Over the past few months, teachers and students have been using tools like Zoom or Google Meet for virtual learning. As Halloween approaches, teachers can use this technology to host virtual Halloween parades and costume parties with their students. This will allow them to gather in a safe setting to celebrate this spooky time of year.

Invitations

Invitations to the Halloween party can be as simple as posting a link to the meeting on your LMS of choice or emailing a personal invitation to students. Teachers can use online resources such as Google Slides or Bitmoji to create cute invitations to be shared with students. There are also many free websites with ready-made Halloween digital invitations as well as templates for you to modify and make your own.

Costume parade

Other than eating candy, dressing up for Halloween is a favorite activity of children of all ages. Some will go out in costume and trick or treat, but many will not this year. Encourage your students to dress up in their favorite costumes for the virtual party. Allow each student to talk about their costume and why they chose it. This also makes for a great post Halloween writing activity!

Costume contest

If you are having students dress up in their costumes for the virtual party, you can also have a costume contest. You can create categories or have a “Best Costume” award. Students can vote in the chat box or if you want it to be more anonymous for the students, create a simple Google Form and drop the link in the chat box. You can also use Google Forms to create fun Halloween-themed quizzes and activities.

Activities

There are many great ways to engage students and have fun during your virtual party. In addition to the ideas below, make sure to have some scary Halloween music available (look on Youtube or Spotify). You can also show a Halloween-themed movie or show, time permitting.

Here are some virtual Halloween party ideas:

• Creepy and spooky arts and crafts – Students can use objects around the house to create some great and imaginative projects. Unlike classroom crafting where the students all receive the same materials, children will have different objects at home to work with. Contests based on different categories are possible here as well.
• Pumpkin carving or decorations – What Halloween party would be complete without pumpkin carving? Students will be able to (under supervision, of course) get creative and either carve an actual pumpkin at home, or decorate a pumpkin on paper. Again, contests are a great idea here, too.
• Digital escape room – Digital escape rooms are fun activities and also promote group work and collaboration. These are great if your meeting allows for breakout rooms, but you can also assign students to groups and give them time to work together. There are many ready-made escape rooms on the Internet, as well as sites to help you build your own. One of my favorites is the Hogwarts Escape Room.
• Spooky cooking time – Simple ingredients shared ahead of time with parents can allow you to do some fun and imaginative creepy cooking with your students. Have them follow along at home with some fun, scary recipes including decorating cupcakes or cookies, creepy ghosts with marshmallows, and boo-tiful looking punch with food coloring.
• Ghost stories – Ghost stories are a wonderful way to engage your students during a virtual party. There are many age-appropriate stories you can read to your students. Or, let them create their own stories to share with their classmates!
• Scavenger hunt – Scavenger hunts are lots of fun and very easy to do. Teachers can collaborate with parents to hide objects around the house, or they can simply create a generic list of objects that are likely to be in everyone’s home. You can send the list ahead of time, post it in the chat box, or even use the screen sharing option to share the list.

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