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This homemade oven Chex mix recipe is the perfect party snack, afternoon snack, or anytime snack! This yummy snack mix combines Chex cereal, pretzels, bagel chips, and more in one delicious salty party mix with a crunch!

I'll be the first one to tell you that I'm kind of a Chex Mix addict, really a snack food addict altogether, but Chex Mix is my weakness. It's easily my favorite snack, especially when it's homemade.

And it's not just the original stuff.

I like the cheddar, the peanut version, and even the sweet version. I have since high school when Chex Mix was always my snack of choice. Well that and pizza loaf. There's just something about the combination that makes it the perfect snack.

Now fast forward a few, okay a lot, of years, and while I still like a good handful of store-bought Chex Mix, what I crave is the homemade stuff.

There's just something about homemade Chex Mix and how the flavors all mingle together in a different way that is so satisfying. And while some people like the microwave version, I personally prefer this oven Chex Mix recipe because everything gets all nice and crunchy!

Why You'll Love This Recipe

This homemade Chex Mix is similar to the store-bought kind but with stronger flavors and more of my favorites! It's my favorite (and hopefully will be yours) because:

1. It uses both rye and regular bagel chips and those are the best part of the mix anyway! Combine these with the other snack items and this is easily my favorite mix I've ever tried!

2. I've amped up the flavoring a bit compared to a traditional Chex Mix recipe so every bite has flavor!

3. Baking it in the oven (versus the microwave) really lets the flavors get into the snacks while still staying crispy rather than a bit soggy. It also makes it super easy to increase the number of servings and make huge batches of this delicious snack!

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

Chex cereal - while you can technically just make this with one or two kind of Chex cereal, it's much better with the combinational of all three. I recommend using equal amounts of Rice Chex, Corn Chex, and Wheat Chex. You'll need three cups rice chex, 3 cups wheat chex, and. 3 cups of corn chex.

Seasoned salt - this recipe is based on using Lowry's seasoned salt.

Butter - since this is already a salty recipe (especially with the salty pretzels), use unsalted butter for this one.

Chips - I really like the combination of both bagel chips and rye chips in this, crunched up into small bite size pieces. If you can't find one or the other, you can use one but both is better to get the best crunchy snack mix possible.

How to Make Homemade Chex Mix

This homemade Chex Mix recipe is super easy to make! It does take a bit of time to make, but that's simply because you're going to roast the mixture in the oven for about an hour.

The actual making of the snack mix is super easy and quick! So let's talk making homemade Chex Mix in the oven! Or if you're more of a visual person, watch the video below!

1 - Mix All Your Crunchy Ingredients

Mix all of your snack items - different kinds of chex, pretzels, rye chips, and bagel chips in a large bowl. Make sure it's large enough that you'll be able to add the seasoning and mix it all together without everything falling out.

Or even better, if you have a large aluminum roasting pan - put it in that.

2 - Make the Seasoning

Melt butter either in the microwave in a microwave-safe bowl or on the stove in a small saucepan.

Combine the melted butter, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and seasoned salt in a bowl until well combined.

3 - Combine the Mixtures

Add the butter mixture to the bowl or pan of snack items and stir around until all of the snack items are coated.

If you're using a roasting pan, you're all ready to put the Chex Mix in the oven. If not, I like to line a large baking sheet with parchment paper then pour the snack mix in a single layer over the prepared baking sheet for baking.

If you have more than a single layer, pour the extra on a second prepped baking sheet.

4 - Bake the oven chex mix

Bake in a 250 degree oven for about an hour, removing from the oven to stir the mixture around every 15 minutes.

Stirring will help the seasoning evenly distribute and make sure all the cereal mix dries and gets crunchy and baking at a low heat for an extended period of time helps keep everything from burning while it soaks up all that seasoning.

5 - Cool and Serve

Remove from the oven. If using a baking sheet, simply remove the parchment paper liner and place it on the counter to allow it to cool.

If using a roasting pan, place cereal mixture on a piece of parchment paper to cool for about 15 minutes.

Enjoy immediately after cooled! Or store in a Ziploc bag or airtight container for up to a week. This is one of my favorite things to bring for road trip snacks, just pass out little individual bags to everyone (or keep it all to yourself).

Expert Tips

Break up the bagel and rye chips it small pieces so they go further in the snack mix and you get some in almost every bite.

Get the smallest pretzels you can find since they're the biggest part of this snack mix. The smaller the pretzel, the better they fit into this mix.

Substitute other snack items if there are things you may not like, just make sure to keep measurements (e.g., 1 cup of Cheerios for 1 cup of the Chex) the same. If you add in other things rather than substituting them, the seasoning measurements will be off.

Make a double batch and give some to friends with one of these fun gift tags!

Pour a little bit of a seasoning into the mixture at a time, stir, then pour some more. This will help coat all of the cereal mixture without one portion ending up soggy and over flavored.

Recipe FAQs

How long does homemade Chex Mix last?

If you store it in an airtight container, this homemade Chex Mix can last up to four weeks, if it lasts that long.

Is it cheaper to make your own Chex Mix?

It's not necessarily cheaper to make your own Chex Mix unless you already have all of the ingredients on hand and want to use them up. So the first time it'll be more expensive for sure but making second and third batches can be cheaper. It is however delicious, easier to control what goes in it, and a fun change from the traditional bagged stuff.

Why is my homemade Chex Mix soggy?

If you poured all of the seasoning on one section of the mixture, it may end up soggy. If it's soggy, you can always put it back in the oven for an additional 15 minutes and hope it'll dry it out a bit.

Can Chex Mix be frozen?

Yes, you can store in freezer-friendly bags in the freezer for up to six months. However, I prefer it fresh and recommend just making another fresh batch over freezing. If you do want to freeze, put the chex mix into a freezer-safe container or bag and freeze.

More Easy Snacks

Homemade Chex Mix

This yummy oven Chex Mix combines Chex cereal, pretzels, bagel chips, and more in one delicious salty party mix!

If you do not have a roasting pan, line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. If you have a large metal roasting pan, no need to line with parchment paper.

Mix all of your snack items - cereal, pretzels, rye chips, and bagel chips in a large bowl.

Combine melted butter, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and seasoned salt in a bowl until well combined.

Add butter mixture to the cereal mixture, a little bit at a time, stirring it in to evenly combine.

Pour coated cereal in large roasting pan or on the parchment lined baking sheet. Shake quickly to let cereal mixture settle into a layer.

Bake in oven for 1 hour, stirring the mixture every 15 minutes. If mixture is still soggy after 1 hour, add 15 more minutes.

Remove from oven, remove from pan and cool on the piece of parchment paper. If using a roasting pan, lay out on pieces of paper towels or parchment paper to cool for 15 minutes.

Enjoy immediately or up to four weeks, stored in an airtight container.

Pour a little bit of a seasoning into the mixture at a time, stir, then pour some more. This will help coat all of the cereal mixture without one portion ending up soggy and over flavored.

Substitute other snack items if there are things you may not like, just make sure to keep measurements (e.g., 1 cup of Cheerios for 1 cup of the Chex) the same. If you add in other things rather than substituting them, the seasoning measurements will be off.

Get the smallest pretzels you can find since they're the biggest part of this snack mix. The smaller the pretzel, the better they fit into this mix.

Break up the bagel and rye chips it small pieces so they go further in the snack mix and you get some in almost every bite.

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This homemade Chex Mix combines Chex cereal, popular snack items, and yummy seasonings. Bake it in the oven for the perfect snack mix!

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This yummy fall snack mix combines fall flavors, fall colors, and pumpkins in a delicious snack the entire family will enjoy! The sweet and salty ingredients create the perfect combination for the ultimate fall snack!

If you hadn't guessed already from my homemade chex mix and my trail mix cookies, I'm a big fan of snack mixes. Especially when those snack mixes include a little sweet and a little salty like this fall snack mix does! This one is kind of like a fall harvest Chex Mix if you want to give it a name other than fall snack mix!

There's just something about grabbing a handful of a snack and getting all sorts of different tastes and textures in one handful.

And this snack mix is perfect for fall because not only does it have fall ingredients like candy corn and pumpkins, but it also looks just like fall with its brown, orange, and yellow color!

I love to make up a big batch for my family to eat and then give half of it away with some of these Thanksgiving gift tags as a little thank you gift to neighbors and friends!

Plus, it's a super easy recipe so you can make it last minute if people are coming over for one of these fall parties or even a Halloween party (though it's more fall than Halloween themed). If you want a Halloween themed snack mix, try these dirt worms muddy buddies instead!

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Just mix - it's not really a recipe at all other than a list of ingredients, it's really as simple as mixing all of the items together to get the perfect sweet and salty snack mix!

Fall color - I mentioned it already but this is just a pretty snack mix to look at if you're a fan of fall parties! The colors look just like I would imagine a fall picture looking like! It actually matches one of my favorite fall color palettes!

Keeps well - this fall snack mix keeps really well as long as you keep it out of the heat (includes chocolate!). All of the ingredients in it will store for a while, making it a great snack to make once and eat for a while! Just make a big batch then pull some out any time yu need a fun snack or fall treat!

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

Since this recipe is really all about the ingredients and not the instructions, here are some more details about my recommendations for what to use in this snack mix!

Chex Mix - while I like to use Chex Mix in this recipe, you could also just use a combination of a variety of different Chex cereal since you're already doing chocolate covered pretzels as well. And there really is such thing as too many pretzels, unless they're these homemade pretzel bites!

Also, I used original Chex Mix, but I've tried this with the cheesy Chex Mix as well and that works too, plus the cheese flavor works well with the caramel corn! I've also use a combo of Rice Chex and Corn Chex - also a good option!

Candy corn and pumpkins - you can either grab the fall mix that comes with regular candy corn, chocolate candy corn, and candy pumpkins or just buy your favorite of the three and add them in. I like the combo of all three but know some people don't love the chocolate candy corn that normally comes in Harvest snack mix.

Or if you don't like candy corn or know someone who isn't a candy corn fan, you can always omit the candy corn mix all together but it really does give this easy snack mix a fall vibe!

Caramel popcorn - I used just regular boxed Crunch & Munch caramel popcorn in this, but you could totally use any sort of caramel popcorn or even Kettle corn you want! Or if you don't want sweet and would prefer a little more salty, you could go with cheddar popcorn instead!

Peanut butter cups - this is best with the mini Reese's peanut butter cups that are already unwrapped (those are also really good in this peanut butter pie) because they're smaller than normal cups! And small things are best in a snack mix!

But if you can't find those, you can always just cut up peanut butter cups or omit the Reese's peanut butter cups and increase the amount of Reese's Pieces instead.

Chocolate chips - I used white in my mix but you could easily use white, milk, and/or dark chocolate chips. I just like the white for the pop of color! Another good option if you don't want to do more chocolate but still want the white color would be mini marshmallows!

Chocolate covered pretzels - same as the chocolate chips, you can use any combination of white, milk, and dark chocolate pretzels in this. I like using at least white plus one other for a good variety of colors!

Reese's Pieces - these are the perfect choice for this fall snack mix simply because they're naturally colored like fall! You could also substitute or add fall colored M&Ms, Sixlets, or any other colored chocolate candies as well.

Other Fall Snack Mix Ingredients

You could also try any of these yummy snack items in this mix! They're the right color, right size, and right flavor - sweet and salty!

Bugles

Mini Ritz crackers

Regular popcorn or cheddar popcorn

Crispix

Honey Nut Cheerios

Mini Rolos

Mini marshmallows

Cheez-Itz or Cheese Nips (my personal favorite)

Nuts

Goldfish

Butterscotch chips

How to make a fall snack mix

The best thing about this snack mix is that there's no cooking, no seasoning, no real anything to it.

All you have to do is mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl until they're well combined. Since the Chex Mix is the main salty component of this festive treat, I tend to add more Chex Mix than the other ingredients to maintain the balance of salty and sweet.

Using the ratios included in the recipe card at the bottom of this post, determine how much you'll need depending on if you're filling a large jar, a small bowl, or individual bags.

I made this snack mix for one of our fall movie nights and to fill a medium bowl I used:

3 cups original Chex Mix

1 cup caramel corn

1. cup chocolate covered pretzels

1/2 cup Reese's Pieces

1/2 cup mini Reese's Peanut Butter cups (like the really little ones, not just miniatures)

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup candy corn mixture (my kids favorite part of course)

You can make it how I did or mix and match with different snacks and ratios. It's totally up to you.

Everything in my recipe tastes good together so it doesn't really matter if you have too much or too little of anything. It's an autumn snack mix full of fall snacks - so if you stick with that, you'll be golden!

Or you could do a tray and make it more like a Halloween dessert board where people can pick and choose their favorites to make their own fall mix - your choice!

Or just put it all on a tray and mix it up on the tray and let people scoop out their own. Doing the tray compared to a bowl lets them see where all of their favorites are before scooping!

People are a little particular about their snack mixes.

Using a tray also means all those little candies won't just sink right to the bottom, although everyone knows the best part of a snack mix is the bottom!

Expert Tips & Storage Info

Balance the salty with the sweet. For every sweet ingredient you add, add a salty (or at least neutral) one as well so the snack mix doesn't get too sweet or too salty.

Serve individual cups of the snack mix rather than in a large bowl if you're having a large party and worried about germs.

Pack snack mix up in mason jars, snack boxes, or other treat containers and add a bow and a tag to send this home as party favor or to gift to friends and family! Individual bags of this sweet and salty gift make a great gift for the fall, maybe one of the best hostess gifts if you know that person likes salty snacks!

Store the snack mix in an airtight container for up to two weeks, snacking on it whenever you want, and just making sure to seal the airtight container again.

Snack Mix FAQs

How do I store the leftovers?

Store the leftovers in an airtight container like zipper top bag, a large jar, or a large bowl with a lid. This will keep all of the ingredients fresh and crisp just like you want in the best snack mixes!

Can I mix and match other ingredients?

The best part about this fall snack mix is that you can add and subtract any ingredients you want as long as they are in the same sweet and salty profile. I also recommend sticking with ingredients that are dry ingredients so nothing moist, liquidy, or otherwise that will change the texture and storage of this fall snack mix.

Can you freeze the leftovers?

I've never had this fall snack mix stick around long enough to freeze, so I've never actually tried it. If for some reason you have a lot of leftovers, by all means try and freeze it. Let me know how it turns out!

More Easy Fall Treats

If you like this fall snack mix, you'll love these other yummy sweet and salty fall recipes!

Cream cheese pumpkin dip - this sweet and creamy dip is perfect paired with salty pretzels, gingersnaps, and fruit!

Pumpkin crunch cake - pumpkin layered with cake and salty nuts give this pumpkin crunch cake a delicious sweet and salty flavor!

Bacon brie bites - a little bit of salty bacon combined with creamy brie and a honey topping make these a sweet appetizer for any fall occasion!

Pecan pie bars - pecan pie but in bar form, all on top of a delicious shortbread crust! These are heavenly!

Pumpkin cheesecake bars - creamy pumpkin layer on top of a gingerbread graham crust makes these the ultimate Thanksgiving dessert!

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and serve.

3 cups Original Chex Mix, 1/2 cup Reese's Mini Unwrapped, 1/2 cup Brach's Autumn Mix candy, 1/2 cup Reese's Pieces, 1 cup chocolate covered pretzels, 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 1 cup Crunch & Munch caramel popcorn

Chex Mix - while I like to use Chex Mix in this recipe, you could also just use a combination of a variety of different Chex cereal since you're already doing chocolate covered pretzels as well.

Also, I used original Chex Mix, but I've tried this with the cheesy Chex Mix as well and that works too, plus the cheese flavor works well with the caramel corn! I've also use a combo of Rice Chex and Corn Chex - also a good option!

Candy corn and pumpkins - you can either grab the fall mix that comes with regular candy corn, chocolate candy corn, and candy pumpkins or just buy your favorite of the three and add them in. I like the combo of all three but know some people don't love the chocolate candy corn that normally comes in Harvest snack mix.

Or if you don't like candy corn or know someone who isn't a candy corn fan, you can always omit the candy corn mix all together but it really does give this easy snack mix a fall vibe!

Caramel popcorn - I used just regular boxed Crunch & Munch caramel popcorn in this, but you could totally use any sort of caramel popcorn or even Kettle corn you want! Or if you don't want sweet and would prefer a little more salty, you could go with cheddar popcorn instead!

Peanut butter cups - this is best with the mini Reese's peanut butter cups that are already unwrapped (those are also really good in this peanut butter pie) because they're smaller than normal cups! And small things are best in a snack mix!

But if you can't find those, you can always just cut up peanut butter cups or omit the Reese's peanut butter cups and increase the amount of Reese's Pieces instead.

Chocolate chips - I used white in my mix but you could easily use white, milk, and/or dark chocolate chips. I just like the white for the pop of color! Another good option if you don't want to do more chocolate but still want the white color would be mini marshmallows!

Chocolate covered pretzels - same as the chocolate chips, you can use any combination of white, milk, and dark chocolate pretzels in this. I like using at least white plus one other for a good variety of colors!

Reese's Pieces - these are the perfect choice for this fall snack mix simply because they're naturally colored like fall! You could also substitute or add fall colored M&Ms, Sixlets, or any other colored chocolate candies as well.

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This yummy fall snack mix incorporates fall colors, textures, and flavors in a sweet and salty mix that's perfect for enjoying in the fall!

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Love Butterbeer but can't get to Universal Studios? Make your own homemade butterbeer with this quick and easy recipe for some fun Harry Potter refreshments right at home!

My family is a bit obsessed with Harry Potter. My oldest son and I read the entire Harry Potter series together over the past two years and watched all of the movies (my son might've closed his eyes during a lot of Prisoner of Azkaban but still...). We're pretty huge Harry Potter fans.

If you asked my son his favorite books, I can guarantee one of them would be a Harry Potter one.

We're annual passholders to Universal Studios Florida and pretty obsessed with all of the different butterbeer options (and other drinks) you can get in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

But we can't go as often as we want since we don't live nearby, so I thought it would be fun to recreate the sweet drink at home!

So make up your own batch of this tasty drink and pretend you're back in Harry Potter world for a minute or two! This would also be perfect to go along with playing these Harry Potter games and reading the Harry Potter books for Harry Potter's birthday in July!

At some point I want to talk about how incredible Diagon Alley is, especially for fans of J.K. Rowling's books but for now, let's get to this homemade butterbeer recipe so you can pretend your at the theme park at home!

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Kid-friendly - just like the real thing in the Universal Parks, this is a non alcoholic recipe that's perfect for Harry Potter lovers of any age!

Taste of butterbeer - this butter beer recipe has that distinct butterscotch and caramel flavor that you get from regular butterbeer in the parks.

Easy recipe - the best part of this recipe is that it's super simple to make! It's just a matter of combining a couple of ingredients together then topping with homemade whipped topping!

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

Cream soda - I highly recommend regular cream soda, not diet cream soda, so you can get the full flavor of the drink. You also want to make sure that the cream soda is well chilled before you add it to this sweet drink!

