Fall is such a fun season. We welcome the cooler air, the change of the leaves, and nights spent by the fire. Fall is also the beginning of the holiday season. Halloween is first up on the list. I love to celebrate for the entire month of October to really get my kids in the spirit. There are so many fun, spooky ways to amp up your lessons. Decorating your classroom can really set the mood for all of your Halloween fun too! Let's dive right into some fun first grade Halloween math activities.
First Grade Math
Teaching first grade math can be exciting. There are many new skills to introduce and reinforce throughout the year along with old skills to review. The four main first grade math standards include:
- Operations and Algebraic Thinking
- Number and Operations in Base Ten
- Measurement Data
- Geometry
You should focus most of your instructional time on addition and subtraction strategies, understanding whole numbers and place value, understanding measurements, and creating geometric shapes. While teaching these skills, it is important to change up your teaching methods to keep your students interested and engaged. This is where the fun comes in! Incorporate holidays into your lessons and your kiddos will be begging for more! These fun Halloween math activities are a few of my favorites.
Fun Halloween Math Activities
Halloween just might be one of the most fun holidays to celebrate. There's something about the spookiness mixed with make believe characters that make this mystical holiday exciting. We know that kids will start planning and counting down for Halloween weeks in advance. The closer it gets, the harder it is for them to focus in the classroom. Instead of fighting against that excitement, I like to use it to help increase engagement. I've found math to be the perfect place to sprinkle in the spooky fun in my classroom.
By incorporating fun Halloween themes like pumpkins, bats, spiders, and candy students turn their Halloween excitement into learning excitement. That's a win!
Here's some fun Halloween math activities that will keep your students engaged right up to the big day!
Halloween Problem Solving
The Halloween Problem Solving resource is a great place to start. Your students will have fun understanding the different ways in which word problems can be presented.
Practice problems include things like:
- Picture Models
- Tell About the Picture
- Write About the Picture
- Draw a Picture
- Use a Ten Frame
- Use a Bar Model
Your students will sharpen their critical thinking and problem solving skills with practice problems including joining-sum-unknown, separating-difference-unknown, and part-part-whole-whole-unknown.
Place Value- Halloween Style
First graders need daily number sense practice, and this Halloween Place Value unit gives them just that. They will have the chance to practice understanding place value in several different ways. Your class will dig deeper into numbers and base ten. This will help to build a solid foundation for later when they need to add and subtract two digit numbers.
These 30 pages of Halloween math activities are perfect for whole group instruction, small group rotations, and even distance learning.
Color My Math
Your students will love coloring the haunted house, cauldron, and witch's hat as they practice their math skills.
I love using this product because it provides my students with instant feedback. This really helps my students to work independently which frees me up for small group instruction. These digital color by number activities are interactive, self-correcting, and fun! You can choose between the Google Slides or Google Forms version.
Halloween Number Lines
Number line completion, skip counting, and counting by 2 using a number line are good skills to focus on. This digital version of Halloween Number Lines is a one stop shop. I love this resource because it can be used in any type of learning situation. It's great for math centers in the classroom, distance learning, and hybrid situations.
This digital unit includes numbers up to 100, so you are able to challenge your higher students. I love that this resource is so hands-on and interactive.
Halloween Math Center
Almost every first grade math block contains center time. This is where your students work independently and practice all the skills they have been learning. While our students often describe this as fun and play, we as teachers know the importance of giving students opportunities to put the math into practice. This Free Math Number Sense Center is just what you need to complete your centers for the month of October. All you need to do is print, cut, and place them in a baggie for an easy math center. The resource includes:
- Two puzzles
- Numbers to 20
- Two different sizes
- Practice tally marks
- Number arrangement practice
Your students will love these candy corn puzzles!
Grab These Resources and More
Wouldn't it be nice to have a resource that covered ALL of the first grade math standards and skills for the entire year? I thought so too, so I created this Mega Math Practice Bundle. It includes all of the Halloween activities plus everything else you could hope for. I created it to be easily adaptable to whatever learning situation you may find yourself in. You'll be getting over 2,000 jam packed pages in both print and digital formats. Be sure to check it out!
Looking for more Halloween activities?
If you're looking for even more Halloween activities I have a ton of resources in my TPT store. You can check them all out here.
I hope these fun first grade Halloween math activities get you excited about the season. I know you and your students will enjoy working your way through the math skills while participating in a little bit of spooky fun.
Save These Halloween Math Activities
Save these fun first grade Halloween math activities to your classroom Pinterest board. You never know when you'll need a Halloween activity to engage your students.
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