Teachers can use children's excitement over Halloween as an opportunity rather than a potential classroom distraction. With a little imagination, creative educators can develop age-appropriate lesson plans that use the holiday as a springboard to learning in almost any subject.

Geography

Teach children about the variations on Halloween celebrated around the world. For instance, Mexico celebrates the Day of the Dead. Like Halloween, this holiday includes images of skeletons, but they are reminders of the presence of death in life. Mexican families may set up altars for deceased relatives and go for a picnic by the graves of departed grandparents. Find pictures of this celebration, and bring in some sugar skulls, a traditional Dia de los Muertos treat, for children to eat.

History

Use a typical Halloween witch image as the jumping off point to initiate a discussion with middle school children about the Salem witch trials. Discuss who was accused and what they were accused of, what happened during the trials, how convicted witches were punished. Talk about the concept of witch hunts, and how different groups can be scapegoated and targeted at different periods in history, for instance, the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s.

Creative Writing

Halloween costumes stir children's imaginations, providing ample subjects for creative writing prompts. Ask children to think about costumes they might wear this year, or have worn in the past. Suggest that they write a short story involving the type of character they portray in what they wear--a ghost, a zombie, a witch. Point out that their character might have different traits than the stereotypical image of that creature--perhaps the zombie likes to tell jokes but people keep running away, or the witch is beautiful rather than hook-nosed and ugly. Grade school children who have mastered basic writing skills can create very short tales with a focus on using sentences to convey meaning. Middle school children may be ready to learn about how to develop a story, with a beginning, central climax and an ending.

Art

For younger children, Halloween can provide a lesson about identifying and using different shapes. Talk about circles, triangles and rectangles and show images of jack-o-lanterns, witches and black cats. Provide a sheet of heavy construction paper, along with some glue, scissors, and different colors of paper. Let children cut and paste together circles, triangles and rectangles to the base sheet to create a Halloween picture.