Butterscotch topping - I just used butterscotch syrup like you would put on ice cream. This gives it that nice butterscotch flavor that you get at Universal Orlando. You could also use your own butterscotch sauce, but I can't promise you'll get the real taste of the butterbeer since I've never tried your sauce. If you can't find butterscotch topping, caramel topping works as well.

Butter extract - you could technically skip this, but it really adds to the flavor of this drink. I ordered mine on Amazon here but they also have them in grocery stores as well.

Heavy cream - make sure your heavy cream is nice and cold before you try to make the whipped cream for these drinks. I also recommend chilling the bowl and beaters for your electric mixer but that's just to help the process go faster, not absolutely essential.

How to make Universal Studios Butterbeer

This easy butterbeer recipe is so simple to make, it almost seems silly to give you step by step instructions but if I don't, I'll probably forget something, so here goes!

This is one of my favorite things and such a delicious treat, I can't wait for you all to make it!

1 - Make the whipped cream

First make your whipped cream by whipping the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. This will likely take a few minutes (less time if you chilled everything) so be patient.

Once the soft peaks have formed, slowly beat in the powdered sugar until well combined. This is the whipped topping that will go on top of the butter beer recipe.

2 - Make the Cold Butterbeer

Next, pour one cup of cream soda to a large pitcher or a punch bowl and whisk in five tablespoons butterscotch topping and two tablespoons of butter extract. Mix these together well to let the flavors really combine together before you dilute it with the rest of the cream soda.

Once that's mixed well, gradually add the rest of the cream soda to the punch bowl and stir to combine.

3 - Finish the Harry Potter Butterbeer Recipe

To finis the butterbeer, pour cream soda mixture into 8 ounce glasses until they're about 3/4 full. If you're not using whipped topping, you could fill them up more, but you really want to leave some room for the whipped cream without the drink spilling all over the place!

Then to get the true wizarding world feel, top them with piped whipped cream topping. You can either pipe it on or just use a large spoon or ice cream scoop to add a good portion to the top of the butterbeer.

Finish it off with a little bit of butterscotch topping drizzled on top to give it that real authentic look!

This will make them look and feel like the real deal, not just a homemade version! Then serve chilled and enjoy while you're watching a Harry Potter movie marathon (don't forget Fantastic Beasts).

Make a Frozen Version

If you're more of a fan of the frozen butterbeer, then I've got two simple ways that you can turn this popular drink into the frozen version to drink at home!

1. Put the cream soda into the freezer for a couple of hours before you mix it into the other ingredients. This will give you a nice slushy cream soda that will give you a frozen version of this homemade butterbeer.

2. Place three cups of the cream soda, butterscotch, and butter extract mixture into a freezer bag. Carefully remove all the excess air from the bag then place that into another freezer bag. Fill the outside freezer bag halfway full with ice cubes and a tablespoon of salt (similar to how people make homemade ice cream in a bag). Wrap all of this in a towel and shake/squeeze the bag for 5-10 minutes until the drink becomes slushy.

Expert Tips

Make butterscotch whipped cream by replacing the powdered sugar in the whipped cream with 1/4 cup of the butterscotch topping. This will give you a creamy butterscotch whipped cream instead of the natural flavor.

Make the whipped cream up to a day ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until ready to serve. Make the drink right before you're ready to serve it and top with the whipped cream - it's not great as a make ahead drink.

Serve this with some chocolate frogs and homemade treacle tarts for some really fun birthday parties for Harry Potter lovers! It'll be just like you're at your very own Three Broomsticks Inn or the Leaky Cauldron (your choice).

Recipe FAQs

What if I don't have butter extract?

You can omit the butter extract if you can find it or add additional butterscotch topping to make up for the lost flavor. I do not recommend using another extract or melted butter in its place because it just won't have that same butterbeer flavor.

Can kids drink butterbeer?

This butterbeer recipe is non alcoholic and great for kids to enjoy! It does have cream soda, which is carbonated, so if your kids are not used to that, I recommend just giving them a little bit to start.

Can you freeze butterbeer?

I do not recommend freezing the butterbeer mixture as written in this recipe. If you're looking for frozen butterbeer, the best way to make that is explained in the make a frozen version section above. The good news is that this is a really yummy drink when frozen properly, but don't just try to stick it in the freezer and hope for the best.

More Harry Potter Fun

If you like this DIY butterbeer recipe, you should try it out while playing some of these fun Harry Potter games!

Harry Potter trivia questions - easy and challenging Harry Potter trivia questions and answers, great for everyone from house elves to wizards!

Harry Potter scavenger hunt - clues based on the books that will lead to a fun Harry Potter surprise (maybe even this delicious drink and some Harry Potter goodies).

Harry Potter would you rather - tons of would you rather questions inspired by your favorite Harry Potter questions!

Harry Potter charades - act out your favorite characters and Harry Potter inspired words (like pumpkin juice and Hogwarts) in this fun game!

Harry Potter danger word game - a Harry Potter inspired version of the hilarious game where you have to get a friend to guess a word without guessing the danger word!

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The best homemade butterbeer recipe, this Harry Potter drink tastes just like the one you get at Universal Studios! Plus, it's easy to make!

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This striped delight recipe is four layers of delicious all in one dish. With a sweet graham cracker crust, a creamy cream cheese layer, and chocolate filling, it's a yummy layered dessert that will satisfy every sweet tooth.
You've all heard or been asked the question, if you had to choose your last meal, what would it be right?

For me, the answer is always the same. My last meal would be pizza loaf and striped delight.

It might be for nostalgic reasons because those are both classic recipes my mom has been making my entire life, and I associate them with all the good things in my childhood.

But it's also because both recipes are absolutely delicious, and I'd die a happy woman if those were the last two things I ever get to taste.

What is Striped Delight?

Striped delight is the best layer dessert ever. It's a combination of four layers - a graham cracker crust, a sweet cream cheese layer, chocolate pudding, and a whipped cream layer top it all off.

It's four layers of amazing creamy flavor that work together in a way I've never found in other desserts. And it's a vintage recipe from like the 80s when my mom started making this.

If you like chocolate and sweet things, you're going to love this. You'd probably also love this Snickers poke cake.

Striped Delight Ingredients

You're likely to have most of these ingredients already on hand if you do any baking at all. If not, you can find any of them readily available at your local grocery store!

Here's everything you'll need to make this striped delight recipe.

2 cups graham cracker crumbs - you can either buy these pre-made or make your own by putting graham crackers in the food processor until crumbly

6 TBS butter - melted

1/2 cup sugar - this will be split between the crust and the cream cheese layer

8 oz cream cheese - softened or at room temperature

3 1/2 cups cold milk - this will be split between the cream cheese filling and the pudding

2 pkgs (8 servings) instant chocolate pudding - make sure this is instant chocolate pudding, not the stuff that has to set for hours

8 oz Cool Whip - this has to be Cool Whip, don't try to substitute it with fresh whipped topping or the spray kind of whipped cream, it just doesn't work the same

Chocolate bar (optional) - if you want to add a bit fancier look, you can shave chocolate on top once it's done

How to Make Striped Delight

One of my favorite things about striped delight is that it's super easy to make. And you can make it the night before, hours before, or right before and it's still delicious.

It's kind of the perfect dessert for taking to a party or feeding a crowd.

Watch the video in this post to see how it's made! And make sure to read the recipe card at the bottom of this post for even more details and specifics.

1 - Make your graham cracker crust

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and 1/4 cup of the sugar in a large bowl. Mix together until it forms a nice thick crumbly layer.

Press the graham cracker crumb mixture onto the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish to create a crust. Make sure it's spread out in an even layer and pressed down slightly so it forms a crust.

2 - Make the chocolate pudding

Mix 3 1/4 cups of cold milk with the instant chocolate pudding packets using a whisk. Mix until well combined then put in the fridge to chill.

If you used instant pudding like the directions said, you'll have a nice thick chocolate pudding ready in about five minutes. Work on the rest of the striped delight while the pudding is setting.

3 - Make the cream cheese layer

Combine the cream cheese, other 1/4 cup sugar, and 2 tablespoons milk with a mixer until the cream cheese mixture is smooth. If you use cream cheese that is too cold, you may end up with chunks of cream cheese instead of a smooth layer. It'll still taste okay, it'll just have a different texture than normal.

Once the mixture is smooth, fold in half of the Cool Whip (so about 4 oz) into the mixture with a spatula until smooth.

Put the cream cheese layer on top of the graham cracker crust in the baking dish. Spread out until you have one even layer.

4 - Add the chocolate pudding

Once your chocolate pudding is set, pour the chocolate pudding layer over the cream cheese layer, using a spatula to move it around to get an even layer.

Don't overdo the chocolate pudding layer, just make a thick layer all over then move on. You may have extra chocolate pudding and that's okay, just enjoy it as a snack later!

If you're planning to serve the striped delight now, continue to step five below. If you're not, let the striped delight chill in the fridge until you're ready to serve.

It's best served after refrigerated for a few hours, but I've been known to eat it immediately and the taste is still great - it's just not quite as chilled.

5 - Add Cool Whip and chocolate shavings on top

Finish the striped delight by adding the remaining Cool Whip on top in an even layer.

Then use the chocolate bar and shave large pieces of chocolate on top to finish it off. Or don't, if you'd rather just serve plain!

6 - Slice and serve

Slice into squares and serve chilled.

How to Store Striped Delight

Striped delight is best stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container or in the same baking dish with an airtight lid like this one. Enjoy within a week then throw away anything left (not likely).

I've only ever frozen striped delight once and that was a total accident where it got left outside at my parent's house in a cabinet on their porch area and we forgot about it. We found it a month later frozen and didn't eat it.

I don't recommend freezing it, especially since it's so easy to make fresh.

More Easy Desserts

Don't forget to pin this striped delight recipe for later!

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This striped delight recipe combines a graham cracker crust with a sweet cream cheese layer, chocolate layer, and a whipped cream layer to finish it off!

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These cream cheese sugar cookies are light, fluffy, and absolutely delicious! Make a batch, freeze half, and enjoy yummy sugar cookies all year long!
My son doesn't like chocolate so even though I personally would love to eat all the chocolate chip pudding cookies and brownie balls, he won't touch any of it.

But he does love sugar cookies (and snickerdoodles...) - any and all sugar cookies. I've already shared my favorite cut out sugar cookies, easy sugar cookies bites, and just last week my favorite sugar cookie icing.

Today I'm sharing these delicious cream cheese sugar cookies because well you can never have too many sugar cookie recipes right?

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Cream cheese base - the cream cheese in these cookies makes them super creamy and soft (if creamy cookies is a thing).

Great for cutting out - this super simple recipe is perfect for making cut out sugar cookies as well.

Kid-friendly - not only do kids love these cookies, they also love helping to make the dough AND to cut out the cookies before they bake!

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

Cream cheese - make sure the cream cheese is softened before you start making your cookie dough. I recommend taking it out of the fridge for about an hour before mixing or if you're in a pinch, sometimes I'll heat it up in the oven for just a minute or two until softened.

Butter - I always recommend using high-quality butter when butter is such a key ingredient in a recipe like it is in these cookies. Also, make sure the butter is softened as well. Take it out at the same time you take out the cream cheese.

Instructions

Like I mentioned before, these cream cheese sugar cookies are super easy to make. Almost as easy as these orange sugar cookies!

Using a hand or stand mixer, whip the butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. This is why it's important to make sure your butter is soft - it won't mix as well if the butter is cold.

Next add sugar, salt, egg, and vanilla and mix well, then slowly add the flour and baking powder and mix until fully incorporated.

Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Or if you'd rather, you could just place the each half in a plastic zipper bag and place it in the refrigerator, the plastic wrap just tends to be a little less expensive.

Once the dough is chilled, preheat your oven to 375°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sprinkle your working surface and dough with a little flour (or powered sugar).

Working with one half at a time (leave the other half in the fridge), roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick using a rolling pin.

Use a cookie cutter to cut shapes into your dough. If needed, re-roll out dough until all dough is used. Try your best to place the cookie cutters as close to the edges as possible.

If the dough starts getting soft, place it back in the fridge to chill for a few minutes.

Place cut dough on prepared baking sheet, keeping the cookies at least an inch apart to allow them to spread slightly.

Bake cutout cookies at 375 for 8-9 minutes or until edges start to get slightly brown. Do not over bake.

Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before moving to a cooling rack.

Once the cookies are cooled, frost them with this sugar cookie icing or your favorite frosting. Decorate immediately after frosting if using the icing mentioned above as it dries quickly.

Let icing set for a few minutes before enjoying the cookies! If you're planning to freeze these cookies, I recommend freezing before frosted.

Expert Tips

Work with half of the dough at a time so that the dough stays chilled and doesn't get too soft.

Put the cookies in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes before baking if the dough gets soft while cutting them out.

Use a gallon size plastic bag to refrigerate the dough if you don't have plastic wrap available. Plastic wrap is just a much cheaper option.

Enjoy cookies within five days or freeze using instructions in the FAQs section below.

Recipe FAQs

Can you use cream cheese instead of butter in cookies?

Cream cheese and butter are totally different so no, you cannot replace the butter in cookies with more cream cheese.

Do you cut sugar cookies before or after baking?

Cut the sugar cookies out before baking. Or if you want to freeze the dough, freeze it in plastic wrap and then an airtight freezer container like a zipper bag in the freezer for up to six months. Let the dough thaw before cutting out into shapes for baking.

Can you freeze cream cheese sugar cookies?

This dough freezes great. You can either freeze the cookies after baked or use the instructions above to freeze the dough before baking. To freeze individual cookies, simply place cookies in an airtight container then place in the freezer. When you're ready to eat, remove from the freezer and allow to thaw until they reach room temperature and enjoy.

Do baked cream cheese cookies need refrigeration?

You do not need to refrigerate these cookies since the amount of cream cheese in the cookies is fairly minimal.

More Easy Cookies

Chocolate Rolo cookies - chocolate chip cookies with a Rolo stuffed in the middle. Pretty much amazing!

Snickers cookies - if Rolo cookies weren't enough, these cookies with mini Snickers inside are a great option for peanut butter lovers!

Cherry cheesecake cookies - sugar cookies topped with cherry cheesecake filling and drizzled with a sweet glaze.

Moon pie recipe - homemade moon pies that taste just like, if not better, than the store bought ones!

Chocolate whoopie pies - two soft cookies sandwiched around a fluffy vanilla filling.

Cookies

Icing

Cookies

Using hand or stand mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese.

Add sugar, salt, egg, and vanilla to butter/cream cheese mixture and mix well.

Slowly add flour and baking powder and mix well.

Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap then refrigerate for 1 hour.

Once dough is chilled, preheat oven to 375°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly flour working surface and dough.

Roll dough out to 1/4" thickness then cut with a cookie cutters. Place cut dough on prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 8-9 minutes until the bottoms start to brown slightly. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack to finish cooling.

Icing

While cookies are cooling, make the icing by combining powdered sugar, heavy whipping cream, light corn syrup, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons water and mix well. If needed, add 1 - 3 tablespoons more water until icing is desired consistency.

To color icing, use a toothpick to transfer food coloring to icing and mix well until desired color is achieved.

Transfer icing into zippered bag and cut off one corner, then drizzle over cookies and garnish with sprinkles as desired.

Work with half of the dough at a time so that the dough stays chilled and doesn't get too soft.

Put the cookies in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes before baking if the dough gets soft while cutting them out.

Use a gallon size plastic bag to refrigerate the dough if you don't have plastic wrap available. Plastic wrap is just a much cheaper option.

Enjoy cookies within five days or freeze using instructions in the FAQs section below.

Nutrition Note: The nutrition facts for this recipe are calculated for the cookies only, the icing recipe is included for convenience but if you want nutrition facts for that, check out the sugar cookie icing recipe on its own.

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These cream cheese sugar cookies are light, fluffy, and absolutely delicious! Make a batch, freeze half, and enjoy cookies all year long!

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Introducing our recipe for Apple Pie Cookies, where the comforting flavors of traditional apple pie meet the chewy, bite-sized convenience of cookies!

Drizzled with caramel sauce and a sprinkle of sea salt, these cookies are a delightful treat that captures the essence of autumn in every bite.

Trust me, you won't want to miss out on this delicious apple pie cookie recipe. Perfect for fall festivities or the holiday season, these little bites of heaven are a must-try!

Don't have time for this recipe now? Tap the share icon in the bottom right of the screen, then tap the heart icon ♥ to save it for later!

Affiliate Disclosure
I have included affiliate links to useful products and services related to the topic of this post.
This post contains affiliate links, and I will be compensated if you purchase after clicking on my links.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Read Our Full Disclosure Policy
While you may prefer to skip to the recipe card, we suggest reading the entire blog post to avoid missing valuable tips and substitution suggestions and to ensure you have the necessary ingredients, equipment, and understanding of the steps and timings.
Apple Pie Cookies

Apple Pie Cookies are a seasonal treat that turns the goodness of a Classic Apple Pie Recipe into cookie form.

Just imagine a mini apple pies transformed into chewy, golden brown cookies oozing with caramel sauce-YUM!

These apple cookies are versatile and perfect for a variety of settings.

They're a great choice when hosting a fall dinner party, serve them with a simple store-bought scoop of vanilla ice cream on top-or go the extra mile and make our no-churn Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream.

Why not enjoy them with a hot beverage while sat around a campfire? Try our decadent White Chocolate Mocha Recipe, Vanilla Chai Latte, or Slow Cooker Mulled Apple Cider.

From Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas, or just because, these delicious apple pie cookies fit the bill!

Ingredients & Equipment Used In This Recipe

For convenience, this recipe's required ingredients and equipment are linked to online stores like Amazon or Amazon Fresh, if available.

Ingredients Needed For Apple Pie Cookies

The complete list of ingredients with measurements is on the recipe card at the end of this post.
No time to read now? Tap the buttons below to save the recipe to your Pinterest boards or Facebook page for later!
Equipment Needed For This Recipe

The Purple Pumpkin Blog uses both cups and weighted measurements in its recipes, making American cups and kitchen food scales useful tools for trying all the recipes. I provide US customary, imperial, and metric measurements. Still, it's important to note that while you can combine cup measurements with weighted measures, never mix US customary/imperial (pounds, ounces, pints, etc.) with metric (kilograms, grams, liters, etc.).

Dinner Party Menu Suggestions

You've made the dessert, but what about the rest of the courses?

Here are additional recipes to create a menu for a dinner party or special meal:

How Do I Make Salted Caramel Apple Pie Cookies?
The printable recipe card with the ingredients list and instructions can be found at the end of this post.
Number of Servings: 6
Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes

Step 1 - Make Pie Filling: To make the homemade apple pie filling, place the chopped apples, sugar, water, butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a medium saucepan over medium heat until the butter melts. Stir to combine and reduce heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, or until the apple pieces have softened.

Make a slurry in a small bowl with cornstarch and water and pour it into the pan. Stir to combine, and continue to stir for 5 minutes until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature.

