If you are teaching overseas, there’s a good chance your school wants you to do some fun Halloween activities.
I’ve organized Halloween parties in Japan and China for junior high school students, university students, and adults.
This is a list of my favorite Halloween party games. Be sure to have lots of Halloween candy to offer as prizes!
Jump to ESL Halloween Activities
This game puts a fun twist on the original game.
Fill 3 small tubs with water approximately 6 inches deep. Put one apple in each tub. Ask 3 contestants to step up.
Blindfold the contestants, spin them around two times, and then position them in front their tub.
Contestants try to grab their apple with only their mouth. The first person to successfully pull their apple out of the water is the winner and gets a prize.
All contestants can keep their apple. Be sure to change the water and replace the apple before each round.
This game is like bowling but uses a small pumpkin. Mark the lane and designate the start line. Set up plastic bowling pins. The bowler stands behind the start line and throws a small pumpkin (4 to 6 inches in diameter) toward the bowling pins. Each person gets two tries, like bowling.
A strike wins 3 pieces of candy. A spare wins 2 pieces of candy. Each player gets 1 piece of candy for trying. Be sure to have a few extra pumpkins in case they break.
Divide the students into 2 teams. Choose one person in the group who isn’t wearing a costume. Tell the students to make a circle around the person. Give the teams one roll of toilet paper. The goal is to wrap the person from head to toe (covering completely) using the toilet paper. The first team to finish (and have the person completely wrapped) is the winner. Give the winning team a prize!
Tell students to get some coins. Place 3 small plastic pumpkins on a mark. Designate a start line about 3 feet away from each pumpkin. Tell the students to form 3 teams and stand behind the start line for each pumpkin.
The person at the front of each line throws 1 coin at the pumpkin, then goes to the back of the line. The next person throws a coin and goes to the back of the line. Continue for 5 minutes. The team with the most coins in the pumpkin is the winner. Give the winning team a prize!
Write the names of Halloween characters on small, blank stickers. Put a sticker on the back of each student. Tell students they need to guess who they are. Students mingle and ask each other questions. Only Yes and No answers can be given! Click for full instructions.
Before the Halloween party, prepare Paper Mache Pumpkins with the students. On the day of the party, put the piñata in the center of the room. Divide the students into 2 groups. One student from each group takes turns hitting the piñata with a plastic bat. The group that breaks the piñata gets the candy. Click for full instructions.
If you make more than one piñata, line up all the piñatas. Divide students into 2 groups for each piñata.
Before the day of the party, brainstorm costume ideas with the students. On the day of the party, choose 10 semi-finalists. Ask the semi-finalists to go to the front of the room. Ask the remaining students to vote for the best costume by cheering when their favorite costume is called. Be sure to have a special prize for the first, second, and third place winners.
Before the party, have students write fortunes on 3 small strips of paper. Put all the strips of paper into a box. On the day of the party, each student chooses 3 strips of paper. Then, ask the students to report their fortunes to each other.
Put a large bag of jellybeans into a glass jar. During the party, have students guess how many jelly beans they think is in the jar, and write it down on the contest entry sheet. At the end of the party, announce the winner (the person who guessed the closest number without going over). The winner gets the jar of jellybeans. Be sure to count the jellybeans before putting them into the glass jar!
Print some Halloween pictures. Buy some face paint, and have students paint Halloween pictures on each other’s faces. You could make it into a contest and vote on the best face paintings.
Hi fellow EFL Sensei!
I'm Becki, the Co-Founder and the one who put up all these great speaking activities. We’re here to provide enjoyable lessons for teachers like you! Learn more
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