"Not-a-Halloween" Halloween Party

Over the years, I've had students that can't participate in Halloween parities. And yet, at my school, we have a costume parade every year (technically, a storybook parade, but it's held on Halloween...every year...and the kids wear their Halloween costumes). So, the rest of the parents sort of expect some sort of Halloween party. I've managed to come up with a solution for all of my students.

Pumpkin Math

We first read How many Seeds in a Pumpkin? Be warned, pre-read the book. The end of the book gives away a little too much information to make determining your own seeds an actual guess.

Then, we break open the math with this activity I found on Teachers Pay Teachers. I wish I had thought of it, but all credit has to go to All4Math. My students thoroughly enjoyed working through the packet this year. We took her ideas and created a large chart of our data.

This will easily take up most of your day - if not all of it. I had to start it a day early last year so we could finish and even then it was tight. The kids love it because it involves pumpkins, but since you're not actually carving jack-o-lanterns, most families will be fine with the seasonal activity.

Movie Time

After lunch, as the students are starting to get trick-or-treating on their brains, I break out whatever treats we have (I usually make cupcakes and put 3 Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans on top - those are fun to watch!) and The Wizard of Oz. Strange as it seems, many students have never seen this movie. I guess it's because it's considered old compared to all the newer movies out there.