Step 2 - Preheat and Prep: Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C/Gas 6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat and set it aside.

Step 3 - Prepare Wet Ingredients: To make the cookie dough, use an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment to cream the butter and sugars on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Step 4 - Prepare Dry Ingredients: Sift or whisk the flour, cake flour, apple pie spice, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt into a large mixing bowl.

Step 5 - Make Cookie Dough: Add the dry ingredients and the caramel bits to the wet ingredients and mix to combine.

Step 6 - Form Cookies: Use a large cookie scoop to scoop out portions of dough, approximately 3½oz/100g. Roll the dough into balls, then flatten them into thin disks.

Use a small cookie scoop to add a scoop of the sweet apple pie filling to the center of half of the flattened dough balls.

Place the other halves of flattened cookie dough on top of the apple-filled ones and roll them together to form dough balls.

Step 7 - Bake Cookies: Place the dough balls onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until the dough is just set and no longer shiny.

Remove the cookies from the oven and leave to cool on the sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Step 8 - Season and Serve: Drizzle the cooled cookies with caramel sauce and a sprinkle of sea salt. Enjoy!

More Apple Recipes

Apples are the hero in this recipe, and if you want some more recipes for apple picking season, try these:

Recipe Tips

For best results, use fresh apples, not canned.

Ensure the cookie dough balls are sealed well to prevent the apple filling from leaking.

For an added bonus, sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top before baking for an extra flavor kick.

Storing Leftovers & Freezing

Storing Leftovers:

Cool (within 1-2 hours), transfer to an airtight container, and store at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Thaw at room temperature before serving.

Freezing Instructions:

For longer storage, freeze in a single layer on a cookie sheet, then transfer to an airtight container.

Label with the dish's name, thawing/reheating instructions, and the date to keep track of your food storage.

Store in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Thaw the cookies at room temperature before serving.

With all leftovers, ensure the food looks and smells okay before consuming.

You can always consult the Food Standards Agency in your country for the most up-to-date advice on storing and freezing foods: Food Standards Agency (UK) | Food Safety (USA).

Printable Apple Pie Cookies Recipe Card

The printable recipe card is below. To save ink, any demonstration photos on the recipe card do not print.

Remember to leave a star rating and review the recipe to share your experience with others!

More Cookie Recipes

Want to make more cookies? Check out these recipes next:

And here are even more Cookie Recipes to try!

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The Best Salted Caramel Apple Pie Cookies Recipe

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Discover the blend of apple pie and cookies with our Apple Pie Cookies. Ideal for fall gatherings, they're filled with caramel apple goodness and offer a unique twist on traditional flavors.

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Pumpkin Pie Mousse Parfaits are the epitome of autumn indulgence! They're perfect for capturing the essence of the fall season with each delicious spoonful.

Pumpkin Pie Mousse Parfaits

With layers of heavenly pumpkin mousse and crumbled ginger snap cookies, this no-bake dessert is just what you need to savor the pumpkin pie spice and real maple syrup flavors.

And guess what? It's an easy recipe, so you don't need to spend hours in the kitchen to enjoy a festive and delicious treat. Let's dive into how you can whip this up in no time!

Don't have time for this recipe now? Tap the share icon in the bottom right of the screen, then tap the heart icon ♥ to save it for later!

Affiliate Disclosure
I have included affiliate links to useful products and services related to the topic of this post.
This post contains affiliate links, and I will be compensated if you purchase after clicking on my links.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Read Our Full Disclosure Policy
While you may prefer to skip to the recipe card, we suggest reading the entire blog post to avoid missing valuable tips and substitution suggestions and to ensure you have the necessary ingredients, equipment, and understanding of the steps and timings.
Pumpkin Dessert Recipe

Let's start by discussing what makes this easy pumpkin mousse recipe irresistible...

The creamy layers are built using simple ingredients available in any grocery store, including heavy whipping cream, cream cheese, and a can of pumpkin puree.

Real maple syrup gives it that extra touch of sweetness, while pumpkin pie spice infuses it with classic fall flavors. And let's not forget the crushed ginger snap cookies for a delightful crunch.

The egg-free pumpkin mousse is also refined-sugar-free, making it a delicious, airy dessert that everyone can enjoy.

These Pumpkin Pie Mousse Parfaits are the perfect dessert for just about any fall gathering.

Planning a cozy Thanksgiving dinner? Or perhaps you're hosting a Halloween or harvest-themed party?

The individual glasses make for a nice presentation, and the pinch of ground cinnamon on top screams holiday season.

You can even enjoy it just because it's that time of year when the taste of pumpkin pie is practically a requirement!

Ingredients & Equipment Used In This Recipe

For convenience, this recipe's required ingredients and equipment are linked to online stores like Amazon or Amazon Fresh, if available.

Ingredients Needed For Pumpkin Pie Mousse

The complete list of ingredients with measurements is on the recipe card at the end of this post.
No time to read now? Tap the buttons below to save the recipe to your Pinterest boards or Facebook page for later!
Equipment Needed For This Recipe

The Purple Pumpkin Blog uses both cups and weighted measurements in its recipes, making American cups and kitchen food scales useful tools for trying all the recipes. I provide US customary, imperial, and metric measurements. Still, it's important to note that while you can combine cup measurements with weighted measures, never mix US customary/imperial (pounds, ounces, pints, etc.) with metric (kilograms, grams, liters, etc.).

Dinner Party Menu Suggestions

You've made the dessert, but what about the rest of the courses?

Here are additional recipes to create a menu for a dinner party or special meal:

How Do I Make Pumpkin Pie Mousse?
The printable recipe card with the ingredients list and instructions can be found at the end of this post.
Number of Servings: 4-6
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: n/a | Additional Time: 1 hour | Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Step 1 - Whip Cream: Use an electric standing or hand mixer on medium-high speed to whisk the heavy whipping cream in a large bowl until it doubles in size.

Add 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and continue beating until light and fluffy. Cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Step 2 - Make Easy Pumpkin Mousse: Using an electric mixer again, beat the pumpkin purée, cream cheese, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract, half &half, and remaining maple syrup in a large mixing bowl until thoroughly blended.

Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula as required. Cover and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour.

Step 3 - Assemble Parfaits: Layer the pumpkin mixture with crumbled ginger snaps in glasses. Pipe the whipped topping onto the parfaits (or dollop with a spoon).

Garnish with chopped pecans, whole ginger snaps, and/or a sprinkle of ground cinnamon, if desired. Enjoy!

More Recipes Using Canned Pumpkin

One of the hero ingredients in this recipe is canned pumpkin purée, so here are some more using the same:

And, of course, we have many more Pumpkin Recipes for you to try.

Printable Pumpkin Pie Mousse Parfaits Recipe Card

The printable recipe card is below. To save ink, any demonstration photos on the recipe card do not print.

Remember to leave a star rating and review the recipe to share your experience with others!

1. Use an electric handheld or standing mixer to whisk the heavy whipping cream in a large mixing bowl until it doubles in size. Add 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and continue beating until light and fluffy. Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

2. Using an electric mixer again, beat the pumpkin purée, cream cheese, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract, half &half, and remaining maple syrup in a large mixing bowl until thoroughly blended. Cover and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour.

3. Layer the pumpkin mousse with crumbled ginger snaps in glasses. Top with whipped cream, and garnish with chopped pecans, whole ginger snaps, and/or a sprinkle of ground cinnamon, if desired. Enjoy!

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Easy Fall Pumpkin Pie Mousse Parfaits Dessert Recipe

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Discover the elegance of Pumpkin Pie Mousse Parfaits with our easy pumpkin mousse recipe. Layers of creamy mousse and crunchy ginger snaps make this dessert a must-try for any occasion.

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Welcome to the best Hocus Pocus Party Ideas, guaranteed to turn your Halloween night into an enchanting affair!

Amazing Hocus Pocus Party Ideas!

If Hocus Pocus is your favorite Halloween movie, then throwing your own Hocus Pocus party is a fun way to celebrate the spooky season!

We've got tons of ideas, from themed food and drinks, fun decorations, and costumes to party games and favors that will help you have an amazing Halloween party.

So, if you're ready, grab your broomstick (or vacuum cleaner!), and let's fly right into it!

Don't have time to read now? Tap the share icon in the bottom right of the screen, then tap the heart icon ♥ to save it for later!

Affiliate Disclosure
I have included affiliate links to useful products and services related to the topic of this post.
This post contains affiliate links, and I will be compensated if you purchase after clicking on my links.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Read Our Full Disclosure Policy

Hocus Pocus Theme

Hocus Pocus, starring Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker as three witch sisters-Winifred, Mary, and Sarah Sanderson-first graced the big screen back in 1993.
The Sanderson Sisters are resurrected after 300 years to exact revenge and begin a reign of terror after Max, a young boy who moves to Salem with his family, lights a cursed Candle of Black Flame.
The release of Hocus Pocus 2, the sequel to this cult classic, in 2022 introduced Hocus Pocus to new generations of fans.

If you're a fan of the original movie, the second movie, or both, without a doubt, a Hocus Pocus viewing party has to be on your list this October!

Whether you throw a watch party for your family or a big Disney Hocus Pocus-themed party for all your friends, we have all the fun ideas for your Halloween celebration!

And if you need more party ideas, check out our Halloween Party Themes!

The post is part of the Crafty October series on The Purple Pumpkin Blog, filled with free printables, crafts, recipes, and more for Halloween! Check out Crafty October from 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012 for tons of awesome Halloween ideas and inspiration!

Setting the Scene

You can't have a Hocus Pocus-themed Halloween party without setting the right ambiance with Halloween decor!

Our simple ideas are cost-effective and a great way to ensure that your living room transforms into the iconic Sanderson Sisters' cottage.

Grab yourself some bags of cobwebs and some strands of ivy, and cover everything in your party space. Please be mindful of naked flames around these items-use battery-operated candles instead.

One candle you don't want to forget is the Black Flame Candle (but be careful; we don't want to resurrect any witches!). Place it on a table with other iconic items like a vial of "Life Potion" or even a stuffed Binx the cat. A stack of old books would also help to set the scene.

Another cute addition would be some Munchkin Pumpkin Tea-Light Holders, which we love to make for Halloween!

All witches need a cauldron, so, of course, you need a large cauldron as a centerpiece!

Whether you use it for decorative or functional purposes, add dry ice and some green lighting for the bubbling smoking effect.

And last but not least, you need some old brooms to lean against a wall for that witchy aesthetic.

Don't forget the color scheme - green, purple, and red should be your go-to colors for your decor.

With these simple decorations and some Hocus Pocus Party Supplies, you can mimic the general look of the original film.

DIY Book of Spells

Witches need a Book of Spells, which you can buy ready-made, but why not make one yourself-it's pretty easy to do.

Grab a scrapbook or journal (that way, you can fill it with your own spells and photos from your party) and cover it with brown paper.

Use various shades of brown paint to add depth and shade to the spell book. Use a grey chalk paint pen to draw on some stitches, and add a googly eye.

This is actually a fun craft activity for your guests, especially for tweens and teens.

If you want to go all out, check out this DIY Hocus Pocus Spellbook Tutorial, which takes the design of the book to the next level with 3-D embellishments.

Hocus Pocus Movie Quotes

A really simple way to decorate is with famous quotes from the movies-this idea is perfect for a movie party. Here are some Hocus Pocus quotes to inspire your designs:

Oh, look. Another glorious morning. Makes me sick!- Winnie Sanderson

Amok! Amok, amok, amok, amok, amok, amok! - Sarah Sanderson

I smell a child. - Mary Sanderson

It's a full moon tonight. That's why all the weirdos are out. - Dani

It's all just a bunch of hocus pocus. - Max

Wench! Trollop! You buck-toothed, mop-riding, firefly from hell! I've waited centuries to say that. - Billy

You hag! There are not enough children in the world to make thee young and beautiful. - Binx

Hocus Pocus Party Food

When it comes to a Hocus Pocus party, the food should be as spellbinding as the Sanderson Sisters themselves.

Imagine a buffet table complete with treats that are as visually stunning as they are delicious!

Hocus Pocus Sweet Treats

Hocus Pocus Candy Apples, dipped in green candy melts and decorated with candy eyes and purple sprinkles, are a great addition to your party spread. You could also dip the apples into purple or red candy to match the Sanderson Sisters' iconic outfits.

Or how about biting into Caramel Apples rolled in candy corn-talk about a sweet treat!

You can't watch Hocus Pocus without a bowl of Hocus Pocus Popcorn! Prepare popcorn and mix it with purple and green candy melts. Sprinkle some edible stars to make it truly spellbinding.

For a sweet-savory combo, make some Hocus Pocus Magic Munch or a batch of our Maple Pumpkin Spice Trail Mix for a slightly healthier option.

Our Hocus Pocus Cupcakes are topped with lashings of frosting and a chocolate brownie Book of Spells - perfect!

Additionally, our Bubbling Cauldron Cupcakes are another great option.

Or make a batch of Full Moon Cupcakes, with an Oreo cookie moon and a candy black cat (Binx maybe!) cake topper.

Speaking of Binx, Black Cat Cookies are a great way to honor the character Thackery Binx, who became an immortal cat after trying to save his sister Emily from the Sanderson sisters.

Make Hocus Pocus Cauldron Pudding Cups with some pudding mix and green food coloring for a super easy dessert idea. They're served in cute mini cauldrons, too.

And let's hope Billy Butcherson isn't hiding in the Graveyard Jello Cups! They're so easy and fun to make; for adults, you can spike them with booze.

Savory Party Treats

With the sweet stuff covered, how about some savory foods?

Witches' Broomstick Snacks made with string cheese attached to pretzel sticks to make little witches brooms. Younger guests will love them!

Make Spider Pizzas by topping Margherita pizzas with black olives. Use a half olive for the body, and cut the other half into the spider's legs. You could also apply the olive spider hack to Deviled Eggs.

Other simple food options include cutting sandwiches into festive shapes using large Halloween cookie cutters.

As well as making Halloween Quesadillas and Hot Dog Mummies.

Kids will go nuts for Green Mac 'n' Cheese! Another staple for Halloween (at least in our house) is a bowl of chili -serve it in a hollowed-out pumpkin or in mini cauldrons-with all the fixings.

Or how about a Charcuterie Board? There is a lot of inspiration online, and you can be as elaborate or as simple as you like.

Start with 3 wheels of Brie for the sisters' faces. Use yellow string cheese for Sarah's hair, salami rolls for Winifred's hair, and blackberries for Mary's hair.

Surround the witches with other snacking choices like crackers, fresh fruit, crudites, etc., and your party platter is ready to serve.

And remember to check out your local grocery store around Halloween for themed snacks to save time and effort!

Hocus Pocus Cocktails and Mocktails

No Hocus Pocus party would be complete without some bewitching beverages. Your drink station can be a real showstopper with some Sanderson Sisters-inspired concoctions!

Let's start with the Winifred Sanderson Cocktail -it's a mix of Midori and two kinds of rum and tastes glorious!

The Mary Sanderson Cocktail is made with whiskey and rum, and it's sure to keep everyone in a festive mood on the dance floor.

And finally, the Sarah Sanderson Cocktail, which combines blue Curaçao, tequila, and rum, is sure to get you in the Halloween spirit.

Other spellbinding elixirs include the Hocus Pocus Cocktail made with vodka and spiced rum. As well as the Sanderson Sisters Cocktail, which combines apple brandy and rum.

We always try to include alcohol-free mocktail versions of all of our cocktail blog posts. But we also have some specific recipes like Frogspawn Slushie and Eerie Eyeball Fruit Punch.

Also, check out our Dry Ice In Drinks for Halloween post for all you need to know about using dry ice safely.

Hocus Pocus Playlist

The decor, food, and drink are covered, so now onto the music! With our Hocus Pocus Party Spotify Playlist, we've done all the hard work for you.

With tracks from the original film and the new Hocus Pocus movie, including I Put A Spell On You and The Witches Are Back, as well as a few Halloween classics like Thriller and Monster Mash, there are over 2.5 hours of music for your party.

With all that great music, a dance contest would be a lot of fun, right?!

Hocus Pocus Party Games & Activities

Party games are always a great idea -the type of games, however, will depend on the demographic of your guests.

Witch Hat Ring Toss - Stuff some cheap black witch hats with newspaper to make them rigid, then set them up and take turns tossing rings onto the hats. You could add colored ribbons to match the sister's outfits and assign different scores to them.

Hocus Pocus Trivia - What better way to engage everyone, especially for those who claim Hocus Pocus as their favorite Halloween movie!

Download our Free Hocus Pocus Trivia Printable (below) to make this game easy for you as the host.

The trivia has 20 questions about the first Hocus Pocus movie spread over two pages. The questions are multiple-choice, and an answer sheet is included. Also included is a blank answer sheet, should you wish to read out questions without the multiple choices, making it a tricker quiz!

Costume Contest - Everyone dresses up for a Halloween party, so a costume contest is surely a must-do!

For a themed dinner party or as part of your movie night, there is even a Hocus Pocus Board Game!

In this card game, players team up to stop the Sanderson sisters from finishing their potion by sunrise. Match potion ingredients in the cauldron, get help from Binx, and counterspell with tricks like Burning Rain of Death and Billy Butcherson. The game is for 2-6 players, ages 8+.

Hocus Pocus Photo Booth - Capture the memories of your party with a photo booth-they are always a HIT! Set up a backdrop and provide props for your guests, which you can buy or make yourself.

Keep it digital with camera phones, or go old-school with a Polaroid camera!

Charades is a classic party game, as is "Pin the Tail on the Donkey," but instead of a donkey, why not pin the tail on Binx, the cat! If DIY isn't your thing, I found some themed games on Amazon.

For smaller parties, themed activities can be so much fun. Coloring pages or easy crafts are a good idea. Here are a few we think would fit with a Hocus Pocus theme:

Spellcasting Activity - arm your guests with mini cauldrons and potion ingredients (think herbs, dried flowers, colored water, glitter, crystals, and small trinkets). The one who concocts the most creative 'spell' wins a prize.

Hocus Pocus Costume Ideas

If you want to go all out for your party, then dressing up as your favorite Hocus Pocus character is a must!

While ready-made Hocus Pocus costumes can be an additional cost, if you're a big fan, then they will get a lot of use over the years!

If you're a whizz with a sewing machine, you could make your own costume using thrift store finds and cheap fabric.

Alternatively, you can be a suggestion of a character- wear a wig (all three sisters have iconic hairstyles) and use a piece of fabric to create a cape in the color that matches your favorite Sanderson witch-don't forget your broomstick!

Billy Butcherson, Winifred's undead boyfriend, is an easy costume to put together-an old, tattered suit and some gold buckles (made with some gold cardstock) on black shoes, and you're almost ready to go.

Use face paint to create the zombie look-white face, black around the eyes so they look sunken, and don't forget to paint the stitching over the lips!

Create Binx the cat by wearing all-black, donning a cat ear headband, and pinning a long black tail to your rear. So simple!

