When October comes around, it's a great time to add some fun and excitement to your physical education classes! The weeks before Halloween is a great time to get creative in your PE classes. One way to do this is by incorporating Halloween games and activities into your physical education lessons. Adding this seasonal spin to fitness and movement activities is not only relevant and timely, but it's also a great way to get students moving and engaged in learning.
Why include Halloween PE Games and Activities in your lessons?
Children love Halloween and all of the hype that surrounds it. Why not take advantage of the buzz and incorporate some movement experiences that tie in this spooky season? October is the perfect time to get kids moving and having fun!
By incorporating Halloween games and activities into your physical education classes, you can help to create a fun and active environment that will benefit all students. They are great for promoting cooperative play and teamwork. You can also easily disguise fitness and motor-skill development into your learning experiences using a fun game or activity.
By using quality PE Halloween games and activities, you can easily help students meet SHAPE America Standard 1 which states: The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns.*
Tips for setting up Halloween physical education games and activities
Build anticipation and "hype it up" in the weeks leading up to October for extra fun
Use a Halloween, spooky music playlist of safe, kid-friendly songs to play while students are moving
Get into the spooky spirit by decorating your learning area with some Halloween icons
Consider which PE games and activities would be most appropriate and feasible given your learning environment and equipment availability
Before your students arrive, set up the necessary equipment for your class game or activity
Demonstrate and explain the PE-Halloween activity that the class will be performing
Provide a summary after the activity and hype up the next Halloween event
Before the next class begins, re-set the equipment. Have your current class do it for you so you don't have to
You can easily integrate several Halloween-themed games and activities into any physical education program. Below are six great Halloween games and activities to use in your PE classes!
6 Fun and Engaging Physical Education Halloween Games and Activities
1. PE Concentration- Halloween Style
Overview
Students attempt to match a variety of Halloween icons and items as they travel to and from various areas in the gym performing a variety of locomotor movements as they move.
Equipment
Several index cards with a variety of Halloween icons. The icons can either be written, drawn, or glued to the card
6 to 12 cones are set up around the perimeter
A cone, poly spot, or Frisbee for every icon card. The cards could also be placed upside down without being hidden under an item
Set-Up
Create some mini cards that have Halloween words and/or icon pictures
The pictures/words could be put on index cards or construction paper
Place the Halloween cards throughout the middle of the playing area upside-down. You can also put them under cones or Frisbees
Make sure each card has an exact twin
Directions and Rules
Examples of Halloween icons could be pumpkins, ghosts, Frankenstein, scarecrows, witches, bats, mummies, broomsticks, trick-or-treaters, zombies, Dracula, goblins, etc.
Turn the cards over and mix them up. You can put them under the cones or flipped Frisbees or just leave them turned over
Place 6 – 12 cones around the gym perimeter and group the students into even clusters of “Trick or Treaters” behind each cone to start the Halloween Concentration game
On a teacher signal (preferably Halloween music), the first one in line runs (or uses a teacher-directed locomotor movement) to a cone, grabs a card, and brings it back to their group
The group looks at the card and immediately the next student in line goes out to search for the twin card (either upside-down or under a cone or frisbee). If it is a match they bring it back to the group
If the card is not a match, the student leaves the card at the cone and returns to tell everyone the icon they looked at
The next person in line goes out on the Halloween matching venture checking a new card
This process continues for a set time to see which group gets the most Halloween icon matches. The teacher can vary the locomotor movement and could add a fitness exercise the students perform before they pick up a card
PE Concentration- Halloween Style Video- Cards up-side-down and up-side-right for younger students
2. Haunted-House Obstacle Course
Overview
For students to progress through a Haunted House-themed obstacle course
Equipment
A. 2 to 4 hula hoops
B and E. 2 to 4 Hurdles or cones (jump over)
C. 2 to 4 Scooter Boards
D. 2 to 4 jump ropes
F. 2 to 4 yarn balls and bins to toss into
Set-Up
2 to 4 “Haunted House Themed” Obstacle Courses set up in your gym/playing area
Set out the equipment for the obstacle courses before class begins
Directions and Rules
The students go through the following obstacle course. Modify the individual movements/activities to adjust for the equipment you have in your PE closet
Obstacle Course
Students start at a cone or poly spot which is the obstacle course start point and then they…
A. Run around the front foyer- Students run around a downed hula hoop- 1 revolution
B. Jump over the old furniture- Students jump over a hurdle from one foot to the other in a straight line (could be a cone, a soft hurdle or a pool noodle laying across 2 cones)
C. Float like a Ghost- Students hop on a scooter board (or anything that rolls like a scooter) and ride to D where they get off the scooter board
D. Ghost Aerobics Class- Students jump rope for their ghost exercise class 5 times
E. Under the Table- Students climb under a hurdle (could be a cone, a soft hurdle or a pool noodle laying across 2 cones)
