Halloween Math
Centers
Pumpkin Nim
Directions:
 Players take turns placing one pattern block
piece at a time until the pumpkin is covered.
 The person who fills in the last hexagon wins!
 Play again and change the rules so that the
loser is the one who covers the last hexagon.
Pumpkin Nim Materials


Pattern blocks
Pumpkin Nim pattern
Creepy Crawly Estimation
Directions:
 Select one student to be the “Counter” and one student to be
the “Estimator.”
 The “Counter” should count a number of critters and place
them in the bag. Do not tell the “Estimator” the secret
number.
 The “Estimator” should estimate how many critters are in the
bag. (Be sure to have some critters available to use as a
reference.) They may feel and shake the bag, but they may
not open it. Have the “Estimator” talk about the reasons for
their guess.
 The “Estimator” should then empty the bag of critters and
count them. How close was the estimate?
 Switch roles and repeat the activity.
Creepy Crawly Materials


Paper bags
Black & orange unifix cubes, critters, frogs,
etc. to estimate
Spooky Data Collection
Directions:
 Select a bag of Halloween objects.
 Sort and count the objects in the bag.
 Create a representation to display the data
(chart, table, pictograph, bar graph, etc).
 Extension: Create several questions about
your data display.
Spooky Data Collection Materials





Paper bags
Halloween Objects
Snapping cubes, color cubes, etc.
Paper/recording sheet
Markers, crayons, or colored pencils
Mysterious Counting Bags
Directions:
 Select a bag of Halloween objects.
 Empty the bag and count the objects.
 Record your results.
 Extension: Create your own mystery bag and
exchange with a partner.
Mysterious Counting Bags
Materials




Paper bags
Halloween Objects
Snapping cubes, color cubes, etc.
Paper/recording sheet
Sweet Pictographs
Sara returned from trick-or-treating
with lots of candy. Help Sara sort
her candy. Create a pictograph to
display your results.
Sweet Pictograph Materials


Bucket of candy
Paper/recording sheet
Creepy Counting
Directions:
 Place a handful of pumpkin ghost counters in a cup.
 Shake the counters in the cup and spill them on the
table.
 Look at the counters.
–
–
–


Are there more ghosts?
Are there more pumpkins?
Are the amounts equal?
Record your results. Write a greater than or less
than equation for each time you spill the counters.
Repeat the activity at least more 5 times.
Creepy Counting Materials



Lima beans—one side painted orange with 2
triangles for eyes and a zig zag mouth (Jacko-Lantern face) and one side with 2 black
eyes (Ghost)
Cups
Recording sheet/paper
Haunting Equations
Directions:
 Place a handful of pumpkin ghost counters in a cup.
 Shake the counters in the cup and spill them on the table.
 Create an addition or subtraction equation to show how
many altogether or how many more.
 Record your equations.
 Extension: Create a word problem for each equation.
+
=
6
Haunting Equations Materials



Lima beans—one side painted orange (Jacko-Lantern face) and one side with 2 black
eyes (Ghost)
Cups
Recording sheet/paper
Frightening Patterns
Using the assortment of spooky objects,
create a variety of different patterns.
Record your patterns on the paper provided.
ABAB
ABCABC
AABB
ABBA
ABABBABBB
Frightening Patterns Materials



Halloween stamps
Halloween objects such as bugs, bats,
spiders, leaves, etc.
Sentence strips/recording sheet
Spooky Sorting




Sort the Halloween objects into groups
based on one common attribute.
Can your partner guess the attribute you
selected?
Sort the objects by two attributes and have
your partner guess the attributes you
selected.
Switch roles and repeat the activity.
Spooky Sorting Materials


Materials to sort—leaves, candy, critters
Venn rings
Witchy Weighing




Predict which pumpkin has the greatest
mass.
Place the pumpkins in order, from the
pumpkin with the greatest mass to the
pumpkin with the least mass.
Weigh the pumpkins to determine how close
your predictions were.
Record the mass of each pumpkin.
Witchy Weighing Materials



Balance scale
Weighing objects
Pumpkins of various sizes
Cauldron Capacities




Predict which container has the
greatest capacity.
Place the containers in order, from the
container that will hold the least amount of
liquid to the container that will hold the most.
Find the capacity of each container to
determine how close your predictions were.
Record the capacity of each container.
Cauldron Capacities Materials


Containers of various sizes
Water, rice, or beans for measuring
Measuring Pumpkins




Estimate the height, width, and circumference of the
pumpkin. Cut a piece of string to match each of your
estimates.
Measure the height, width, and circumference of the
pumpkin. Compare the lengths of your string with the
actual measurements of the pumpkin.
How close were your estimates?
Measure the height and width of the pumpkin using
non-standard units. Compare your results.
Measuring Pumpkins Materials




Pumpkin
String
Scissors
Non-standard units—paper clips, cubes, etc.
Witches’ Stew
Create your own concoction by filling a bag
with your favorite goodies.
–
–
–
–
–
–
Dragon Scales
Shriveled Spiders
Troll Eyes
Rat Toenails
Witch Teeth
Vampire Blood
Witches’ Stew Materials
Dragon Scales—Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Shriveled Spiders—Raisins
Troll Eyes—M & M candy
Rat Toenails—Peanuts
Witch Teeth—Candy Corn
Vampire Blood—Dried Cranberries (Craisins)



Cauldrons/containers
Ziplock bags
Cups or spoons to measure food
Fabulous Fall Ideas
Describe additional ideas you use
in your math class to engage and
motivate your students during
the fall season.