Whether you decide to buy or make your costume, bear in mind these details that make each sister legendary!

Winifred Sanderson - She rocks the green-and-purple color combo like nobody else! Bright orange, curly hair, bright red lips, and very prominent front teeth.

Mary Sanderson - Her outfit is as quirky as she is, with a patchwork patterned skirt and red cape. Do not forget her twirly, dark purple updo and wonky lips.

Sarah Sanderson - Bright red and purple are her outfit colors, with long, flowing golden hair, red lips, and a beauty spot on her chin.

Hocus Pocus Party Favors

And finally, as we reach the end of the spookiest Hocus Pocus-themed party ever, it's time to bid farewell to your party guests and maybe give them a treat to take home?

Our Hocus Pocus Hot Cocoa Bombs are fun and simple to make, and when bagged up in a cello bag and tied up with ribbon make a great party favor!

Another fun idea is to make your favorite brownie recipe, cut it into rectangles, and use a tube of black icing and candy eyeballs to make edible spell books.

Hosting your own Hocus Pocus theme party doesn't have to be a bunch of Hocus Pocus-it's very achievable!

With these amazing Hocus Pocus Party Ideas, you're sure to have a night filled with fun, magic, and a touch of mischief!

Remember, "Oh look, another glorious morning. Makes me sick!"-said no one ever after attending such an amazing Hocus Pocus Halloween party.

The post is part of the Crafty October series on The Purple Pumpkin Blog, filled with free printables, crafts, recipes, and more for Halloween! You can check out Crafty October from 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012 for awesome Halloween ideas and inspiration!

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The Best Hocus Pocus Party Ideas for a Spellbinding Celebration!

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Make your party spellbinding with these Hocus Pocus Party Ideas! From enchanting decor to spooky treats, turn your gathering into the ultimate Hocus Pocus bash and let the fun bewitch your guests!

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How To Not Get Annoyed When Your Students Misbehave Smart Classroom Management

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If you get annoyed when your students misbehave, then it's going to lead to more misbehavior. Even if you don't say a word. Your sighs, facial expressions, and body language reveal all there is to know about what's roiling inside. Students prey upon emotionally ... Read more

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POETRY IN THE CLASSROOM: 10 FUN ACTIVITIES

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Sep 1, 2019 - Looking for fun activities to explore the art of poetry and use it to support language learning? Try these simple and fun activities!

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Looking to invigorate your science curriculum and teaching this year? Help Teaching's team of teachers understands the time and commitment it takes to prepare meaningful science classes and lab activities, not to mention stay up-to-date with the latest scientific advances. We've gathered links from across the internet to over 80 of our favorite resources to help support rookie and veteran science teachers and homeschooling parents alike. This year we've added several new science sites and a new category for our favorite engineering sites. Happy Teaching!

Next Generation Science Standards

Whether or not your state has adopted the new science standards, they have been released and are the talk of the science teaching community.

Bozeman Science provides a free series of NGSS videos on each of the disciplinary core ideas. The videos give a clear overview of each standard as well as suggestions on how to teach the core ideas at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

NGSS@NSTA provides current information about the implementation process and professional development opportunities, including free web seminars, to support science teachers looking to incorporate the standards into their curriculums.

NGSS is the primary resource for teachers looking to read and learn about the new science standards. Teachers may find the EQuIP Rubric overview page useful for identifying high-quality instructional materials that align to the standards.

The National Academies Press offers several NGSS-related publications useful for teachers, many of which can be downloaded for free after creating an account.

PBS LearningMedia NGSS links to a large collection of NGSS resources for professional development and classroom use.

Parent Q&A is a flyer designed to answer parent questions about the Next Generation Science Standards but is also a nice overview for teachers and administrators.

The Concord Consortium features a unique tool that allows educators to navigate the NGSS by core idea, practice, and crosscutting concept and locate high-quality digital activities that support the standards.

Breaking Science News

Check these sources regularly to stay current with scientific research. Better yet, have your students read them as well!

Newsela website and app keep educators and students alike up-to-date with current events, including a large selection of STEM news stories at different reading comprehension levels. Registering for the free version of the platform allows teachers and students unlimited access to articles.

Scientific American maintains a section dedicated to education that includes activities, information on their program connecting teachers and scientists, tips on improving science literacy, and more.

Live Science will help keep you up to date with science headlines across disciplines.

BBC Science & Environment is the place to go for breaking science news. Whether you are a busy science teacher or student looking for the hottest topics in science, BBC has coverage for you.

Science Daily offers a compilation of breaking news articles for those interested in the latest research.

ScienceBlogs hosts posts from over sixty blogs, presenting a wide range of science news and viewpoints.

HuffPost Science will help keep you up to the minute with breaking science stories.

NewScientist shares topical news stories on all things science-related.

Science Instruction

Like the scientific method, great science instruction takes systemic modifications. Read on for resources that will help invigorate your science teaching.

Good Thinking! The Science of Teaching Science by the Smithsonian Science Education Center houses a collection of must-watch videos for anyone who teaches science. These short, animated videos explore common student misconceptions on topics ranging from natural selection to chemical reactions.

NSTA Learning Center links science teachers with professional development resources by subject and grade. Be sure to peruse their collection of 4,000+ free articles, web seminars, podcasts, and modules available to support your professional growth.

What Works Clearinghouse reviews and summarizes education products and research to help educators make evidenced-based decisions when it comes to teaching.

SERC is working to improve STEM education by providing a rich assortment of professional development opportunities and resources for educators.

Understanding Science is a primer for teachers and students alike on what science is and how science really works.

BSCS Science Learning helps to transform science education by working with science educators worldwide to provide a variety of resources. They conduct research on improving science instruction, develop instructional materials, and offer professional development.

Baylor University put together a resource on how to identify effective stem resources for students to help make sure your teaching is effective.

Help Teaching's library of printable science worksheets is ideal for practice and assessment. Our growing collection of self-paced science lessons for biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science are a great way to introduce topics and reinforce learning.

Science competitions and fairs can inspire students to pursue STEM careers while providing hands-on learning opportunities. Consider challenging your students to participate in a local science fair for one of these major science competitions: Young Scientist Challenge, ExploraVision, Regeneron STS, & Google Science Fair.

Science Activities

Science lends itself to hands-on activities that engage students in active learning. Save time and get inspired when preparing lessons this year by reading these links.

Science Friday partners with educators and scientists to create STEM activities, lessons, and resources for all learners. This site connects teachers with relevant, unique, and dynamic instructional materials, videos, stories, and more.

ScienceNetLinks brings together a large, searchable database of science lessons, interactive tools, news, and hands-on activities to support formal and informal science education.

Science Buddies is the place to look for science fair topics and activities. Not only does Science Buddies provide science fair project resources for students and teachers, but their growing collection of science activities are perfect for classroom and home use.

BIE maintains a library of science project-based learning units that encourage student inquiry and investigation.

Lawrence Hall of Science: 24/7 offers citizen science projects, hands-on activities, online games, and more for classroom and home exploration.

PBS LearningMedia has thousands of the best digital science teaching resources in an easily searchable platform by grade, subject, standard, and format.

Zooniverse brings together a collection of citizen-science or people-powered, research projects where everyday people can contribute to real science.

Science Kids has a nice collection of experiments, science fair project ideas, games, videos, and images designed to get kids interested in science.

Annenberg Learner brings together a collection of science interactives that can readily support any science curriculum.

Virtual Microscope simulates the use of various types of microscopes for students through the examination of set image samples.

PhET Simulations supplement classroom learning with a large array of well-designed science interactives.

The Science Spot contains a vast library of information and resources pertaining to all areas in science, including forensic science and astronomy. This is an essential resource of middle school teachers and students as well as for high school teachers. This website also provides tips for implementing interactive science notebooks in the classroom.

Hook your students on science by sharing videos from Veritasium, Science360, SciShow, It's Okay to Be Smart, Untamed Science, and Help Teaching.

Collaborate and Explore

We teach our students that collaboration is an essential part of doing science. Practice what you teach with these links for connecting and sharing with teachers who have similar goals.

Teaching Channel is on a mission to create an environment where teachers can watch, share, and learn new techniques to help every student grow. Start by watching these science videos, then explore the entire site for more teaching inspiration.

Skype in the Classroom helps teachers connect with other educators and experts in their fields. Use Skype to bring your students on virtual field trips, interact with a virtual guest speaker, and collaborate with another class from across the country or around the world.

STEM on Google+, and STEM Educators are Google+ groups offering vibrant online communities of science teachers sharing resources and best practices.

Professional Learning Communities allow teachers to connect with others in their schools, districts, and communities who are dedicated to science education.

Google Educator Groups bring educators together, both online and offline, to share ideas on web-enabled learning.

AP Teacher Community connects and supports those instructing AP courses.

Astronomy

Don't miss out on the latest discoveries about the universe with these links.

NASA Education for educators opens a universe of information about space science through lessons, videos, professional development, and more. Get started by browsing astronomy teaching resources in NASA Wavelength.

Google Sky does for the view of space what Google Earth does for the view of your neighborhood.

Air and Space Live webcasts from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum bring a world and beyond of learning opportunities for anyone interested in astronomy.

If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel dubs itself, "a tediously accurate scale model of the solar system," but don't be misled by the tagline. This interactive is beautiful in its simplicity and will engage your students on this virtual journey through our solar system.

National Optical Astronomy Observatory offers numerous space-based resources, programs, and resources for educational purposes.

Biology

From life science to AP biology, helping students develop an understanding of the nature of life is essential for science literacy.

BioEd Online from Baylor College of Medicine offers science teachers resources that include lessons, videos, classroom slides, and a full library of magazines and storybooks for use with K-12 students as well as professional development courses for teachers.

BioInteractive by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a free collection of virtual labs, films, animations, apps, and more that are ideal for biology education.

Encyclopedia of Life offers an extensive collection of free resources on just about any organism.

The Biology Corner offers a wealth of teaching resources for biology teachers, including classroom presentations and lab handouts.

Ask a Biologist not only allows K-12 students to submit questions for biologists to answer, but also offers a wealth of biology-related articles, activities, games, and more.

Solve the Outbreak is a free app by the CDC that challenges students to solve epidemiology mysteries. It's fun, really!

Cells Alive brings microbiology to life through amazing photos, interactives, and videos.

BEN: BioSciEdNet managed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, helps teachers to engage their students with animations and lab activities.

Biology4Kids offers clear explanations of many topics for elementary and middle school reading levels or for teachers searching for material covering the basics, from scientific study to cell biology.

American Physiological Society supports education through student activities and curricula, education projects that link teachers and physiologists, and teacher learning resources.

Chemistry

Teaching the central science takes knowledge, skill, and a bit of wow factor. Use these links to help make your class preparations a little easier.

American Chemical Society's education page is the place to find materials for teaching chemistry, professional development opportunities, and reports on chemistry education.

ScienceGeek.Net is chemistry teacher Andy Allan's personal website where he shares his collection of presentations, labs, and more.

Evan's Chemistry Corner provides worksheets, transparencies, and lab activities for Regents Chemistry in New York State, but these resources can be used in any high school chemistry classroom.

Kent Chemistry contains instructional pages covering topics in chemistry, along with accompanying videos, practice questions, worksheets, and lab activities. Both high school-level and AP chemistry are covered.

Illustrated Glossary of Organic Chemistry catalogs 1,500+ terms and is an essential resource for any organic chemistry course.

Periodic Videos from the University of Nottingham features videos and experiments on each element. Check out their 500 videos on YouTube as well.

Crash Course Chemistry contains a playlist of YouTube videos covering various topics in chemistry in a short amount of time.

Chemmy Bear contains a multitude of resources for AP chemistry, from handouts and activities to study cards and practice tests. This site is especially helpful for newer AP chemistry teachers and for teachers of honors chemistry courses.

Seasonal science "holidays" offer fun and engaging ways to incorporate STEM activities into your classroom. Celebrate science this year with these theme days and weeks:
World Space Week Stellar Activities October 4 - 10, 2018
Earth Science Week Fun Daily Activities October 14 - 20, 2018
National Chemistry Week - Chemistry & Forensics October 21 - 27, 2018
America Recycles Day Activity Guide November 15, 2018
Earth Day Activities for Kids April 22, 2019
World Oceans Day Activities June 8, 2019

Earth Science

Developing student understanding of the earth's structures and processes helps nurture an appreciation of the natural world.

EarthLabs supplies rigorous units on earth and environmental topics that focus on hands-on laboratory activities and data analysis. Each unit provides all the information, resources, and lessons necessary to elevate earth science and environmental lab instruction to the next level.

NOAA brings together a wonderful collection of resources about the oceans and atmosphere.

USGS Education compiles a wide variety of videos, maps, images, and interactives ideal for use in the earth science classroom.

ClimateChangeLIVE engages students with two electronic field trips for the classroom as well as supplemental materials and support for teachers.

COSEE is dedicated to helping build collaborations between students, teachers, and scientists interested in ocean studies.

Physics

Physics is daunting for many students. Great physics teachers actively engage students with the study of the interactions between energy and matter.

The Physics Classroom supplements physics instruction with tutorials, animations, teacher toolkits, and lab activities.

The Physics Front is an extensive collection of materials, including online tools and lesson plans for K-12 physics and physical science instruction.

PhysicsCentral shares everything from articles to posters to home projects to support those educating physics students at all levels.

APlusPhysics contains helpful video tutorials and web pages for students to learn from, covering topics ranging from high school physics to AP physics. The site also contains worksheets for teachers to print and distribute to students as well as activities that teachers can implement.

Burrows P hysics ' playlist contains a multitude of videos covering various higher-level physics topics. These are helpful in providing instruction to students outside of the classroom.

Practical Physics offers a wide array of experiments that enable students to get hands-on experience with concepts in physics, enriching students' understanding and refining students' ability to visualize the forces and science at play in the real world.

ComPADRE is a digital library of teaching resources for physics and astronomy educators.

American Association of Physics Teachers will keep you posted on conferences, projects, and competitions as well as just about everything you need to stay up to date with teaching physics.

Engineering Practices & Design

Today's science students must understand engineering practices and design solutions to help them prepare for everyday life and career paths. Enrich your STEM curriculum with these engineering resources.

TeachEngineering is a website that guides teachers in nurturing students' abilities to create innovations to challenges in any subject. Some activities include how-to videos on YouTube.

NASA Engineering Design Process aids teachers in helping students to understand that engineers must imagine and plan before they begin to build and experiment in a variety of challenges for K-2, 3-5, and 6-8. The site also provides plenty of guidance for supporting students in the engineering design process.

Science Buddies offers educators an exhaustive description of the engineering method with a side-by-side comparison against the scientific method.

TryEngineering has 100+ engineering lesson plans for teachers. Students interested in pursuing engineering careers will find the university and career portals useful.

EngineerGirl by the National Academy of Engineering offers a wealth of information on engineering professions for girls and women.

Although this list is by no means comprehensive, we hope it will inspire and energize your science teaching and classroom this year. Be sure to visit HelpTeaching.com and utilize our growing library of K-12 science worksheets, lessons, and questions!

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The Ultimate Guide to Teaching Science - HelpTeaching.com

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Looking to invigorate your science curriculum and teaching this year? Help Teaching's team of teachers understands the time and commitment it takes to prepare meaningful science classes and lab activities, not to mention stay up-to-date with the latest scientific advances. [...]

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10 Reasons to Quiz Students - HelpTeaching.com

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Standardized tests have become a hotly contested topic in the world of education. With many teachers and parents arguing that students spend too much time taking tests and not enough time learning, it may seem insane to suggest that teachers [...]

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Though many of these are for younger students, several can be used in the upper grades and/or be modified to create more rigorous activities that cover secondary TEKS.

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It's fall and that means it's time for... pumpkin everything. Pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin bread, visiting the pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins, you know the drill. Since pumpkins are already all around you, why not make them a part of your lesson plans too? We've rounded up 100 educational pumpkin activities you can use to bring this fun symbol into the classroom.

Educational Pumpkin Activities for Math

Educational Pumpkin Activities for Science

Educational Pumpkin Activities for Language Arts

Activities for Social Studies

1. Visit a pumpkin patch and talk about the role the pumpkin patch plays in your community.

2. Create a map that shows how to get to a local pumpkin patch or have students create a map after they visit the pumpkin patch. Students can also follow a map through a corn maze at the pumpkin patch.

3. Discuss with students the path a pumpkin takes to get from a seed to a pumpkin pie on the dinner table.

4. Did you know that 90% of pumpkins grown in the United States come from a 90-mile radius around Peoria, Illinois? Do some research on the state of Illinois and its pumpkin crop.

5. Do some research to figure out the top 5-10 pumpkin producing countries in the world.

6. Decorate pumpkins to represent different flags of the world or different states in the United States.

7. Paint a world globe onto a pumpkin. Use it to talk about concepts such as the equator, longitude, and latitude.

8. Why do people put out jack-o-lanterns on Halloween? Do some research to figure out the reason behind the tradition.

9. How have pumpkins been used throughout history? Have each student find one use and write a report on it.

10. Eat pumpkin like the Native Americans by cutting it and roasting it over a fire.

11. Read the book The Pumpkin People and talk about different personalities and types of people that exist in the world or choose other Halloween books to read.

12. Play a game of pumpkin trivia. Put together a set of historical questions about pumpkins and see how much students know.

Activities for Music

1. Sing the song "5 Little Pumpkins."

2. Sing the "I'm a Little Pumpkin" song to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot." (I'm a little pumpkin, orange and round)

3. Use two paper plates taped together with beans inside and painted orange to create pumpkin tambourines.

4. Use soft mallets to tap on pumpkins and see what sounds they make. Do they make different sounds once they have been cut open?

5. Replace the black dots on music notes with tiny pumpkin pictures on a silly tune about fall or Halloween for beginning learners to play.

6. Make up a clapping or stomping rhythm as kids spell out the word pumpkin.

7. Fill a plastic tube with dried pumpkin seeds to make a musical shaker.

8. Play a game of musical pass the pumpkin. Have students stand in a circle and pass around the pumpkin while music plays. Whoever is holding the pumpkin when the music stops is out.

9. Say a rhyme such as "Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater" while having students clap along. Try to say the rhyme faster and slower.

10. Have students make up a pumpkin dance, a dance that they think a big, round pumpkin might do or a dance they can do while holding a pumpkin.

11. Play students part of the soundtrack from "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and talk about the different sounds you hear.

12. Sing the song "Where is Thumbkin?" but insert pumpkin and pull out a pumpkin or two as you say the lines.

Activities for Physical Education

Activities for Art

Have more educational pumpkin activities? We'd love to hear your ideas. Share them in the comments. Visit Help Teaching for more fun fall activities and printables. Happy Fall from Help Teaching!

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100 Educational Pumpkin Activities - HelpTeaching.com

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When it's fall, it's time for all things pumpkin. Get loads of educational benefit with our list of educational pumpkin activities!

