What is Halloween?
Halloween is celebrated each year on 31 October all over the world.
It is a day when people celebrate all things spooky and scary.
Some people dress up as scary things and might go trick or treating.
The name Halloween comes from All Hallows’ Eve. That’s the day before All Hallows’ Day, a Christian holiday also called All Saints’ Day.
English
Halloween is a great time for spooky stories.
They can be about witches, ghosts or even a haunted house.
Have a look at the information and activities below to learn more.
Watch - Exciting writing
Watch this video and follow the brave knight on her exciting quest and find out how to make your writing exciting!
Josh is sat at a desk holding up a pen and paper excitedly.
Pens and paper at the ready. Let’s do some exciting writing!
As the storyteller, you help us see the story as you imagine it.
A thought bubble appears above Josh’s head, filling the screen.
We see Aria dressed in a suit of armour.
Yes, our main character. A courageous knight on an epic quest.
Our hero is looking for treasure… but where?
Aria the knight performs actions to represent brave and courageous, before looking down at a treasure map of the castle with a route marked in red.
In a dark, spooky castle of course.
Aria the knight creeps through a dark corridor as a roar echoes through the castle.
Thunderous roars echo through the room.
Gruesome ghosts hide around every corner.
We see spooky hands and eyes peeping around corners and hiding in the dark.
Wow, that was exciting.
The nightmarish roars get louder as they approach a large creaky door.
The door is slowly opening with a tense, heavy, rusty creak.
What beast must lay on the other side? A spiky, scaly, smelly and… small dragon.
We see close ups of parts of the dragon’s body, the teeth, the scales, the spikes, a plume of fart.
Ahh, they look like an adorable, friendly dragon.
Look! The treasure, how intriguing! Oh, another treasure map!
A great starting point for our next piece of exciting writing!
Writing a story
When writing a scary story, there are some things to think about before you start.
Context means where and when your story happens. For example, a scary story might be set in a spooky old house.
Characters are the people or creatures in your story. For example, you could write about a ghost or a big black cat.
Adjectives are describing words. They can help to describe your setting and characters. For example:
A hairy monster appeared out of a dark and gloomy cave.
Activity - Write a Halloween story
Why not have a go at writing your own spooky story?
Where will it be set?
Who will be your characters?
What ghostly adventures will they go on?
Discover more on KS1 English
Take a look at these articles to find out how to make your scary stories even better!
What is context?
KS1 English
What is an adjective?
KS1 English
Creating and describing characters
KS1 English
Art and Design
At Halloween lots of people dress up as scary characters, such as monsters, vampires or ghosts.
It's a good time to get creative and make your own creepy costumes and scary masks!
Find out more with the information, videos and activities below.
The Day of the Dead
In Mexico, there is a festival that is celebrated at the same time as Halloween called Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead).
It is a day when the people of Mexico celebrate and honour their families and friends who have died.
Often there are big festivals in the streets and people dress up or wear decorative masks.
Activity 1 - Make your own mask
Have a go at making your own Day of the Dead mask for Halloween.
You will need:
some felt tips, paint or pencils
a lollipop stick
some sticky tape
safety scissors
Remember to always ask an adult to help you when using scissors.
Instructions:
Print out the mask template below, or you can draw your own.
Cut out the mask template and the eye holes.
Colour in your mask, remember, the more colourful, the better!
Tape the lollipop stick to the back of your mask.
Now your mask is ready!
Day of the Dead mask template
Topic packs
Activity 2 - Halloween colouring
Grab your crayons, felt tips, or colouring pencils and get ready to dive into a some Halloween colouring.
You can print off this colouring sheet or draw your own spooky scene.
Halloween colouring activity sheet
Topic packs
Discover more on KS1 Art and Design
You can learn more about masks and other art styles in these articles.
What is a mask?
KS1 Art and Design
What is printmaking?
KS1 Art and Design
What is drawing?
KS1 Art and Design
Maths
Maths can be fun at Halloween!
From frightening fractions to scary subtractions.
Have a go at these Halloween-themed maths activities and practise your maths skills.
Activity 1 - Fact families challenge
Halloween Fact Families
KS1 Maths
Activity 2 - Karate Cats maths game
Karate Cats Maths Halloween
KS1 Maths game
Discover more on KS1 Maths
Learn more about fact families and practise your maths skills with these articles.
Stay active
Join Hacker for some Halloween fun and use your Super Movers skills to get active!
Play - Creative Lab
Get ready to unleash your imagination in BBC Bitesize Creative Lab with some super scary Halloween activities and stickers. 🎃✨
Creative Lab Tools:
- Paint and create free play
- 3D art builder
- Spin art
- Colour mixer
Creative Labs game
BBC Bitesize: KS1 Art and Design
Halloween Science from Bitesize for teachers
Become scientists this Halloween with hands-on frightening experiments.
Make sure you have an adult to help you.
How to make static electricity spectres
Terrific Science
How to make gruesome pumpkin ooze
Terrific Science
How to make spooky oobleck for Halloween
Terrific Science
More Halloween resources from the BBC
You can find many more amazing resources from around the BBC.
Follow the links below for more ideas on Halloween.
Halloween stories
BBC Sounds
How to build a creepy crawly beetle bucket for your garden
Parent's Toolkit
