Ever since I was a kid, Halloween has been one of my favorite holidays. The costumes, haunted hayrides, corn mazes, pumpkin carving, and so much more make this time of year the best! But Spanish Halloween activities may be hard to come by, as we tend to focus on Day of the Dead during this time of year in our classrooms. But did you know there are tons of Spanish Halloween activities that you can do all month long? Take a look at some of my favorite activities to celebrate Halloween in Spanish class below.
Monster Activities
There are not many things spookier than monsters! You can use monsters in quite a few ways to practice communication skills during Spanish Halloween lessons. Plus, these activities can be adapted for all proficiency levels, so you can plan the same lesson just once, and use it for all of your classes with very minor tweaking.
Interpretive Tasks with Monsters
Let’s have our students work on their interpretive skills: reading and listening. You will need to create a physical description of a monster. Use accessible vocabulary for your students. If they know colors and body parts, then focus on that. If your students learned clothing, then add some articles of clothing to your monster. For example: El monstruo tiene tres ojos. Lleva una bufanda azul. En su cabeza, hay una gorra grande. This description can be verbally given to them or written for them to read. As they read or listen to the description, they will draw the monster and compare it to their classmates’ drawings.
Your students could even come up with the descriptions of the monsters so you don’t have to! Now, you’re adding presentational communication into the activity, as well. Plus, you have tons of different descriptions to choose from. They can work in small groups or you pick a few for the class to do as a group.
Body Part Vocabulary
Monarca Language shared a free monsters and body parts flashcard game, perfect for younger children or novice level students. In the past, I’ve used these cards when teaching elementary Spanish. I assigned one card to each student and had them all stand in a circle. I then said phrases like, “If your monster has 2 arms, sit down.” “If your monster has 4 eyes, sit down.” By the end, the student left standing won! You can play this game over and over again with different numbers and body parts.
With the free download, each board has six monsters, and you can play a game similar to Guess Who.
Personality Quiz
We all love to take Buzzfeed quizzes and find out which fast food restaurant we are, or which character from The Office we are. Even your students can’t pass up a good personality quiz. Have them find out which candy they are with this fun quiz in Spanish or in English. They will take a 10 question personality quiz based on their likes, dislikes, personality traits, favorite movie genre, etc. Then, the results will tell them which one of six candies best fits their personality! Are they more of a classic chocolate bar, optimistic almond joy, or a bold Skittle? Once they find out their results, there are a series of discussion questions and a mini project for groups! Learn more about how these personality quizzes changed my Spanish classroom for the better!
If you like that quiz, check out my other personality quizzes, including which food, color, career, and animal best fit your personality!
Wanted Posters
Villains can also be spooky, just like monsters. Have your students choose their favorite villain from any story or movie. Maybe the Big Bad Wolf, the Wicked Witch of the West, or even The Joker. Then, they will create a Wanted Poster for this villain by drawing their portrait and writing a description of the character. You can change the requirements to fit a variety of proficiency levels. Keep it basic for novice students by simply describing their physical and personality traits. With more advanced students, they can add details about what the villain was known for, what they were last seen doing, what the reward will be, etc. Here is a Wanted Poster project that I used during a fairy tale unit to practice preterit vs imperfect.
Design a Haunted House
So many of us teach a unit on “la casa” and the rooms and objects in the home. Rather than having your students design their dream home, which can be a fun project, try this out. During the month of October, it would be fun to have them design a haunted house! This could be done in groups and then you have other classes vote for the best Spanish Halloween haunted house!
Students will draw the house, label it, and even write or present a description of the house. I recommend supplying them with fun Halloween vocabulary so they don’t resort to Google Translate. Provide a list of words such as skeleton, ghost, vampire, witch, pumpkins, etc. I also suggest giving a list of spooky verbs so they can write creatively: carve, spook, haunt, cast a spell, hide, etc.
Hispanic Legends, Myths, & Mysteries
Reading legends and myths is a great activity for Halloween time. Here is a list of 13 terrifying, spooky, and awesome Latin American Legends. I always enjoy reading La Llorona with my students. This version by Joe Hayes is particularly great for students, as he also has a YouTube video, with great storytelling techniques. When we read this, I always start by introducing the vocabulary with images. Make sure your students understand the main words of the story before you begin reading it. Then, use comprehensible input techniques with lots of questioning, images, and vocabulary to get your students hooked. Let them act it out! Encourage them to make predictions. Have them retell the different sections of the story!
Another great type of story to read during October is a mystery. Your students will be the detectives as they work through a mystery story, write a detective case report, create a suspect list, and make predictions. Here are 6 strategies for reading a mystery in world language classes.
Spanish Halloween Costume Contest
Have a costume contest for your students to earn extra credit points! You don’t have to make this a requirement, but it could be a fun activity to do on Halloween. You could create guidelines for the contest, such as each costume must be related to a Hispanic person, holiday, TV show, etc. Here are 8 must-see Halloween costumes for Spanish teachers to give you and your students some inspiration.
On the day of the contest, students can vote for their favorite costumes! You could even include the entire world language department. Take pictures of the contestants and create a quick Google Form for voting. Share the link with all of the teachers and classes. By the next day, you’ll crown your winner!
Día de Muertos
Now, there is an obvious lesson you could do during the month of October, and that is Dia de muertos. In addition to Halloween, we want to make sure we touch on Day of the Dead celebrations with our students. Some of my favorite Día de muertos lessons focus on vocabulary, allowing students to really talk about the holiday with authentic vocabulary and cultural content. Check out these vocabulary activities that are festive, informative, and cultural!
If you love Halloween as much as I do, then you’ll be eager to try out any one of these fun Spanish Halloween activities in your classroom this year. The best part of these activities is that they can work for any level of students. Think back to elementary school, when the entire day of Halloween was devoted to parties, activities, and candy. High school students would love to have a sense of that nostalgia. Incorporate even one of these Spanish Halloween lessons into your classroom this October.
Comment below if you tried any of these activities and let me know how it went! Be sure to follow Llearning Llama on Instagram to see more Halloween tips, pictures, and costumes!