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Being a mom has always been hard work. That said, these days it can feel more challenging than ever. Surveys show moms are still generally expected to handle most chores around the home , even when both spouses have full-time jobs.

With so much to do, moms often put their own needs last, but it's not okay to neglect self-care. On the contrary, attending to your own needs is essential. If you don't take care of yourself, you won't be able to take care of others in the long run.

That's why busy moms should keep the following self-care tips in mind. From saving time by having meals delivered for kids to combining self-care activities, even if you have a packed schedule, they'll help you find time for yourself.

Make it a Priority

Odds are good there are certain tasks throughout the week that, if you don't literally enter them into a schedule, are at least prioritized in your mental to-do list. Self-care needs to be one of them.

Passively telling yourself you'll make room for a rewarding or relaxing experience isn't enough to make yourself actually follow through on your plans. When you're in the middle of a busy week, it becomes easy to forget about self-care if it's not treated with the same priority as your other major responsibilities.

Make a point of scheduling self-care activities every week. Doing so makes you more likely to actually find time for them.

Exercise with Friends

Staying fit is key to self-care. Experts consistently find that working out is simply one of the healthiest and most effective ways to reduce stress in your life. So is spending time with friends.

If you don't think you have time for both activities in a typical week, you can combine them by working out with a friend or family member. This is a simple way to optimize your self-care routine when you have a busy schedule.

Choose Playlists Wisely

You probably have many weekly tasks that give you the opportunity to listen to music, podcasts, or audiobooks. Whether you're driving or prepping a meal, use this time wisely.

Studies show that listening to music you enjoy helps reduce stress . Additionally, learning about interesting topics can also yield major mental health benefits. The main point to remember is that you shouldn't choose what you listen to randomly. Put together a few playlists featuring your favorite tunes, podcasts, or books, and listen to them when you're completing regular chores.

Get Enough Sleep

Don't fall prey to the idea that you need to skip sleep to get everything done!

Yes, it's easy to think you're being more productive by going to bed later or getting up earlier, but in the long run, lack of sleep will prevent you from being your best self. You're much better off getting a full eight hours every night.

Ask for Help

You also shouldn't give in to the urge to be Supermom. You're human, and that means you may need some help from time to time. Getting comfortable with asking for help will make it easier to find more time for self-care. Whether it's a spouse, friend, or another family member, there's a good chance someone in your life can take on a few of your responsibilities when you're simply too busy to handle everything on your plate. You can also look for ways to reduce your workload, such as having meals delivered instead of prepping them yourself all of the time.

If you want to be a good mother, partner, and employee, you need to be as mentally and physically healthy as possible. These tips will help you reach that goal.

Rae Steinbach is a graduate of Tufts University with a combined International Relations and Chinese degree. After spending time living and working abroad in China, she returned to NYC to pursue her career and continue curating quality content. Rae is passionate about travel, food, and writing for Yumble.

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Self-Care Tips for Today's Busy Moms - HelpTeaching.com

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Being a mom has always been hard work. That said, these days it can feel more challenging than ever. Surveys show moms are still generally expected to handle most chores around the home, even when both spouses have full-time jobs. [...]

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15 Engaging and Educational Activities for Fall - HelpTeaching.com

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The words "fall" or "autumn" may bring visions of colorful leaves, falling temperatures, and apple picking, but many students are still lamenting the loss of summer and the beginning of the school year. The fall season is perfect for getting [...]

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Jun 9, 2020 - This Kits item by DunderPippin has 505 favorites from Etsy shoppers. Ships from Montgomery, TX. Listed on Aug 4, 2023

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Have a chatty class? Do your talkative students get louder and louder during small groups until it feels like chaos? Do they talk when you're talking then ask you what the directions were as soon as you finish?

Don't worry. This is totally normal. And completely fixable. Really!

Here are some simple but effective classroom management strategies for taming talkative students and getting that side chatter under control! Make sure you read them all so you can find the ones that are perfect for you and your class - I packed a lot of tips and tricks in this!

This works like a charm. If you're going to be giving directions, teaching a mini lesson, reading a book out loud, etc.: Tell the students to listen for a secret word (ex: kangaroo, watermelon, etc.) that you will randomly insert in your talking. The first person to raise their hand when you say this word (it's super exciting for them!) gets some sort of prize - a sticker, a ticket, time on the computer - or just the satisfaction of being the person who got it first. Insert the word toward the end of your directions so they hear them all and the daydreaming students don't lose focus after the fun word has been said. They will be hanging on your every word, with their hands ready. If their friends try to talk to them, they will probably ignore them so they don't get distracted and miss the secret word.

Another way to get students to not talk while you give directions is to play "Beat the Timer." You can make this a fun challenge for them! Any time you start talking, students have no idea if you're going to give them 1 minute directions or go on a 10 minute ramble so they're likely to just start talking when you do.

Tell them that if they can "beat the timer," they'll get some free time to chat. Make it seem like a game. Set a kitchen timer for how long you want to talk for. Tell them that if no one talks before it goes off, they get free time to chat after you're done! I recommend starting out at only 2 or 3 minutes then slowly working up to 10-15 minutes or however long your mini lessons are. If no one talks, you'll set the timer to give them 1-2 minutes to freely talk after you're done. If just one person talks, they don't get the chat time. They don't want to be the one to make everyone miss out and will also regulate each other.

Kids will do anything to get this free time to chat for a minute! Plus, if they know there's an end in sight to your talking and have an incentive to stay quiet, they will. You can project an online timer on your interactive white board if you have one or put the kitchen timer under your document camera if you want them to be able to see it. Seeing it count down might help especially impulsive kids control themselves. However, if you notice they're all looking at the timer rather than listening, don't provide the visual. I personally say don't show it to them so they don't see how long you're going to talk for and sigh when it's a high number like 10-15 minutes. For really young kids, you can also break 15 minute lessons up into chunks - you talk 5 minutes, give them a minute to chat about it, you talk 4 minutes, give them a minute to chat, you talk 3 minutes, give them a minute to chat.

If they talk before the timer goes off, act sad, "Aw man! Someone talked. I guess we won't get talk time. Let's try harder next time." and that person will think twice about doing it again because their friends definitely know who they were, you don't need to say it. If they don't talk before the timer goes off, let them have free time chatting for 1-3 minutes at the carpet or their desks, wherever they were when you gave directions. Set the timer so they hear it go off when it's time to stop chatting and get to the next activity. Also enforce that when they hear the chat timer go off, they must get straight to work or they won't get to play "beat the timer" next time you talk. Having a timer will also force you to make your directions concise. It's easy as a teacher to repeat things or ramble, especially when being constantly interrupted, so timers actually help me keep directions simple and to the point.

3. Play "Students vs. Teacher" or "Table Points" to make staying quiet a competition.

In that post, I show it using tallies but you can also use 10 frames or even 20 frames to connect it with learning!

You can get the "Students" and "Teacher" labels and ten frame mats in my Chatty Class Classroom Management pack. There's also extra ten frames so you can make it 20 frames.

I stuck magnet dots on the back of math cubes so I can easily fill the frames but you could use circle magnets or fun themed magnets (or put magnet dots on the backs of fun holiday objects like spiders for Halloween) to fill up the ten frames depending on the season.

By the way, I totally recommend sticking magnets dots on math manipulatives like this to use during math instruction on the board!

For Students vs. Teacher, whoever fills their 10 frame first wins! If the students win, they get something (ex: 10 minutes extra recess or free time). If you win, just make up a prize for yourself - they don't need to know if you did or not :) Maybe make your prize ice cream because if you win... that means your class was c-razy and you deserve ice cream. Hopefully your class always beats you! :)

4. Read books about being too chatty!

There are some fantastic books to read aloud that address specific behaviors.

Check out this awesome list of books organized by behavior that you can read to your class to have great classroom discussions about their behavior:

Check out the books in the categories "Blurting & Interrupting," "Overly Chatty," "Using Your Inside Voice," and "Listening" - these are seriously awesome books that will help a ton!

Kids love to talk. If they know they can talk during your lesson, they're more likely to stay quiet in between (or at least can be trained to be). Let them talk but make it relate to the lesson. If they know they're going to have to explain what you said to the person next to them, they'll listen so they don't say "uhhh" when it's time to share. Every kid should have an A/B partner at their carpet spot (if you don't have assigned carpet spots, do that yesterday!) and at their desks that stays the same. Every kid is either an A or a B (you can make it a cutesy name like chips and salsa, monkeys and bananas, etc. if you want) and that is what they always are so it's known and doesn't take time to explain each time. If their partner is absent that day, let them join the 2 people next to them as a C so there's no physical moving involved.

After you explain something, say "As tell Bs what I just said" or "Bs explain to As how to..." or "As what do you think about [insert open ended question relating to the lesson]" so they never know if you're going to have As talk or Bs talk. If you don't assign it, they'll figure they don't have to listen because their partner will OR the more dominant kid will always talk. This gets everyone listening and talking about the lesson. Do it several times during your lessons, directions, or read alouds. It seriously works wonders!

Blurt cubes are AWESOME. If you have a few super chatty kids, you can do it just with them or you can do it with the whole class.

Every kid has 5 cubes on their desk that spell BLURT. Their goal is to keep them saying BLURT all day.

If they blurt or talk while you're talking, you discreetly give them the blurt signal (look directly at them and hold up your hand in front of your chest showing the letter B in sign language) while continuing to talk. A quiet signal doesn't interrupt your lesson but they know to redirect themselves. The other kids will also see you give the signal and it'll remind them not to blurt either. When a student sees you give them the blurt signal, they know to switch their cube to upside down so it no longer shows the T in "Blurt" - the next time, they'd lose the R, then the U, etc. They cannot earn them back. Having the cubes on their desk is a great visual, yet private, reminder for especially impulsive kids.

If they have all the letters in BLURT at the end of the day, they get a "Blurt Dessert" card! Make the blurt dessert something really appealing like a few minutes of free time at the end of the day while the kids who lost letters work on unfinished work. If you have a really chatty and/or impulsive class, I recommend doing 2 rounds of blurt cubes halfway through the day with a known time it resets about halfway through each day (before lunch and after lunch, for example) so an impulsive kid doesn't immediately give up for the whole day when they lose 1 cube.

You can also make the rewards "shaded"... the more cubes they have, the more privileges they get sooner. "If you have all of your Blurt cubes, line up for recess [those kids line up], if you have 4 of your cubes still, line up [those kids line up]," and so on. If you let the kids go to the free time, they go in that order. If you let the kids talk at their tables, the non-blurters can talk first then after 30 seconds, let the 4 cubes join in, then the 3 cubes, etc. That way, if a kid loses 1 cube, they still have incentive to not lose any more cubes.

If they lose ALL of their cubes, you can have them fill out a "Blurt Alert" sheet.

They can either take it home to their parents to sign and return or you can keep it in your records.

These blurt alerts and desserts are also in my Chatty Class pack. I love the Blurt Dessert cards for recognizing kids who don't blurt (it's easy for the quiet ones to get ignored) - you can have them collect them and then turn them in for rewards or prizes.

This is another favorite trick of mine that is pure GOLD for independent work time during math or literacy centers - those times when you're sitting at a small groups table and can't actively manage the classroom.

When independent work time begins, pick a well-behaved child to be the Quiet Manager and give them a 2-minute sand timer from the dollar store.

They flip the timer and stand at the front of the classroom or wherever they can see all the students best. They are looking for the quietest, hardest working student to be the next Quiet Manager. They EAT. THIS. UP. Just being able to get out of their seats for a second and stand at the front of the class with an important job for 2 minutes is a huge incentive. The quiet manager is looking for kids who don't look up (unless it's to see the word wall or a reference chart), are focused on their work, and aren't talking at all. Everyone will be working quietly to try to get chosen. When their sand timer runs out, their job is over and they quietly tap the person they thought was working hardest. They sit back down to do their work and the person they tapped goes to the front, flips the timer, and does the same thing. You can be picked more than once (otherwise kids won't care once they've been picked) but be sure to talk to them about not just picking your friends. Tell them exactly what desired behaviors to look for when you explain the job and tell them how it's a super important job to keep the class quiet and hard working. :) They DON'T walk around between desks/tables, they stand in one place with their timer. It may sound like it's distracting but it's really not - especially when all the kids know looking up at the quiet manager will make them not get chosen since not looking up is one of the desired behaviors the quiet manager is looking for. It's a GREAT, simple way to keep your kids quiet and working while you're trying to do small groups! Note: If there is center time where your kids are allowed to talk then the quiet manager is looking for kids who are working at a reasonable voice level and not loud, are staying in their seats, and are focused on their work.

8. Make blurting a clip down level offense.

If you use a behavior chart in your classroom, make students clip down when they blurt. I talk all about how to use behavior charts effectively in the classroom in this post - I highly recommend it if you use a behavior clip chart. I explain how to keep it positive and how to keep it working all year by switching out the chart for a new one each month to keep it fresh and exciting! I also show all the fun charts I use all year for different holidays and themes. You can make your clip chart a really fun, positive classroom management tool with these tricks. :)

This one should be used sparingly, of course, but it's great if you know you need to teach a long lesson or really want them to listen to something. Plus they'll think you're the coolest teacher ever. Give each kid one of those giant marshmallows that fills their whole mouth. Tell them to keep it in their mouth the entire time you're talking - don't chew or swallow it. Anyone who still has the marshmallow in their mouth after you're done talking gets a brand new yummy marshmallow!

They'll definitely remember this lesson so you can use it all year to tell them how you want their mouths. Simply say "marshmallows" and they know to puff out their cheeks as if they have a marshmallow in their mouths. You can also keep the theme by having a bag of mini marshmallows that you occasionally bring out and quietly/casually place one on the desks of kids who are working quietly. Place just one marshmallow on a desk and every kid will be so quiet hoping to get one too. This works with any kind of food! Don't feel like you have to give them a handful - just one pretzel, one cracker, etc. is enough to quiet everyone down - you can come around more than once to the same kid if they're super quiet, it'll just keep encouraging the others to be, and continue to be, quiet to earn more.

You can do this in many different ways but the goal is to fill up the jar to earn prizes along the way. Write class rewards on colored tape to put on the jar. The prizes get better as they fill up the jar! I like having prizes along the way so the awesome big prize doesn't seem so far away and it keeps their motivation high. Fill in fun prizes on tape to put on the jar and when the jar gets to that line, they get that prize!

I love pinto beans because they are small so it takes a long time to fill up a jar... and they're cheap! Plus, you probably have some in a cabinet somewhere already that you keep meaning to pull out as math manipulatives. :)

Every day, each kid gets 5 (or 3 or whatever you decide) blurt beans to start the day. I recommend they keep them on their name tag. THEY are responsible for keeping track of them. If they lose them, oh well. If they blurt out or talk while you're talking, you quickly and discreetly take away a bean from them or tell them to go put a bean in the blurt beans jar. Have another jar on your desk or somewhere you drop them into. I wouldn't have it displayed necessarily but it's nice to have as a visual during a firm look-at-all-the-beans-we-could've-put-in-our-jar-toward-our-goals talk on a particularly crazy day - but don't do that often at all - keep this as positive as possible! At the end of the day, all the kids drop their beans into the class rewards jar which is exciting to see it fill up more and more toward the lines.

I love that the beans don't have names or identifying features on them. They're working together to fill up the jar so no beans will be stolen, they'll be careful to not knock other peoples' beans onto the floor (beans on the floor that aren't yours immediately go in the blurt beans jar), and they'll encourage friends to be quiet. You could also have an individual blurt bean jar for a super chatty kid if you just have 1 blurter and your class is otherwise quiet.

For younger kids (kindergarten and first grade), you may need to break it up a lot more than 5 to manage all day (although you'd be amazed how well they'll protect their beans when there are rewards are involved). In this case, do 1 bean per lesson. Have someone's job be the Blurt Bean Manager. When you tell them to, they go get a handful of beans, hand each kid 1, and put the rest back in the jar. Every time you want to do a lesson, independent work time, read aloud, or any time you want them to be quiet, each kid gets 1 bean. If they're listening on the carpet, have them hold it in their folded hands so it is also a physical reminder.

If they talk during the lesson, they have to give you their bean. At the end of your lesson, hold the class rewards jar and let the kids who kept their bean quickly drop in their bean (while you say, "Good job" with a smile) on their way back to their seats or, if they're already in their seats, go around while they're working with the jar to collect their bean and smile at them when they drop it in. You can also have bean collecting be the Blurt Bean Managers' job. Be sure to say positive things like, "Wow! Look at all the beans we earned from good listening! We're getting closer to the [whatever next reward is] line!"

Never take beans out of the jar. Once they earn it, it's theirs. It's a really fun twist on the class jar!

11. Use a voice level chart.
I LOVE voice level charts. I don't think it's enough to just say "inside voice" or "outside voice" to young kids because they'll just start out in a quiet voice and progressively get louder. Sound familiar?

Have a visual displayed that tells them exactly the voice you want them to use. I love my animal themed voice level chart! Put a clip on the voice level you want them to be using at that moment and they can easily look up at any time to see where it should be.

When you first introduce the chart, practice each level with the kids. Make it fun and be dramatic. When you practice "Loud Lion" ask what sound a lion makes... ROAR! Then talk in a super loud voice and say that's what a loud lion sounds like. Should we ever use that voice inside? Nooo. Only on the playground or outside.

Practice every single one. This may sound silly but some of your kids might not know how to whisper. Have you ever had a student who has a whisper that seems louder than talking? Practice whispering. Have them touch their throats while they talk to feel the vibration. Then have them touch it while whispering. Tell them they shouldn't feel any vibration while whispering. That usually does the trick. :)

I like having full page posters of the voice level displayed next to the chart too so kids can see it from anywhere in the room. Simply print them, put them on a binder ring, and flip it to the current voice level. As you can see, I clipped "Inside Iguanas" so kids should be using their inside voices so I would then flip the animal poster to the iguana poster so kids can see it across the room for easy reference. Make sure you keep up with it so kids know they can reference it at any time. You could have it be a students' job to flip it. Anything you can delegate or that doesn't have you use your voice (constant verbal reminders are fun for no one), the happier teacher you will be!

What about when it's "Quiet Turtle" time??

12. The Quiet Turtle

The bottom of the voice level chart is called Quiet Turtle. The quiet turtle is a big deal, my friends. When I say, "It's turtle time!" that means all voices are off until further notice.

To keep up with the theme, occasionally tell kids you're looking for quiet turtles to give a sticker/treat/ticket/etc. too. You only have to give 1 or 2 out to get complete silence.

My favorite part, though, is to have a quiet turtle! Get a turtle stuffed animal and let your kids name him. Mine is Tommy. He is the "quiet turtle." Be sure to tell your kids he doesn't like loud classrooms so he only comes out when it's really quiet. He likes to sit by the kids who are being the quietest.

You could say something like, "Tommy wants to come out but he's looking for quiet turtle friends." when it gets noisy and when they get really quiet, bring him out and place him on the desk of someone being quiet. They can hold him while they do their work. After a few minutes, Tommy goes to a new quiet friend. They'll be super quiet to get the turtle!

