tells you how easy it is. If you don’t know what Kwikstix are, they are tempera paint in a stick — like a glue stick. They wipe clean (believe me, I know), the colors are super vibrant, and they dry in 90 seconds! You can find them on Amazon!

For this project, all you need is a clean jar (spaghetti or pickle sized, and I usually request that parents send these in), a set of Kwikstix, wax paper, tape, and pre-cut or traced eyes, nose, whatever face parts you need. Once the whole sheet of wax paper is painted and dry, tape it around the jar. Then, use liquid glue to attach the face parts. I used flameless tea light candles like these from Amazon inside the jars. Super easy, and the kids will love it!

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to continue math fact fluency review throughout the year. If we aren’t constantly practicing it, they forget it! And then it’s time to start 2 or 3 digit addition and subtraction with regrouping, and things don’t go well. I’ve used a small group guided math approach in my class for years, and we usually use Friday as “Math Fact Friday.” All groups are working on their addition or subtraction facts at their own level. I love using math crafts and math puzzles as a fun, thematic review. The kids really enjoy it, too!

What I love about these resources is that they’re easily differentiated to meet the various needs of the learners in your classroom. While everyone is doing the same craft or puzzle, the math work they are doing can be totally different! All of my monthly math puzzles include simple addition and subtraction to 18, 2 digit addition and subtraction (with and without regrouping), and 3 digit addition and subtraction. Each puzzle also has an editable option so you can make it anything you want! The math crafts have SIXTEEN differentiation options from single digit addition and subtraction to multiplication and division. You can read more about my monthly math crafts in this previous blog post or find the October Math Crafts, Pumpkin, Spider, and Bat Math Crafts, and the Dia de los Muertos Math Craft in my TPT store HERE. You can find the October Math Puzzles HERE.

Are you having a Halloween party this week or do you just need a fun small group center at some point? Well, I created this freebie just for you! Kids love BINGO. Actually, everyone loves BINGO. Am I right? This fun Halloween BINGO will be a hit for sure. It includes 6 BINGO cards with 25 adorable Halloween-themed images. Sign up below to get it now!

You can also grab my free PUMPKIN Math Puzzles HERE.

Okay, now it’s your turn! What are your favorite Halloween/October Activities? Share in the comments! I’d love to hear from you! I hope you have a GREAT Halloween week!

Want to save these resources? Click the images below to pin for later!

**** This blog post may contain affiliate links. This means that I may receive a small commission (at no cost to you) if you subscribe or purchase something through the links provided. ****

You Might Also Like: