Halloween Haunted House Crafts

1-2-3 Come Make A Haunted House Craftivity With Me

haunted house writing prompt crafts, haunted house crafts, haunted house activities, Halloween activities, October bulletin board ideas, October writing prompts, Flick off the lights to set the mood, then all you have to do is quietly & slowly say the words, “Haunted House” , and you will have everyone's attention.

No matter what grade I taught, I loved going for that “Gotcha!” moment, to get people excited about writing.

I truly believe that students will be enthusiastic about “getting down to the business of writing”, if you simply give them something interesting and fun to write about.

It’s that simple. Find their “hot button”. If your students are like mine, then a haunted house, is that catalyst in motivating them to WANT to write. Woo Hoo!

With that in mind, I set to work to design two crafty packets involving a haunted house.

First up, 6 writing prompt craftivities for the “Haunted House” packet.

They are all different enough, so that you can easily do several; one in class, one as a fun homework assignment, one for extra credit, a sub tub, or for early finishers etc.

You could also give students a choice.

You may be surprised that they want to do them all.

One of my personal favorites is "Haunted Houses ARE..." and "Haunted Houses HAVE".

Student can choose which they want to write about, or you can make this a two-part assignment.

Kiddos can write the ARE portion on one day, and finish up the HAVE prompt the next day.

You could also do one in class, and do the other as homework.

Completed projects turn out "terror-rific"!

This project can be displayed flat on a bulletin board, or suspended back-to-back from the ceiling.

I've included several posters to enhance your display.

I think it's very important to not overwhelm beginning writers.

For example, asking students to write a "spooky story" can be a bit daunting for even a seasoned writer.

To experience this, put yourself in the assignment. Would you want to write an entire story, or would you be more excited to develop a list of things that a haunted house has?

Because it's a smaller chunk of writing, and children can draw from experience, they know the "answers" and feel empowered; so they can get right down to writing; and often very excited to do so!

With that in mind, all of the activities in both packets are "bite size".

Because it's simple yet thought provoking, I think your students will also enjoy "If a haunted house could talk, what might it say?"

This is a super-fun way to have students really use their imaginations & "think outside the box". Becoming a haunted house, is an interesting way to practice point of view too.

There are 5 diffferent "speech bubbles" to add variety to your display, as well as several posters you can use to introduce the lesson, then sprinkle on your bulletin board.

"If I bought a haunted house..." as well as "If I lived in a haunted house..." are also thought provoking.

As always, patterns come in black & white as well as color, so that teachers can quickly & easily make an example to share.

Besides the different posters to help you introduce the lesson, as well as several more to enhance your various displays, I've also included spiderwebbed letters that spell LOOK!

If you're a fan of The Dollar Store, you'll be happy to know that they now carry huge wiggle eyes!

They are 4 1/2 inches & come in 3 styles. (Oh the possibilities...)

I substituted them for the O letters in LOOK.

To expand the lesson, and practice yet another standard, I’ve also included a whole-group graphing extension in both packets.

Next up is the "Trick or Treating at a Haunted House" packet.

To get more bang for my “time” buck, I like to cover a variety of standards with one activity.

“Trick or Treating at a Haunted House”is not only a super-fun writing prompt craftivity, but it also reinforces the 5 senses, and the importance of using them to enhance writing.

The scenario:

Students are trick or treating and they visit a haunted house.

What do they see, hear, feel, taste & smell?

After writing their rough draft, then editing, they fill out a rubric checklist, then write their final draft on the writing prompt worksheet. (I've included RUBRICS in both packets.)

There are 4 different haunted houses for students to choose from, with a TOP & BOTTOM pattern for each. as the 5 senses writing prompt is glued to the center.

These too, make an awesome bulletin board, so I've also included posters in this packet as well.

There's also a “5 Senses” poster, plus one that defines “Adjectives”.

Use them to introduce your lesson, then add them to your display.

Toss some “cobwebs” in each corner, and you have a “WOW!” bulletin board, sure to get lots of compliments.

I’ve included pictures of my completed
samples, as well as BW copies of the text, so that you can quickly make examples to share with your students.

Examples not only help easily explain what you want them to do, but are a catalyst to creating excitement, so students will be eager to make a haunted house of their own.

As you can see by my samples, "answers" can be a simple sentence for younger students, as well as a more in-depth use of descriptive word choice for older students.

I've also included a "side-by-side" photo of a sample that's very simple, then another that was worked on.

Use this as a whole group discussion of how to "expand" your description and details to make your writing "come alive" for the reader.

I always try to make time for students to share their work with their classmates, so we popcorn around the room and everyone shares one of their "5 senses sentences" before displaying them in the hallway.

Since October is Fire Safety Month, and a lot of people burn leaves & have bonfires in the fall, today's featured FREEBIE is a "Hands Off!" fire safety craft, which is also a fun writing prompt.