You could also make mini quiet turtles! I LOVE my little quiet turtles!

Place them on the desks of kids working really quietly.

Make sure you tell them the quiet turtles don't like being touched by anyone other than you so if you touch it, you're going to scare it so you'll lose it. They also don't like noise so if you talk, you lose it. Keep it fun and act like they're caring for a pet. For some reason, having the little turtle on their desk to take care of is incentive enough to not talk sometimes! Only use this method occasionally or it'll lose its excitement. With all behavior tricks, you want to vary it up and keep it exciting!

How cute are these little turtles though? They're super easy to make! Use a hot glue gun to put a 1" light green pom on a 1.5" dark green pom. Add wiggle eyes and green felt feet and you've got a little turtle. :)

13. Play music
Some teachers find this helpful, others don't. Play instrumental or classical music while they work. It does have a sort of soothing feel and fills up the need for noise so it can keep students quiet during work time. Tell them if you can't hear the music, you're too loud. They only get the music if they can work quietly, otherwise it's silence.

14. The 5 Finger Game
If you want to explain something or give directions, hold up your hand with 5 fingers up against you at chest level. The kids copy you (hands against their chests so it's not distracting to them or others). If someone talks, blurts, or interrupts, you put down a finger. All the kids copy you immediately. If you can get through the directions with all your fingers up, they get 2 minutes to chat before the activity (or earn some type of reward but I like instant rewards when possible). If you still have 3 or 4 fingers up, they get 1 minute. Only 2 or 3 fingers, they get no talk time. 1 or less, some type of punishment like losing recess time. You can alter the times and number of fingers to fit your class. The beauty of it is that they have to copy you... so they have to be at least looking at you while you talk. If someone doesn't put their finger down when you do in a timely manner, the class loses another finger. Don't say who did it but say, "Uh oh. Someone didn't copy in time. We lost another finger." so they know everyone has to pay attention. Holding up their hand is also a physical reminder for those especially blurt-y kids to control themselves.

15. The Whisper Game
Another effective game is the whisper game. When you want to get their attention and start talking, say in a really quiet voice, "If you can hear me, [your name] says to put your finger on your nose." Only a few kids will probably hear you the first time. Keep going. "If you can hear me, [your name] says put your hands on your hand" and other funny little motions as you get more and more kids' attention. They'll think it's fun and the other kids will join in. Once you have the attention of the whole class, do the "If you can hear me, clap your hands" or something where you DON'T say [your name] says (they only are supposed to do it if you say that before the task, just like the popular game) to end it in a fun way then start your spiel. :)

16. Copy My Clap
When you want to get the attention of a noisy class quickly, clap out a rhythm. They know to clap back the exact same rhythm. Only some kids will clap back the first time most likely. Clap the same rhythm again (hopefully most will do it back). Now do a new rhythm. Keep doing rhythms until you get everyones' attention. Smile while you do it so it's a fun thing! I like to clap out a really difficult fun rhythm for the last clap because kids think it's funny. The goal is always to use your voice as little as possible so you can keep your energy and honestly, using your voice to tell kids to quiet down is just as effective as talking to a wall most of the time so you want as many nonverbal strategies as you can get.
17. Cute and fun call backs
If you DO use your voice, have it be simple and quick like fun callbacks. There are a ton of them out there. I recommend only using a couple so they actually remember what to say back. One fun example is you say, "Holy moly!" and your kids say, "Guacamole!"

I talked about this in my popular 20 Classroom Management Strategies You Can Start Right Away blog post - change your voice so they have to match it! It keeps the call backs exciting. For example, say holy moly in a squeaky high pitched voice and they have to say guacamole back in the same type of squeaky high pitched voice. You can change your pitch (high/low), tone (sassy, angry, excited, etc.), speed (say it really fast, draaaaag out every word) for a ton of variety!

18. The Singing Trick
When you want to get their attention, just start singing a song they know. It can be a well known kids' song, a holiday song, or even a popular song they like from the radio. If you start singing, they know to join in. They also know to look at you because you're going to end the song at any moment with "the signal" and they don't want to be caught singing by themselves. :) The signal to abruptly stop singing is you put quickly both hands up on either side of your face shoulder width apart. If they see this, they immediately stop singing and do it too. When everyone's hands are up, they copy your motions as you bring your 2 palms together in front of your face, lock your fingers, and bring your folded hands down to your lap. Also put a marshmallow in your mouth for them to copy as you do this. Now they're ready to listen! I love it because you can't sing and talk at the same time so it brings all conversations to an immediate halt in a fun way.

19. Teach them silent signals to kindly ask classmates to be quiet.
Peer pressure works wonders. A lot of the strategies I've mentioned work well because the kids help each other be quiet. Make sure they're doing it kindly by teaching them quiet signals. It's not nice to "Shh!" someone but you can give them a silent signal to refocus them. Teach them that if someone talks to them during quiet time to hold their pointer finger up to their lips in the "quiet" signal then point to what they're focusing on. So, if the teacher is talking, they would put their finger to their lip then use it to quickly point to the teacher. This will tell the person trying to disturb them to stop and remind them where they should be looking. If they're supposed to be silently working on their classwork, they do the "quiet" signal with their finger then use it to point to their work. If kids know that's what they're supposed to do, they won't think it's "mean" when kids do it to them; instead, it'll remind them what they should be focused on. Young kids want to be accepted so they're way more likely to listen to a peer tell them to be quiet than you. Also explain to them that if someone is talking TO you and you're not stopping it with a quiet signal, you're just as guilty as the talker. If they do the quiet signal to someone twice in a row and the person keeps talking to them, then they must REPORT that to you. (To read my post explaining tattling vs. reporting: How to Tackle Tattling) Then, the talker also knows that they will for sure be in trouble if they don't listen to their friend's quiet signal.

20. Privacy Folders
Sometimes there are kids who just constantly need to chat at their seats. If someone has to report to you multiple times that they're being bothered, have them use a privacy folder. Each kid should have an empty simple 2-pocket folder that they can pull out to stand up on their desk to work inside of. The folders will stand up on their own when they're empty. I totally recommend using them for tests so kids can't look at each other's work. Kids keep them in an easily accessible place so if they just keep talking when you've asked them to be quiet, say, "I guess we need our privacy folders" and have them all put up their folders. I recommend letting kids know they can pull them out on their own when they really want to focus and/or someone is distracting them.

21. Flexible Seating
You've probably heard about flexible seating all over the place recently. It's a huge trend this year taking over classrooms and many teachers swear by it for behavior management. Have alternative seating options students can use or go to during the day to work at. Some people have switched completely to alternative seating and some teachers just have a few options for places kids can go. Here is a huge list of flexible seating options and ideas if you're interested in trying it out!

22. The "Blurts Hurt" Lesson
So this may sound crazy but give an interrupting lesson to teach empathy and how "blurts hurt."

Kids may not realize how it actually hurts you when they interrupt you. They just think you're telling them to be quiet because it's a rule but may not realize that they're not being a good friend to you. Building classroom community is important and you, as their teacher, are a part of it just like they are. First, bring them to the carpet. Then, start by telling them how blurts hurt and when they interrupt you or talk when you're talking, it makes you feel sad. Then, ask them a really fun open ended question that will get them talking if you call on them like, "If you could have 3 brand new toys, what would they be?" or "If you were the principal, what would you do?" Let them think about it for a second and raise their hands. Let's say you ask what superpower they would have and why.

Call on someone. When they get 3-5 words into their sentence, loudly exclaim, "I'd love to be able to see through walls so I could sneak up on my friends!" to interrupt them then quickly say, "Anyone else want to share?" They'll raise their hands, call on a new kid. When they get about 3-5 words into their sentence, start a random conversation with the kid closest to you on the rug, "I got a puppy yesterday. We named him Jim." Do it a couple more times (keep it light so they think it's funny) then say, "That wasn't very nice of me to not listen to my friends, huh? How do you think it made them feel when I interrupted them or didn't listen?" to start a conversation about what it feels like when someone doesn't listen to you when you're talking and why it's important to be a kind listener. Of course don't interrupt them during this share or again. Sometimes I think it's important to remind students that WE are humans with feelings too and the way they act can hurt our feelings.

23. Have a lot of hands on activities.
If you read my blog, you know I have A TON of hands on resources in my TpT store for math and reading. You can read blog posts to see my math centers and activities in action by clicking on the math concept you want to see (place value, fractions, telling time, composing shapes, fact fluency, making a 10 to add, etc.) on my MATH page. I also think it's great to have fun activities like Secret Sight Words cards they can do when they're done with their work so they don't bother their friends who are still working.

24. Give them time to socialize first thing in the morning.
Give them about 20 minutes first thing in the morning to play and socialize with their friends. I know, I know. It might get crazy and loud while you're trying to take attendance. Your principal might walk in and see "unfocused" kids playing (gasp!) first thing in the morning. It's a waste of instructional time they could be doing "morning work." Play and building social skills isn't a waste in my opinion but that's a whole other blog post. :)

When your kids come in first thing in the morning, they have a million things on the tip of their tongues that they want to share with their friends (They lost a tooth last night! They went to a baseball game last night! Their little brother did something funny this morning!) and also just came in from before-school recess. It's hard to go from 60 to 0, from running outside at recess to coming in to a quiet classroom, especially when all you want to do is talk to your friends. They also may have just had breakfast because they were running late (not their fault) then had to rush to class and didn't get to play at all. They may have just had a "fight" with a friend on the playground where someone wasn't very nice to them that they're still upset about. Having some structured play time first thing in the morning to let them decompress and socialize positively with their friends is an awesome way to start the day. It will make them look forward to coming to school and getting to class on time.

Have clear expectations and rules.

Kids come in, put away their things, do their daily graphing question, and pick a table to work at.

Each table has a different activity like:
- Fun Pattern Block activities
- Bottle cap word building activities
- Educational board games (anything involving dice is educational in my opinion)
- Any math or literacy centers they loved during the year but have since been put away

Once they pick a table, that is their table for the entire morning time. There is no moving tables. First come, first serve.

This is another time the voice level chart I talked about above comes into play. They HAVE to use the level it says (I recommend Level 2 or 3) or they lose the privilege. Encourage them to talk though! Don't make it have to be super quiet inside voices, that's no fun and won't get their crazy out. They need this time to socialize like they would on the playground.

It also gives you time to do attendance, lunch count, and anything else you need to do first thing in the morning. Let them know it's a rule that they cannot talk to you during this play time because, just like it's their time, it's also your time to prepare for the day. If they need to turn something in or bring you something, they simply place it in your "INBOX" and go to their morning tubs. If they need to tell you something their parents told them to tell you, they know to write it down on a piece of scratch paper (always have scratch paper available somewhere for your kids) and put it in your inbox. It'll be inventive spelling and that's okay. If they are super reluctant writers or you teach pre-K or K, tell them to just write their name on a notepad and put it in your inbox so you remember to ask them about it. Be firm that there is absolutely no talking to you during this time. If they come up to you, point to the scratch paper. This will also allow you to decompress and start the day positive. In my opinion, you get a lot more done when you start the day this way because the kids aren't all wound up.

If you're wondering how to justify it to yourself or your principal since there's already so little time to fit everything in during the day (or at least that's the perception), the tubs at each table are educational so it's really just another small round of centers, NOT uneducational free time... and it's only 20 minutes. How much do those little morning work sheets actually teach them anyway? Aren't they really just something to keep them quiet? Why? Let them review in a fun way instead and start the day off positively. :)

When it's time to start the day, give them a 5 minute warning so they can start mentally preparing for play time to be over. When it's been 20 minutes, calmly let them know it's time to clean up. They should know to do this quickly and quietly if they want to keep the morning play time privilege.

25. Play "Quietest Line"
If you're having an issue with your kids talking in line when you're walking somewhere, split the line up into 2 lines next to each other and have a "Quiet Line" competition. Kids love being first, especially if you're walking to lunch or recess or another fun activity they want to get to as soon as possible. Tell kids you're looking for the quietest line. Whenever you arrive at your destination, that line gets to go first. If they were both absolutely silent, let the first line go then the second line right after. However, if there WAS redirection, hold the 2nd line back for a little while after the 1st line (the quietest line) has already gone. Even if it's just 30 seconds or a minute, they will not like seeing their friends run off onto the playground while they're still standing there.

To really make it effective, you can hold up both your hands on either side of your face while facing your 2 lines and walking backwards down the hall to do the 5 finger game with them. How many fingers you're holding up is the amount of points for that line. If someone in the line on the right talks, you put down a finger on your right hand (the hand closest to that line). If someone in the line on the left talks, you'd put down a finger on the left hand. This is an easy way to keep score and they will be so focused on your hands that they'll forget to talk anyway.

Alright! That's a lot of strategies! :) I hope you found some that can work for your class to try out. Let me know in the comments if you tried any of these and how they worked! Also let me know if you do any of these currently and if they work for you. Classroom management can be tough but it's key and there are so many little tricks that can make the school days easier. I really hope some of these were helpful for you!

If you want the voice level chart and posters, "Blurt Beans" label, student vs. teacher 10 frames, blurt alert forms, blurt dessert cards, blurts hurt poster, and all that fun stuff, they're in my:

Chatty Class Classroom Management Pack

As always, thank you for reading my rambling! I know my blog posts are long but I always want to pack as much info in as I can to help!

Happy teaching!

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25 Chatty Class Classroom Management Strategies for Overly Talkative Students

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Have a chatty class? Do your talkative students get louder and louder during small groups until it feels like chaos? Do they talk when you're talking then ask you what the directions were as soon as you finish? Don't worry. This is totally normal. And completely fixable. Really!

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Simple Strategies to Manage Classroom Behaviors

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Simple strategies to monitor and manage classroom behaviors and turn your classroom management style into a positive learning environment.

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Has classroom management been a struggle? Listen to discover how you can create an effective classroom management plan that will actually work!

listen here:

why you need a written classroom management plan

Step 1: clarify your expectations

So many issues arise in our classrooms because we haven't actually thought through what we expect of our students. Sometimes we assume students know what they should do without defining what exactly that looks like. So it's very important that we think through every area of our classroom and actually spend time deciding what behavior is and isn't appropriate.

Here are some examples of the types of questions we want to ask ourselves: How should students enter the classroom? Do they go straight to their desk? Are they allowed to visit with friends? What are the expectations there? How should students sit at their desks? When is talking permitted and when is it not, and what level is appropriate? Are students allowed to blurt out answers without raising their hand? If so, when and when not? For what reasons are students allowed to get out of their seats? Will students be held responsible if they fail to bring certain supplies, or will you provide extras? What do you expect from students regarding participation and effort? When are students allowed to use the restroom? What does it look like for students to treat others with respect and what does it look like when they're not respectful?

Okay. These types of questions are getting at clarity, because if you're not clear in your own mind what is an issue in your classroom and what you want it to look like instead, you can never communicate that with your students. You also won't have confidence in your mind about knowing what to address and what not to. So getting clear on your expectations is really key, and writing that down can be immensely helpful as well. So that's step one, clarify your expectations.

step 2: determine your procedures

Expectations and procedures are sometimes lumped together, but I think it's helpful to think of them separately. Here, we are talking about expectations in terms of behavior. What type of behavior am I expecting in all these various situations? Procedures are about what is actually happening in the class. One example of a procedure is: students turn in papers by passing their paper to the person on the left and the last person in the row puts it in the turn-in box. Another procedure is: when we use the restroom, we line up here and 3 students go in at a time.

Now, expectations and procedures do meld together. For example, my procedure for the restroom break would also include expectations for how students will behave. I need both expectations and procedures for restroom break time or for the start of class or for homework. But when you're thinking about procedures, you're thinking specifically about the tactical piece of it. Tactically, what are we going to do? How is this going to work in all these different areas of the classroom?

There are so many areas to think through, such as, start of class, restroom breaks, passing in papers, grading papers, signing out hall passes, getting tissues, lining up, passing back papers, regaining attention, emergency drills, homework, late work, absent students, and so many more.

When you think through every area of your class, think through, "How do we do this?" and "What would help this run smoothly and efficiently?" If you are a new teacher and you've never taught before, you have to think through literally every area. If you've taught in the past, you can take a little bit of a shortcut and just ask yourself, "Which areas were really chaotic? Which things did not go smoothly? In what areas did things get a little crazy?" Ask, "What would make this run more smoothly?" Rethink those procedures and once again, write them down because it forces you to get really clear on exactly what you want it to look like.

step 3: plan positive reinforcement

We definitely don't want negative attention to be the main way students get attention from us. Both natural consequences and positive benefits occur every day in real life, so it's great when our classrooms reflect that reality. We should definitely plan ways to positively reinforce good behavior, good actions, and all the things that our students are doing that we want to encourage.

It's good to plan this so that it doesn't fall through the cracks. Once again, you can say, "Oh yeah, I'm always encouraging. I'll do that for sure." But if you don't plan it, it may or may not happen as much as you want. So it's good to spend a little time in your classroom management plan thinking about how you are going to have positive reinforcement.

There are a couple different ways this can look. You could have a structured reward or encouragement system, like class dojo, class economy points, sticker charts, etc. You can have a structured program or just do it as it makes sense, but you want to think through and plan that. Even if you decide not to use an official system, you still want to think ahead of time, "Okay, what are some things I want to look for? What are some things I want to acknowledge and encourage?"

Once again, if you're a new teacher, you definitely want to think that through. If you're a veteran, you can be more reflective and think about whether or not what you did before worked and if not, consider how you want to be more intentional with positive reinforcement this year. If you need some reward ideas that are free or inexpensive, head to 60+ Classroom Reward Ideas.

step 4: Plan logical consequences

We want to plan some consequences that we can use in our classroom as they're needed. If you're not sure if consequences should be part of your classroom, check out Why Classrooms Need Consequences.

We are going to talk about how to actually plan this. The first thing you want to do with consequences is make sure you understand your school's discipline system, know what consequences are available to you there, and what types of offenses are supposed to result in certain consequences in your school-wide system. It's important to start there, make sure you understand that and have that incorporated into your classroom first.

Depending on how your school is structured, that might cover most things or that might cover hardly anything. So once you make sure you understand your school's discipline system, then you want to consider what misbehavior or issues are not covered there and find some consequences to fill in those holes. For example, when I was teaching, our school had detentions. So that was part of the school-wide discipline system and they were appropriate for certain offenses.

But detention was a very big deal at the school that I taught at. It was two hours long and it cost $20. So it was not designed for really small infractions like talking in class. Instead, a lot of the teachers came up with smaller consequences that they could use for smaller offenses and saved the detentions for bigger or repetitive issues. If you're not sure what ideas to use, we do have a consequence ideas list at 30 Logical Classroom Consequence Ideas.

step 5: plan out how to respond

What you want to do is plan what you're actually going to say or do when various behaviors occur. This is where the rubber meets the road and where you really get your confidence and can be consistent.