F. Toss the Pumpkin- Students pick up a yarn ball and toss it into a bin (or container).
Students end the obstacle course by first putting the ball back on the line, then running straight back but they must stop halfway to ride the scooter board back to C
Modify the listed equipment, as needed, to match the equipment or items you have in your PE closet or classroom
3. Capture the Treats (Large Group PE Game)
Overview
Students flee and dodge in a 2-team chase, tag, and gather game in which they attempt to do some trick or treating in each other’s Haunted House.
Equipment
12 – 20 tennis balls or beanbags to represent “Halloween candy”
8 hula hoops (4 on each side)
2 color Pinnies for 2 groups of trick or treaters
6 to 12 cones to mark the playing area or use existing gym or field lines
Set-Up
The game is played in large groups in a gym or on a field playing area
Mark the area with cones or use existing gym lines
Place 4 hula hoops (on each side) just behind the end lines of the playing area
Put treats inside the hoops
Split the group into 2 even teams and send them to the end line on opposite sides
Directions and Rules
Tell the students that 2 groups of trick or treaters are in a feud and want to prove that they can capture more treats than their counterparts
The aim of the game for each group of trick-or-treaters is to try and steal haunted treats from the other team's 'haunted house' area
Players can tag the other team’s players only on their side of the center line
If a player is tagged without a treat, they must sit down and wait for a teammate to come in and get them without that “saving” person getting tagged first
The 2 teammates can then walk back to their own side “freely” if connected (i.e. holding hands, hand on the shoulder, etc.)
If a player is tagged with a treat while returning to their side, they must toss the treat back to the guard (at a hoop) and return home
If a player gets the treat safely back to their side, without being tagged, they can place it in one of their 4 containers.
There is one “Guard” allowed can at each hoop
4. Paper Plate Activate- Halloween Style (What's on Your Plate?)
Overview
Students move from laminated plate to plate every 30 seconds to perform fitness-skill movements. This is a GREAT warm-up fitness activity.
Equipment
Several laminated paper plates with a variety of fitness movements
The plates have glued-on or drawn Halloween (i.e. jack o lantern) icons on them
Set-Up
Laminate the plates with exercises (i.e. jumping jacks, push-ups, etc.) with some Halloween icons represented on there
Scatter the plates around the playing area face up
Evenly distribute the students at the laminated Halloween plates
Directions and Rules
Provide all the children with instructions for the activity
Turn on some upbeat music (preferably with a Halloween theme)
Use a timer or an app and play the music for 30 seconds
For 30 seconds, the students will perform the exercise or movement around the plate
Stop the music (15-second break) and have the kids rotate to any other plate. They cannot go to a plate they have already been to
Continue this pattern for 4 to 6 minutes
5. Halloween PE Stations
Overview
Students rotate around the playing area and take part in a variety of movement-type stations that incorporate a “Halloween” theme.
Equipment
A. Bowling pins, white cloth, black felt, balls
B. Cones, deck rings or hula hoops
C. Paddles/Rackets, white balloons
D. Basketball/Playground balls/goals, bells
E. Goals, white sheets, soccer balls
Set-Up
5 Halloween-themed stations are spaced out evenly throughout your gym/playing area
Set the equipment for each station out before class begins
Directions and Rules
A. Booling- Using multiple bowling pins covered with cloth and black felt circles glued on for eyes, students take turns rolling a ball at the “ghosts”, attempting to knock them over.
