Holidayslike Halloween are a great opportunity for teachers to introduce fun and educationalgamesto the classroom. Between the candy and the costumes, Halloween is a favorite holiday with moststudents, but it also opens the window for new vocabulary and cultural lessons.

Pin the Nose on the Zombie
For this game, you will need a large poster with a picture of a zombie, a blindfold and a separate paper nose for each student. Before the game, label the zombie's body parts (head, stomach, torso, legs,etc.) clearly on the poster. Write each student's name on the back of one nose and hand them out.Blindfold each student and have them try to pin the nose on the zombie's face in turn. The other students can try to help with verbal instructions, like "That's his arm!" or "That's his chest!" The studentwho gets his nose the closest to the right spot wins. Other options include pin the wart on the witch, pinthe mouth on the jack-o-lantern or pin the fangs on the vampire.

Bats: Fiction or Fact?
This game show style game is great for introducing scientific facts about bats to students. To begin, useindex cards to write a statement about bats. Use websites like Incredible Bats (see References) to findcommonly misunderstood bat information, and make some of your statements true, and some false. Atrue statement could be, "Most bats do not have rabies." A false statement could be, "Bats are blind."Divide the class into two teams. Choose one student on one team to start. When you read the card,finish by asking whether the statement is fact or fiction. ("Bats are blind. Fact or fiction?") If thestatement is fiction, explain the fact: Bats can see very well, and some can even see in the dark.Record one point for each correct answer to both teams on the board. The team with the most pointswins.

A Very Haunted House
This game is designed to help students work on addition. For best results, particularly with younger students, prepare a drawing or cutout of a haunted house, along with a dozen or more ghosts. For more fun, try building a 3D paper haunted house, working from a template such as the one provided byRavens Blight (see Resources). Move the ghosts to different rooms of the house by taping them to thefront or placing them inside, then ask: "There are two ghosts in the kitchen, one in the bedroom, andfour in the attic! How many ghosts are there in the house?" The students can also take turns movingghosts around the house and creating their own addition word problems.