Start with your positive reinforcement. Look back at what you've planned for positive reinforcement and actually think about, "What am I going to say when I'm encouraging students for their behavior?" Maybe even practice it. Write it down so that you're ready to go.

Then think through misbehavior. You want to plan exactly what you'll say and how you'll respond to all kinds of common classroom issues. If a student is talking without permission, what are you going to say? Write it down. If they're blurting answers, if they're disrupting class, if they're disrespectful, if they're rude to classmates, if they get out of their seat, if they're not completing their work - think through all these areas. Think, "What am I going to do when students do these things? How am I going to respond?" That involves both thinking about what you're going to do and exactly how you're going to say it. Write out exactly what you're going to say. That is so helpful. If you've been struggling, that level of detail in your plan will give you so much confidence and help.

some practical ideas

Here are a few quick ideas on addressing misbehavior:

Re-do: One option is to have students re-do it the right way. For example, if a student runs into class, you can say, "You need to go back out and come in correctly." That could be a response that you planned.

Re-direct: A re-direct is when you divert students' attention back to refocus them on what they should be doing. That can be an appropriate way to deal with certain issues.

Quick correct: Certain things just need a quick correction. For example, if a student has their head on the desk, they probably don't need a consequence. You can just say, "George, please sit up."

A Warning System: A warning system can be really helpful. If you've been following Teach4theHeart for some time, you've heard about warning systems, but a warning system is basically where you give students official warnings with a yellow card, or class dojo, or writing names on the board, etc. This works really well for something like talking where you would give one or two official warnings and possibly not give a consequence until the third offense in the given class period.

Pocket Phrases: A pocket phrase is a saying you pull out of your pocket that you have ready to go, and you use it repeatedly. Love & Logic has a lot of these, but an example is something like, "I care about you too much to argue with you." So that's a phrase you can pull out whenever a student is arguing.

A "Catch-All" Phrase: I definitely recommend that you have a catch-all phrase that you can use whenever there is a situation where you don't know what to do. As much as you plan, there's always going to be something that throws you off. That is just a teacher's life. So you want to have a catch-all phrase ready that you can pull out and use if you don't know what to do. One example is, "See me after class." That shows the whole class that you're going to deal with it, but you have some time to think about it first. Another one that you can use, and this one comes from Love & Logic, is, "I'm going to have to do something about that." Similar idea, right?

I hope that walking through this is really helpful for you and that you're starting to see how valuable this can be. Imagine starting the school year with this type of plan. You will come in confident and you'll know how to handle issues. When you handle issues consistently starting the first day of school, something magical happens: students really respond to that.

want help creating your plan?

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How to Create a Classroom Management Plan that Works

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In this post you'll learn how to make a classroom management plan. If you feel like it is difficult to maintain control of your class, having a written plan will be a huge help. This post will help you be prepared with strategies to handle any situation that arises in your class.

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The SCM principle of being consistently pleasant has many and tremendous benefits. Chief among them is that it builds effortless rapport.

By taking on an easygoing, good-humored disposition, your students will come to you and want to get to know you better. This in turn makes the relationship easy, organic, and powerfully influential.

But you can still mess it up.

You can still say the wrong thing. You can still make students feel awkward and disappointed and thus weaken your influence. So what follows are three guidelines to ensure that when your students do approach you, your rapport only gets stronger.

Always let the student guide the conversation. Be a backboard and respond to them by asking light questions. Be curious and open and they will talk and talk.

Never under any circumstance use your conversation as an opportunity to talk to them about their behavior or academics or anything related to how they're doing in your class.

The most important key to remember is to have zero ulterior motives or strings attached. Few adults actually listen to kids. So when you do, your likability and sway will soar.

Too many teachers overact when trying to build rapport with students. They exaggerate their smiles, facial expressions, and body language.

They crank up their enthusiasm, talk too much and too loud, and work way too hard. It's unnatural and a definite turn off to students, even of primary age.

Stop trying to please or sell your students on anything. Instead, relax. Be matter-of-fact. You can even be kindly gruff. Respond casually and authentically and let the conversation breathe.

Of course there are things you won't reveal about yourself and your life-and should not. Always maintain a professional distance. Otherwise, however, it's best to play it straight. If you don't like video games or soccer, then say so.

If they ask if you something personal, then say it's none of their business.

Inauthenticity causes distrust. This is especially so with challenging students who've been subject to near-constant manipulation, false praise, and flattery. Eye contact and the truth works wonders.

Another benefit to staying within the parameters above is that when you learn more about your students you like them more as people.

Choosing to like and see the best in them changes at the subconscious root how you behave around them. Your students will always know whether you like them or not. It's something you can't hide.

If they believe (or know) you don't like them, then you'll never have mutual trust and rapport or personal influence over their motivation, behavior, and work habits.

Again, the secret to building rapport is easy. Just be pleasant and let your students come to you. Once they approach, just listen. Be yourself. Tell the truth. If you don't have time to talk, say so. If you run out of time, say so.

There is a lot to this topic, as well as the topic of choosing to like your students. For more on both, check out the search bar at the top of the page or the archive at right.

The book Dream Class also covers each topic thoroughly.

Finally, if you haven't done so already, please join us. It's free! Click here and begin receiving classroom management articles like this one in your email box every week.

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What To Say To Build Rapport With Students Smart Classroom Management

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The SCM principle of being consistently pleasant has many and tremendous benefits. Chief among them is that it builds effortless rapport. By taking on an easygoing, good-humored disposition, your students will come to you and want to get to know you better. This in ... Read more

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Have a chatty class? Do your talkative students get louder and louder during small groups until it feels like chaos? Do they talk when you're talking then ask you what the directions were as soon as you finish?

Don't worry. This is totally normal. And completely fixable. Really!

Here are some simple but effective classroom management strategies for taming talkative students and getting that side chatter under control! Make sure you read them all so you can find the ones that are perfect for you and your class - I packed a lot of tips and tricks in this!

This works like a charm. If you're going to be giving directions, teaching a mini lesson, reading a book out loud, etc.: Tell the students to listen for a secret word (ex: kangaroo, watermelon, etc.) that you will randomly insert in your talking. The first person to raise their hand when you say this word (it's super exciting for them!) gets some sort of prize - a sticker, a ticket, time on the computer - or just the satisfaction of being the person who got it first. Insert the word toward the end of your directions so they hear them all and the daydreaming students don't lose focus after the fun word has been said. They will be hanging on your every word, with their hands ready. If their friends try to talk to them, they will probably ignore them so they don't get distracted and miss the secret word.

Another way to get students to not talk while you give directions is to play "Beat the Timer." You can make this a fun challenge for them! Any time you start talking, students have no idea if you're going to give them 1 minute directions or go on a 10 minute ramble so they're likely to just start talking when you do.

Tell them that if they can "beat the timer," they'll get some free time to chat. Make it seem like a game. Set a kitchen timer for how long you want to talk for. Tell them that if no one talks before it goes off, they get free time to chat after you're done! I recommend starting out at only 2 or 3 minutes then slowly working up to 10-15 minutes or however long your mini lessons are. If no one talks, you'll set the timer to give them 1-2 minutes to freely talk after you're done. If just one person talks, they don't get the chat time. They don't want to be the one to make everyone miss out and will also regulate each other.

Kids will do anything to get this free time to chat for a minute! Plus, if they know there's an end in sight to your talking and have an incentive to stay quiet, they will. You can project an online timer on your interactive white board if you have one or put the kitchen timer under your document camera if you want them to be able to see it. Seeing it count down might help especially impulsive kids control themselves. However, if you notice they're all looking at the timer rather than listening, don't provide the visual. I personally say don't show it to them so they don't see how long you're going to talk for and sigh when it's a high number like 10-15 minutes. For really young kids, you can also break 15 minute lessons up into chunks - you talk 5 minutes, give them a minute to chat about it, you talk 4 minutes, give them a minute to chat, you talk 3 minutes, give them a minute to chat.

If they talk before the timer goes off, act sad, "Aw man! Someone talked. I guess we won't get talk time. Let's try harder next time." and that person will think twice about doing it again because their friends definitely know who they were, you don't need to say it. If they don't talk before the timer goes off, let them have free time chatting for 1-3 minutes at the carpet or their desks, wherever they were when you gave directions. Set the timer so they hear it go off when it's time to stop chatting and get to the next activity. Also enforce that when they hear the chat timer go off, they must get straight to work or they won't get to play "beat the timer" next time you talk. Having a timer will also force you to make your directions concise. It's easy as a teacher to repeat things or ramble, especially when being constantly interrupted, so timers actually help me keep directions simple and to the point.

3. Play "Students vs. Teacher" or "Table Points" to make staying quiet a competition.

In that post, I show it using tallies but you can also use 10 frames or even 20 frames to connect it with learning!

You can get the "Students" and "Teacher" labels and ten frame mats in my Chatty Class Classroom Management pack. There's also extra ten frames so you can make it 20 frames.

I stuck magnet dots on the back of math cubes so I can easily fill the frames but you could use circle magnets or fun themed magnets (or put magnet dots on the backs of fun holiday objects like spiders for Halloween) to fill up the ten frames depending on the season.

By the way, I totally recommend sticking magnets dots on math manipulatives like this to use during math instruction on the board!

For Students vs. Teacher, whoever fills their 10 frame first wins! If the students win, they get something (ex: 10 minutes extra recess or free time). If you win, just make up a prize for yourself - they don't need to know if you did or not :) Maybe make your prize ice cream because if you win... that means your class was c-razy and you deserve ice cream. Hopefully your class always beats you! :)

4. Read books about being too chatty!

There are some fantastic books to read aloud that address specific behaviors.

Check out this awesome list of books organized by behavior that you can read to your class to have great classroom discussions about their behavior:

Check out the books in the categories "Blurting & Interrupting," "Overly Chatty," "Using Your Inside Voice," and "Listening" - these are seriously awesome books that will help a ton!

Kids love to talk. If they know they can talk during your lesson, they're more likely to stay quiet in between (or at least can be trained to be). Let them talk but make it relate to the lesson. If they know they're going to have to explain what you said to the person next to them, they'll listen so they don't say "uhhh" when it's time to share. Every kid should have an A/B partner at their carpet spot (if you don't have assigned carpet spots, do that yesterday!) and at their desks that stays the same. Every kid is either an A or a B (you can make it a cutesy name like chips and salsa, monkeys and bananas, etc. if you want) and that is what they always are so it's known and doesn't take time to explain each time. If their partner is absent that day, let them join the 2 people next to them as a C so there's no physical moving involved.

After you explain something, say "As tell Bs what I just said" or "Bs explain to As how to..." or "As what do you think about [insert open ended question relating to the lesson]" so they never know if you're going to have As talk or Bs talk. If you don't assign it, they'll figure they don't have to listen because their partner will OR the more dominant kid will always talk. This gets everyone listening and talking about the lesson. Do it several times during your lessons, directions, or read alouds. It seriously works wonders!

Blurt cubes are AWESOME. If you have a few super chatty kids, you can do it just with them or you can do it with the whole class.

Every kid has 5 cubes on their desk that spell BLURT. Their goal is to keep them saying BLURT all day.

If they blurt or talk while you're talking, you discreetly give them the blurt signal (look directly at them and hold up your hand in front of your chest showing the letter B in sign language) while continuing to talk. A quiet signal doesn't interrupt your lesson but they know to redirect themselves. The other kids will also see you give the signal and it'll remind them not to blurt either. When a student sees you give them the blurt signal, they know to switch their cube to upside down so it no longer shows the T in "Blurt" - the next time, they'd lose the R, then the U, etc. They cannot earn them back. Having the cubes on their desk is a great visual, yet private, reminder for especially impulsive kids.

If they have all the letters in BLURT at the end of the day, they get a "Blurt Dessert" card! Make the blurt dessert something really appealing like a few minutes of free time at the end of the day while the kids who lost letters work on unfinished work. If you have a really chatty and/or impulsive class, I recommend doing 2 rounds of blurt cubes halfway through the day with a known time it resets about halfway through each day (before lunch and after lunch, for example) so an impulsive kid doesn't immediately give up for the whole day when they lose 1 cube.

You can also make the rewards "shaded"... the more cubes they have, the more privileges they get sooner. "If you have all of your Blurt cubes, line up for recess [those kids line up], if you have 4 of your cubes still, line up [those kids line up]," and so on. If you let the kids go to the free time, they go in that order. If you let the kids talk at their tables, the non-blurters can talk first then after 30 seconds, let the 4 cubes join in, then the 3 cubes, etc. That way, if a kid loses 1 cube, they still have incentive to not lose any more cubes.

If they lose ALL of their cubes, you can have them fill out a "Blurt Alert" sheet.

They can either take it home to their parents to sign and return or you can keep it in your records.

These blurt alerts and desserts are also in my Chatty Class pack. I love the Blurt Dessert cards for recognizing kids who don't blurt (it's easy for the quiet ones to get ignored) - you can have them collect them and then turn them in for rewards or prizes.

This is another favorite trick of mine that is pure GOLD for independent work time during math or literacy centers - those times when you're sitting at a small groups table and can't actively manage the classroom.

When independent work time begins, pick a well-behaved child to be the Quiet Manager and give them a 2-minute sand timer from the dollar store.

They flip the timer and stand at the front of the classroom or wherever they can see all the students best. They are looking for the quietest, hardest working student to be the next Quiet Manager. They EAT. THIS. UP. Just being able to get out of their seats for a second and stand at the front of the class with an important job for 2 minutes is a huge incentive. The quiet manager is looking for kids who don't look up (unless it's to see the word wall or a reference chart), are focused on their work, and aren't talking at all. Everyone will be working quietly to try to get chosen. When their sand timer runs out, their job is over and they quietly tap the person they thought was working hardest. They sit back down to do their work and the person they tapped goes to the front, flips the timer, and does the same thing. You can be picked more than once (otherwise kids won't care once they've been picked) but be sure to talk to them about not just picking your friends. Tell them exactly what desired behaviors to look for when you explain the job and tell them how it's a super important job to keep the class quiet and hard working. :) They DON'T walk around between desks/tables, they stand in one place with their timer. It may sound like it's distracting but it's really not - especially when all the kids know looking up at the quiet manager will make them not get chosen since not looking up is one of the desired behaviors the quiet manager is looking for. It's a GREAT, simple way to keep your kids quiet and working while you're trying to do small groups! Note: If there is center time where your kids are allowed to talk then the quiet manager is looking for kids who are working at a reasonable voice level and not loud, are staying in their seats, and are focused on their work.

8. Make blurting a clip down level offense.

If you use a behavior chart in your classroom, make students clip down when they blurt. I talk all about how to use behavior charts effectively in the classroom in this post - I highly recommend it if you use a behavior clip chart. I explain how to keep it positive and how to keep it working all year by switching out the chart for a new one each month to keep it fresh and exciting! I also show all the fun charts I use all year for different holidays and themes. You can make your clip chart a really fun, positive classroom management tool with these tricks. :)

This one should be used sparingly, of course, but it's great if you know you need to teach a long lesson or really want them to listen to something. Plus they'll think you're the coolest teacher ever. Give each kid one of those giant marshmallows that fills their whole mouth. Tell them to keep it in their mouth the entire time you're talking - don't chew or swallow it. Anyone who still has the marshmallow in their mouth after you're done talking gets a brand new yummy marshmallow!

They'll definitely remember this lesson so you can use it all year to tell them how you want their mouths. Simply say "marshmallows" and they know to puff out their cheeks as if they have a marshmallow in their mouths. You can also keep the theme by having a bag of mini marshmallows that you occasionally bring out and quietly/casually place one on the desks of kids who are working quietly. Place just one marshmallow on a desk and every kid will be so quiet hoping to get one too. This works with any kind of food! Don't feel like you have to give them a handful - just one pretzel, one cracker, etc. is enough to quiet everyone down - you can come around more than once to the same kid if they're super quiet, it'll just keep encouraging the others to be, and continue to be, quiet to earn more.

You can do this in many different ways but the goal is to fill up the jar to earn prizes along the way. Write class rewards on colored tape to put on the jar. The prizes get better as they fill up the jar! I like having prizes along the way so the awesome big prize doesn't seem so far away and it keeps their motivation high. Fill in fun prizes on tape to put on the jar and when the jar gets to that line, they get that prize!

I love pinto beans because they are small so it takes a long time to fill up a jar... and they're cheap! Plus, you probably have some in a cabinet somewhere already that you keep meaning to pull out as math manipulatives. :)

Every day, each kid gets 5 (or 3 or whatever you decide) blurt beans to start the day. I recommend they keep them on their name tag. THEY are responsible for keeping track of them. If they lose them, oh well. If they blurt out or talk while you're talking, you quickly and discreetly take away a bean from them or tell them to go put a bean in the blurt beans jar. Have another jar on your desk or somewhere you drop them into. I wouldn't have it displayed necessarily but it's nice to have as a visual during a firm look-at-all-the-beans-we-could've-put-in-our-jar-toward-our-goals talk on a particularly crazy day - but don't do that often at all - keep this as positive as possible! At the end of the day, all the kids drop their beans into the class rewards jar which is exciting to see it fill up more and more toward the lines.

I love that the beans don't have names or identifying features on them. They're working together to fill up the jar so no beans will be stolen, they'll be careful to not knock other peoples' beans onto the floor (beans on the floor that aren't yours immediately go in the blurt beans jar), and they'll encourage friends to be quiet. You could also have an individual blurt bean jar for a super chatty kid if you just have 1 blurter and your class is otherwise quiet.

For younger kids (kindergarten and first grade), you may need to break it up a lot more than 5 to manage all day (although you'd be amazed how well they'll protect their beans when there are rewards are involved). In this case, do 1 bean per lesson. Have someone's job be the Blurt Bean Manager. When you tell them to, they go get a handful of beans, hand each kid 1, and put the rest back in the jar. Every time you want to do a lesson, independent work time, read aloud, or any time you want them to be quiet, each kid gets 1 bean. If they're listening on the carpet, have them hold it in their folded hands so it is also a physical reminder.

If they talk during the lesson, they have to give you their bean. At the end of your lesson, hold the class rewards jar and let the kids who kept their bean quickly drop in their bean (while you say, "Good job" with a smile) on their way back to their seats or, if they're already in their seats, go around while they're working with the jar to collect their bean and smile at them when they drop it in. You can also have bean collecting be the Blurt Bean Managers' job. Be sure to say positive things like, "Wow! Look at all the beans we earned from good listening! We're getting closer to the [whatever next reward is] line!"

Never take beans out of the jar. Once they earn it, it's theirs. It's a really fun twist on the class jar!

11. Use a voice level chart.
I LOVE voice level charts. I don't think it's enough to just say "inside voice" or "outside voice" to young kids because they'll just start out in a quiet voice and progressively get louder. Sound familiar?

Have a visual displayed that tells them exactly the voice you want them to use. I love my animal themed voice level chart! Put a clip on the voice level you want them to be using at that moment and they can easily look up at any time to see where it should be.

