Free Halloween worksheets for children, with seven printable activities that use real Halloween words, from pumpkins and costumes to bats, ghosts and spooky cats. Print a word search in three levels, bingo cards, a word scramble, a “how many words can you make” page, an acrostic poem, a writing prompt and a fold-up Halloween card, each with an answer key where one is needed.
Halloween worksheets to print (PDF)
These four pages show what the Halloween maker prints: a medium word search with a word list, two bingo cards on a page, an acrostic poem for the letters of PUMPKIN, and the fold-up card that says “Happy Halloween!” Click a picture for the PDF.
About Halloween: the holiday at a glance
A little background makes the words on the page mean more. Here are the basic facts that go with these Halloween worksheets:
| Date | October 31 every year |
|---|---|
| Old name | All Hallows’ Eve, the evening before All Saints’ Day |
| Roots | Partly from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, held at the end of the harvest |
| Symbols | Jack-o’lanterns, bats, black cats, ghosts and witches |
| Colors | Orange and black |
| Traditions | Costumes, trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving and parties |
The story of Halloween
Halloween has roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of the harvest and the start of winter. People lit bonfires and wore costumes to keep away spirits. Later the Christian holiday of All Hallows’ Day was held on November 1, and the evening before became All Hallows’ Eve, which was shortened to Halloween.
Jack-o’lanterns began as carved turnips in Ireland, and when Irish families moved to North America they found that pumpkins were easier to carve. Trick-or-treating, where children go door to door in costume for sweets, became a popular custom in the US in the twentieth century. Today the holiday is mostly about costumes, treats and gentle spookiness.
Wikipedia’s Halloween article describes the history and customs of the holiday.
What is in the Halloween activity pack?
Every activity uses the same list of 24 Halloween words, so children meet each word several times in different ways. The list is the heart of these Halloween worksheets: the word search hides it, the scramble mixes it up, the bingo calls it out and the writing prompt asks children to use it.
Halloween word search: three levels
The word search comes in easy, medium and hard grids, with 10, 14 and 18 words from the list.
The longest Halloween word is scarecrow with 9 letters, and the shortest words are bat, web, owl and cat with 3.
Halloween vocabulary: words to talk about
Take a few minutes to talk about the words before children search for them. These eight are a good place to start:
| Word | Letters | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| costume | 7 | Clothes worn to look like someone or something else |
| cauldron | 8 | A large pot, often shown bubbling with a witch’s potion |
| haunted | 7 | Said to be visited by ghosts |
| skeleton | 8 | The bones of the body |
| scarecrow | 9 | A figure of straw dressed to scare birds from a field |
| lantern | 7 | A light in a case; a jack-o’lantern is a carved pumpkin lantern |
| treat | 5 | A sweet given to trick-or-treaters |
| broom | 5 | A brush on a long handle, linked in stories to witches |
The other 16 words in the list are pumpkin, candy, ghost, witch, bat, spider, web, moon, owl, cat, trick, mask, spooky, october, leaves and night.
How people celebrate Halloween
- Wearing costumes and going trick-or-treating
- Carving pumpkins into jack-o’lanterns
- Decorating houses with spiders, webs and ghosts
- Going to parties and costume parades
- Telling gentle spooky stories
Halloween activities for kids to do with the worksheets
Pair the printed pages with a hands-on idea, and the vocabulary sticks:
- Costume design: use the writing prompt to design a dream costume and draw it in the picture box.
- Pumpkin math: weigh a pumpkin, guess the number of seeds and count them.
- Safe trick-or-treat: make a safety checklist: a flashlight, a grown-up and bright clothes.
- Halloween bingo: play with candy corn or small pumpkins as counters.
- Pumpkin acrostic: write PUMPKIN down the page and add a describing word for each letter.
A note for families and teachers
Some families do not celebrate Halloween. The activities use only the common vocabulary, and you can use the fall worksheets for a similar harvest theme.
How to use these Halloween worksheets in five minutes
The halloween worksheets maker works from the 24-word Halloween list, so whichever page you print uses the same words. Choose an activity, set the level and press Download PDF or Print, and press New puzzles for a fresh set.
Halloween worksheets: frequently asked questions
When is Halloween?
Halloween is on October 31 every year.
Where does Halloween come from?
It grew from the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian All Hallows’ Eve, and later mixed with customs from Ireland, Scotland and North America.
Are these Halloween worksheets scary?
No. The words and pictures are friendly: pumpkins, cats, bats and ghosts. They are suitable for young children.
Halloween printables: find the right page
Halloween bingo
The halloween bingo has 5 by 5 cards with a free space and all 24 Halloween words. Print 2 to 30 different cards with a caller sheet, then call the words and cover them.
Halloween word search printable
The halloween word search printable comes in easy, medium and hard grids with 10, 14 and 18 words, and an answer key page for each, so one sheet can suit a whole class.
Halloween bingo printable
The halloween bingo printable has 5 by 5 cards with a free space and all 24 Halloween words. Print 2 to 30 different cards with a caller sheet, then call the words and cover them.
More holiday worksheets
- Fall worksheets
- Thanksgiving worksheets
- Diwali worksheets
- All holiday worksheets for 22 holidays and seasons
- Word search generator for your own words
- Bingo card generator for custom cards