B. Witches Hat Ring Toss- Using tall PE cones with purchased “witches hats” placed on top, students use deck rings or small hula hoops trying to “ring” the witch's hat
C. Floating Ghosts- Using blown-up, white balloons, students use their hands or paddles/racquets to strike and keep the “ghost face” balloons up in the air
D. Ring the Doorbell- Attach several small bells to a basketball goal and have the students shoot baskets, using a variety of different types of balls (from various distances), using poly spot markers to shoot from
E. Score a Ghoul- Using a small soccer or hockey goal (with a white sheet hanging down in front, marked like a ghost) students take turns dribbling and then shooting a soccer or indoor hockey ball (using a hockey stick) at the ghost (goal). Use a black dry-erase marker to draw the ghost. The ghostly sheet can be taped or pinned onto the goal
6. Ghost Busters (Large Group PE Game)
Overview
Students throw for accuracy at “Ghost” targets on the opposing team’s side of a playing area in an attempt to knock them down.
Equipment
20 – 40 white/clear 3-liter soda bottles or bowling pins (ghosts)
25 - 40 yarn or gator balls (missiles)
A Centerline
Spots on the floor to mark where the Ghosts should be placed
Set-Up
The game is played in large groups in a gym or on a field playing area
Mark the area with cones or use existing gym/field lines
You can place mats, borders, benches, or anything that can serve as a wall (in the middle) between the haunted houses
Split the group into two teams of Ghostbusters and send them to the end lines
Directions and Rules
Explain to the students that two rival ghostbusting teams are in competition with each other for eliminating ghosts from their city.
The Ghostbusters on each side of the city want to destroy the other's ghosts by launching "heat-seeking" ghostbusting missiles at them.
The object for each group of Ghostbusters is to knock down more ghosts on the other team’s side than the other team knocks down on theirs.
On the teacher’s signal, the Ghostbusters may throw only at the other team’s ghosts and not at the other Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters may only pick up a maximum of two ghostbusting missiles at a time
If a ghost (bottle/pin) is knocked down, Ghostbusters are allowed to set it back up on top of the marked “X” if they can catch a thrown ball
A ghost may be set back up only if a missile is caught “cleanly” in the air (bouncing catches don't count as a clean catch)
Ghostbusters may guard their ghosts but may not touch them unless they are setting them back up after they have fallen
Final thoughts
Adding Halloween games and activities to physical education classes is a great way to incorporate a holiday theme while still getting students moving and active. These six ideas are just a few of the many possibilities for Halloween-themed PE movement experiences. With a little creativity, you can come up with even more spooky and fun ideas to keep your students engaged and excited about physical activity in your own pumpkin patch.
Be sure to check below for a FREE download with some GREAT Halloween stations you can use right away and check out some of the Halloween resources I have for sale on my web page (i.e. zombie tag). So get out there, gather up all the pumpkins, and have some Halloween fun with your PE students! Happy haunting!
What are some of your favorite Halloween PE activities? Share them in the comments below! And don't forget to check out my other blog posts for even more great ideas for physical education classes. Thanks for reading!
*SHAPE America. (2013). National Standards for K-12 Physical Education. Reston, VA: Author.
** Thanks to Veronica Brand @CoachBrandPE for her awesome pics and video. Check out all of he great tweets here.
Need some FREE PE Halloween Stations?
Do you need some FUN Halloween stations for your physical education program to keep your students active and engaged during the month of October? If so, Cap'n Pete has you covered!
Fill in the form below to download a FREE Physical Education Halloween Station Packet- 7 Activity Set to use in your PE program! Inside this package are 7 fun and exciting PE stations for students in PE classes or for classroom teachers to use during transitional times of the day. The packet is designed for a wide range of ages.
If you're looking for several PE Halloween Games and Activities that are ideal for large, medium or small-sized groups, check out Cap'n Pete's PE Halloween Stations and Fitness- 7 Product Super Bundle!
This Super Bundle includes 7 ACTIVE and ENGAGING, large or small group Halloween movement and fitness activities that you can use for your physical education classes, school classrooms, or camp situations. The PE Halloween Super Bundle is a combination of 7 of Cap’n Pete’s DYNAMIC, fitness and movement-based activity and game sets for teachers to utilize to get students moving in fun and interesting ways, incorporating a Halloween theme. Together these 7 products will give you several weeks’ worth of movement activities that you can copy, laminate, and use in your October PE curriculum for years!
You can download them from either of the following platforms: Cap'n Pete's Power PE Website or Teachers Pay Teachers- Cap'n Pete's TPT Store
☠️ What Resources are in the PE Halloween, 7 Set Super Bundle? ☠️ 1- Halloween PE Movement Stations- 20 "Fun and Spooky" Activity Cards
