10 Engaging ESL Halloween Activities for a Frightfully Fun Lesson

When Halloween approaches, ESL teachers have a perfect reason to be wickedly happy. The holiday gives you the ideal moment to add unique, fun games and exercises to your classroom. Explore these 10 ESL Halloween activities for ideas you can use with young learners, teens, and adults in the physical classroom or online.

Looking for game and activity ideas year-round? Check out the 10-hour online Micro-credential Games and Activities for the Online Classroom (Young Learners).

Halloween ESL games and activities for kids

1. Halloween Word Search

Every strong ESL Halloween lesson plan should include a word search. This fun, relaxing activity is easy to explain and helps kids of all ages learn new vocabulary. You can create your own online word search for remote learners or print out worksheets for the classroom.

Read about 16 fun ESL games and activities for kids and teens.

2. Guess My Costume

Younger learners can also practice seasonal vocabulary with this ESL Halloween activity. Create a presentation where each slide shows a classic Halloween costume, such as a black cat, a witch, or a pumpkin. Ask the kids to guess each costume and copy the correct word for writing practice. Make sure you can share your screen during online lessons.

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3. Fill in the Blanks

Create Halloween ESL worksheets that ask students to fill in the gaps in simple, spooky stories. Write your own or search online for a short text where learners supply missing words. You can use stories with a word bank or choose silly Mad Libs. At the end, have students read the story aloud.

If you create your own story, you can make the verb the missing word so kids practice past or present tense instead of only vocabulary. Remember that ESL Halloween activities can easily integrate grammar.

4. Draw Your Costume

Ask students to tell you their favorite Halloween costume and explain why they like it. Then, have them draw themselves in the costume and describe it in detail. Listen for adjectives about color, size, and other features to reinforce descriptive language.

Need inspiration to spark student creativity? Explore ways to unleash creative thinking in the ESL classroom.

5. Halloween Story Video

Watching spooky videos is one of the most engaging Halloween ESL activities. Students practice speaking by describing what they see, and the video format exposes them to new vocabulary. Choose a YouTube video, like the one below, that students can watch in person or virtually. Pause when a scene shows many objects or characters. Ask learners to list everything they notice and reveal the lists at the end. Because kids love Halloween ESL games, you can turn this into a competition for the longest or most accurate list.

Halloween ESL lessons for adults or teens

6. Halloween History Quiz

At the start of an ESL Halloween lesson, introduce the history of the celebration. Prepare a short presentation or video on the topic, and then run a true-or-false quiz. When a student answers “false,” ask them to provide the correct answer for bonus points.

Here’s an example video you can use for this activity:

Looking for more games and activities for your ESL adults? Check out the 10-hour online Micro-credential Games and Activities for the Online Classroom (Adults).

7. Ghost Story Time

Halloween ESL lessons for adults and teens can include slightly more mature content. Prepare a short horror story and have students take turns reading aloud. You can write your own or use a classic, such as Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” or Charles Dickens’ “The Signal-Man.” After you clarify unfamiliar vocabulary, test reading comprehension with a few targeted questions.

If you want to challenge adult or teen learners even more, leave the ghost story’s ending open. Ask students to describe how they think the story concludes and justify their answers.

Need more game ideas for teaching adults? Read about 15 fun and easy ESL games for adults.

8. Words in a Word

Prepare Halloween ESL worksheets with themed words such as “Frankenstein,” “ghost,” and “haunted.” Ask students to find smaller words inside each target word and make a list. For example, from “pumpkin,” students might list “pump,” “kin,” and “pin.” If you have multiple learners, turn it into a competition to see who produces the most correct answers.

9. Favorite Halloween Movie

Many ESL Halloween activities invite movie talk. Even if you do not enjoy horror films, you can use lighter classics such as “The Addams Family” or “Hocus Pocus.” Ask adult students to share their favorite Halloween movies and explain why they chose them. You can also watch trailers or short clips and pause in a specific scene so students can describe what they see.

Love pop culture? Get tips on eight ways to use pop culture in the ESL classroom.

10. Tradition Description

Halloween is primarily an American tradition that features pumpkins and trick-or-treating. Your ESL students will likely come from different countries, so some may not celebrate Halloween or may celebrate in other ways. Using Halloween as a model, ask learners to prepare a few sentences describing a tradition in their home country. Have them include details such as the date, typical foods, and common decorations, as we see with Halloween in the United States. For example, students from Mexico can describe Día de los Muertos, while students from China can describe their New Year. This oral activity provides practice in grammar, vocabulary, and ESL pronunciation.

Halloween offers an enjoyable theme for ESL teachers at any level. Whether you plan online lessons or teach in person, you can use these fun, purposeful activities to deliver a frightfully memorable spooky season.

Looking for more insights into how to engage and inspire your young ESL students? Learn practical strategies, class activities, and more in the Specialized TEFL Certification in Teaching English to Young Learners and Teenagers course.