When you first introduce the chart, practice each level with the kids. Make it fun and be dramatic. When you practice "Loud Lion" ask what sound a lion makes... ROAR! Then talk in a super loud voice and say that's what a loud lion sounds like. Should we ever use that voice inside? Nooo. Only on the playground or outside.

Practice every single one. This may sound silly but some of your kids might not know how to whisper. Have you ever had a student who has a whisper that seems louder than talking? Practice whispering. Have them touch their throats while they talk to feel the vibration. Then have them touch it while whispering. Tell them they shouldn't feel any vibration while whispering. That usually does the trick. :)

I like having full page posters of the voice level displayed next to the chart too so kids can see it from anywhere in the room. Simply print them, put them on a binder ring, and flip it to the current voice level. As you can see, I clipped "Inside Iguanas" so kids should be using their inside voices so I would then flip the animal poster to the iguana poster so kids can see it across the room for easy reference. Make sure you keep up with it so kids know they can reference it at any time. You could have it be a students' job to flip it. Anything you can delegate or that doesn't have you use your voice (constant verbal reminders are fun for no one), the happier teacher you will be!

What about when it's "Quiet Turtle" time??

12. The Quiet Turtle

The bottom of the voice level chart is called Quiet Turtle. The quiet turtle is a big deal, my friends. When I say, "It's turtle time!" that means all voices are off until further notice.

To keep up with the theme, occasionally tell kids you're looking for quiet turtles to give a sticker/treat/ticket/etc. too. You only have to give 1 or 2 out to get complete silence.

My favorite part, though, is to have a quiet turtle! Get a turtle stuffed animal and let your kids name him. Mine is Tommy. He is the "quiet turtle." Be sure to tell your kids he doesn't like loud classrooms so he only comes out when it's really quiet. He likes to sit by the kids who are being the quietest.

You could say something like, "Tommy wants to come out but he's looking for quiet turtle friends." when it gets noisy and when they get really quiet, bring him out and place him on the desk of someone being quiet. They can hold him while they do their work. After a few minutes, Tommy goes to a new quiet friend. They'll be super quiet to get the turtle!

You could also make mini quiet turtles! I LOVE my little quiet turtles!

Place them on the desks of kids working really quietly.

Make sure you tell them the quiet turtles don't like being touched by anyone other than you so if you touch it, you're going to scare it so you'll lose it. They also don't like noise so if you talk, you lose it. Keep it fun and act like they're caring for a pet. For some reason, having the little turtle on their desk to take care of is incentive enough to not talk sometimes! Only use this method occasionally or it'll lose its excitement. With all behavior tricks, you want to vary it up and keep it exciting!

How cute are these little turtles though? They're super easy to make! Use a hot glue gun to put a 1" light green pom on a 1.5" dark green pom. Add wiggle eyes and green felt feet and you've got a little turtle. :)

13. Play music
Some teachers find this helpful, others don't. Play instrumental or classical music while they work. It does have a sort of soothing feel and fills up the need for noise so it can keep students quiet during work time. Tell them if you can't hear the music, you're too loud. They only get the music if they can work quietly, otherwise it's silence.

14. The 5 Finger Game
If you want to explain something or give directions, hold up your hand with 5 fingers up against you at chest level. The kids copy you (hands against their chests so it's not distracting to them or others). If someone talks, blurts, or interrupts, you put down a finger. All the kids copy you immediately. If you can get through the directions with all your fingers up, they get 2 minutes to chat before the activity (or earn some type of reward but I like instant rewards when possible). If you still have 3 or 4 fingers up, they get 1 minute. Only 2 or 3 fingers, they get no talk time. 1 or less, some type of punishment like losing recess time. You can alter the times and number of fingers to fit your class. The beauty of it is that they have to copy you... so they have to be at least looking at you while you talk. If someone doesn't put their finger down when you do in a timely manner, the class loses another finger. Don't say who did it but say, "Uh oh. Someone didn't copy in time. We lost another finger." so they know everyone has to pay attention. Holding up their hand is also a physical reminder for those especially blurt-y kids to control themselves.

15. The Whisper Game
Another effective game is the whisper game. When you want to get their attention and start talking, say in a really quiet voice, "If you can hear me, [your name] says to put your finger on your nose." Only a few kids will probably hear you the first time. Keep going. "If you can hear me, [your name] says put your hands on your hand" and other funny little motions as you get more and more kids' attention. They'll think it's fun and the other kids will join in. Once you have the attention of the whole class, do the "If you can hear me, clap your hands" or something where you DON'T say [your name] says (they only are supposed to do it if you say that before the task, just like the popular game) to end it in a fun way then start your spiel. :)

16. Copy My Clap
When you want to get the attention of a noisy class quickly, clap out a rhythm. They know to clap back the exact same rhythm. Only some kids will clap back the first time most likely. Clap the same rhythm again (hopefully most will do it back). Now do a new rhythm. Keep doing rhythms until you get everyones' attention. Smile while you do it so it's a fun thing! I like to clap out a really difficult fun rhythm for the last clap because kids think it's funny. The goal is always to use your voice as little as possible so you can keep your energy and honestly, using your voice to tell kids to quiet down is just as effective as talking to a wall most of the time so you want as many nonverbal strategies as you can get.
17. Cute and fun call backs
If you DO use your voice, have it be simple and quick like fun callbacks. There are a ton of them out there. I recommend only using a couple so they actually remember what to say back. One fun example is you say, "Holy moly!" and your kids say, "Guacamole!"

I talked about this in my popular 20 Classroom Management Strategies You Can Start Right Away blog post - change your voice so they have to match it! It keeps the call backs exciting. For example, say holy moly in a squeaky high pitched voice and they have to say guacamole back in the same type of squeaky high pitched voice. You can change your pitch (high/low), tone (sassy, angry, excited, etc.), speed (say it really fast, draaaaag out every word) for a ton of variety!

18. The Singing Trick
When you want to get their attention, just start singing a song they know. It can be a well known kids' song, a holiday song, or even a popular song they like from the radio. If you start singing, they know to join in. They also know to look at you because you're going to end the song at any moment with "the signal" and they don't want to be caught singing by themselves. :) The signal to abruptly stop singing is you put quickly both hands up on either side of your face shoulder width apart. If they see this, they immediately stop singing and do it too. When everyone's hands are up, they copy your motions as you bring your 2 palms together in front of your face, lock your fingers, and bring your folded hands down to your lap. Also put a marshmallow in your mouth for them to copy as you do this. Now they're ready to listen! I love it because you can't sing and talk at the same time so it brings all conversations to an immediate halt in a fun way.

19. Teach them silent signals to kindly ask classmates to be quiet.
Peer pressure works wonders. A lot of the strategies I've mentioned work well because the kids help each other be quiet. Make sure they're doing it kindly by teaching them quiet signals. It's not nice to "Shh!" someone but you can give them a silent signal to refocus them. Teach them that if someone talks to them during quiet time to hold their pointer finger up to their lips in the "quiet" signal then point to what they're focusing on. So, if the teacher is talking, they would put their finger to their lip then use it to quickly point to the teacher. This will tell the person trying to disturb them to stop and remind them where they should be looking. If they're supposed to be silently working on their classwork, they do the "quiet" signal with their finger then use it to point to their work. If kids know that's what they're supposed to do, they won't think it's "mean" when kids do it to them; instead, it'll remind them what they should be focused on. Young kids want to be accepted so they're way more likely to listen to a peer tell them to be quiet than you. Also explain to them that if someone is talking TO you and you're not stopping it with a quiet signal, you're just as guilty as the talker. If they do the quiet signal to someone twice in a row and the person keeps talking to them, then they must REPORT that to you. (To read my post explaining tattling vs. reporting: How to Tackle Tattling) Then, the talker also knows that they will for sure be in trouble if they don't listen to their friend's quiet signal.

20. Privacy Folders
Sometimes there are kids who just constantly need to chat at their seats. If someone has to report to you multiple times that they're being bothered, have them use a privacy folder. Each kid should have an empty simple 2-pocket folder that they can pull out to stand up on their desk to work inside of. The folders will stand up on their own when they're empty. I totally recommend using them for tests so kids can't look at each other's work. Kids keep them in an easily accessible place so if they just keep talking when you've asked them to be quiet, say, "I guess we need our privacy folders" and have them all put up their folders. I recommend letting kids know they can pull them out on their own when they really want to focus and/or someone is distracting them.

21. Flexible Seating
You've probably heard about flexible seating all over the place recently. It's a huge trend this year taking over classrooms and many teachers swear by it for behavior management. Have alternative seating options students can use or go to during the day to work at. Some people have switched completely to alternative seating and some teachers just have a few options for places kids can go. Here is a huge list of flexible seating options and ideas if you're interested in trying it out!

22. The "Blurts Hurt" Lesson
So this may sound crazy but give an interrupting lesson to teach empathy and how "blurts hurt."

Kids may not realize how it actually hurts you when they interrupt you. They just think you're telling them to be quiet because it's a rule but may not realize that they're not being a good friend to you. Building classroom community is important and you, as their teacher, are a part of it just like they are. First, bring them to the carpet. Then, start by telling them how blurts hurt and when they interrupt you or talk when you're talking, it makes you feel sad. Then, ask them a really fun open ended question that will get them talking if you call on them like, "If you could have 3 brand new toys, what would they be?" or "If you were the principal, what would you do?" Let them think about it for a second and raise their hands. Let's say you ask what superpower they would have and why.

Call on someone. When they get 3-5 words into their sentence, loudly exclaim, "I'd love to be able to see through walls so I could sneak up on my friends!" to interrupt them then quickly say, "Anyone else want to share?" They'll raise their hands, call on a new kid. When they get about 3-5 words into their sentence, start a random conversation with the kid closest to you on the rug, "I got a puppy yesterday. We named him Jim." Do it a couple more times (keep it light so they think it's funny) then say, "That wasn't very nice of me to not listen to my friends, huh? How do you think it made them feel when I interrupted them or didn't listen?" to start a conversation about what it feels like when someone doesn't listen to you when you're talking and why it's important to be a kind listener. Of course don't interrupt them during this share or again. Sometimes I think it's important to remind students that WE are humans with feelings too and the way they act can hurt our feelings.

23. Have a lot of hands on activities.
If you read my blog, you know I have A TON of hands on resources in my TpT store for math and reading. You can read blog posts to see my math centers and activities in action by clicking on the math concept you want to see (place value, fractions, telling time, composing shapes, fact fluency, making a 10 to add, etc.) on my MATH page. I also think it's great to have fun activities like Secret Sight Words cards they can do when they're done with their work so they don't bother their friends who are still working.

24. Give them time to socialize first thing in the morning.
Give them about 20 minutes first thing in the morning to play and socialize with their friends. I know, I know. It might get crazy and loud while you're trying to take attendance. Your principal might walk in and see "unfocused" kids playing (gasp!) first thing in the morning. It's a waste of instructional time they could be doing "morning work." Play and building social skills isn't a waste in my opinion but that's a whole other blog post. :)

When your kids come in first thing in the morning, they have a million things on the tip of their tongues that they want to share with their friends (They lost a tooth last night! They went to a baseball game last night! Their little brother did something funny this morning!) and also just came in from before-school recess. It's hard to go from 60 to 0, from running outside at recess to coming in to a quiet classroom, especially when all you want to do is talk to your friends. They also may have just had breakfast because they were running late (not their fault) then had to rush to class and didn't get to play at all. They may have just had a "fight" with a friend on the playground where someone wasn't very nice to them that they're still upset about. Having some structured play time first thing in the morning to let them decompress and socialize positively with their friends is an awesome way to start the day. It will make them look forward to coming to school and getting to class on time.

Have clear expectations and rules.

Kids come in, put away their things, do their daily graphing question, and pick a table to work at.

Each table has a different activity like:
- Fun Pattern Block activities
- Bottle cap word building activities
- Educational board games (anything involving dice is educational in my opinion)
- Any math or literacy centers they loved during the year but have since been put away

Once they pick a table, that is their table for the entire morning time. There is no moving tables. First come, first serve.

This is another time the voice level chart I talked about above comes into play. They HAVE to use the level it says (I recommend Level 2 or 3) or they lose the privilege. Encourage them to talk though! Don't make it have to be super quiet inside voices, that's no fun and won't get their crazy out. They need this time to socialize like they would on the playground.

It also gives you time to do attendance, lunch count, and anything else you need to do first thing in the morning. Let them know it's a rule that they cannot talk to you during this play time because, just like it's their time, it's also your time to prepare for the day. If they need to turn something in or bring you something, they simply place it in your "INBOX" and go to their morning tubs. If they need to tell you something their parents told them to tell you, they know to write it down on a piece of scratch paper (always have scratch paper available somewhere for your kids) and put it in your inbox. It'll be inventive spelling and that's okay. If they are super reluctant writers or you teach pre-K or K, tell them to just write their name on a notepad and put it in your inbox so you remember to ask them about it. Be firm that there is absolutely no talking to you during this time. If they come up to you, point to the scratch paper. This will also allow you to decompress and start the day positive. In my opinion, you get a lot more done when you start the day this way because the kids aren't all wound up.

If you're wondering how to justify it to yourself or your principal since there's already so little time to fit everything in during the day (or at least that's the perception), the tubs at each table are educational so it's really just another small round of centers, NOT uneducational free time... and it's only 20 minutes. How much do those little morning work sheets actually teach them anyway? Aren't they really just something to keep them quiet? Why? Let them review in a fun way instead and start the day off positively. :)

When it's time to start the day, give them a 5 minute warning so they can start mentally preparing for play time to be over. When it's been 20 minutes, calmly let them know it's time to clean up. They should know to do this quickly and quietly if they want to keep the morning play time privilege.

25. Play "Quietest Line"
If you're having an issue with your kids talking in line when you're walking somewhere, split the line up into 2 lines next to each other and have a "Quiet Line" competition. Kids love being first, especially if you're walking to lunch or recess or another fun activity they want to get to as soon as possible. Tell kids you're looking for the quietest line. Whenever you arrive at your destination, that line gets to go first. If they were both absolutely silent, let the first line go then the second line right after. However, if there WAS redirection, hold the 2nd line back for a little while after the 1st line (the quietest line) has already gone. Even if it's just 30 seconds or a minute, they will not like seeing their friends run off onto the playground while they're still standing there.

To really make it effective, you can hold up both your hands on either side of your face while facing your 2 lines and walking backwards down the hall to do the 5 finger game with them. How many fingers you're holding up is the amount of points for that line. If someone in the line on the right talks, you put down a finger on your right hand (the hand closest to that line). If someone in the line on the left talks, you'd put down a finger on the left hand. This is an easy way to keep score and they will be so focused on your hands that they'll forget to talk anyway.

Alright! That's a lot of strategies! :) I hope you found some that can work for your class to try out. Let me know in the comments if you tried any of these and how they worked! Also let me know if you do any of these currently and if they work for you. Classroom management can be tough but it's key and there are so many little tricks that can make the school days easier. I really hope some of these were helpful for you!

If you want the voice level chart and posters, "Blurt Beans" label, student vs. teacher 10 frames, blurt alert forms, blurt dessert cards, blurts hurt poster, and all that fun stuff, they're in my:

Chatty Class Classroom Management Pack

As always, thank you for reading my rambling! I know my blog posts are long but I always want to pack as much info in as I can to help!

Happy teaching!

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25 Chatty Class Classroom Management Strategies for Overly Talkative Students

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Have a chatty class? Do your talkative students get louder and louder during small groups until it feels like chaos? Do they talk when you're talking then ask you what the directions were as soon as you finish? Don't worry. This is totally normal. And completely fixable. Really!

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Let's get ready for Fall with these 30 October Bulletin Board Ideas!

October is when the fall season really starts to peak. The leaves are changing, temperatures are getting lower, and Halloween is at the end of the month! Very exciting times!

One way to keep the excitement going is making the room environment reflect the season! A classroom bulletin board and classroom decor are easy ways to help make the fall season feel like it has finally arrived.

If you are in need of some fall bulletin board ideas, grab some paper fall leaves and check out the ideas below!

Fall Bulletin Board Ideas

Fall themes can be so easy to do! Stick with a color palette of red, brown, yellow, and orange. If you do that, your bulletin board will scream Autumn without even trying. If you need some simple and classic fall bulletin board ideas, check out what we've got below.

Welcome To Our Patch

This is a cute idea if you want something to go with the fall season AND get everyone excited about Halloween! The bat and crow give a little taste of what is to come at the end of the month.

Fall In Love With Learning

Cut out plenty of fall leaves and you have got an incredibly easy autumn bulletin board!

Harvesting Knowledge

The harvest season is not just for vegetables! It is perfect for learning new things as well!

Reading Leaves You Happy

This is an easy way to incorporate a fall theme and is an encouragement to pick up a good book!

Little Pumpkins Sitting On A Fence

This is an awesome bulletin board if you want to get your children or students involved! They can paint and decorate their own pumpkins.

October Interactive Bulletin Boards

Looking for an interactive bulletin board to go along with the changing of the seasons? Any of these would fit well in a hallway or classroom.

Who's Hiding In The Patch

For this interactive bulletin board, you can put up pictures or a student's work underneath the flap! Classmates will love guessing who or who's work is on each pumpkin.

Pumpkin Shapes

October bulletin boards can be great for practicing shapes! This pumpkin shape bulletin board can easily be used as an activity center.

Guess Who Is Under The Sheet

For this Halloween bulletin board, you can put photos of each kid inside the book! Each child can decorate their own ghost.

Write Something Sweet

Candy does not have to be the only treat children receive this Halloween! Nice words are great for children to receive and give to each other.

As you can see, some of my favorite instagram teachers have amazing classroom and door decoration ideas.

Pumpkin Patch Bulletin Boards

A pumpkin patch themed bulletin board idea is the perfect way to include children's names in classroom decor. Make the pumpkins yourself or have children complete them as a craft. Her some some colorful bulletin board displays that will give you new ideas!

Welcome To Our Patch

This is an easy bulletin board display to showcase the student's name. Some of the teachers favorite ideas are those that inspire student work, writing projects, and great lesson plans.

If you get a new students after putting up this fun bulletin board, simply add their name and picture to it.

Great for Sunday school, a bulletin board design challenge, hallway displays, and much more.

Pumpkin Spice Bulletin Boards

Most children and students may not drink coffee yet, but a pumpkin spice latte is one of a teacher's favorite things! If you don't like coffee, there are plenty of other edible pumpkin spice items out there for you to give a shot. These boards are perfect for a pumpkin spice latte lover.

Pumpkin Spice And Everything Nice

Everything Nice Bulletin Board Set

Pumpkin Spice and Pumpkin Pie Bulletin Board Set

Spooky Bulletin Board Ideas

Looking for a spooky or Halloween themed board? Check out these creative ideas!

Read More BOOks

This spooky bulletin board is great if you want to introduce children to their new favorite books! You can use this space to introduce some Halloween or spooky-themed books to get everyone excited about the holiday!

Get Caught In A Good Book

This board isn't too spooky, but that really depends on how you feel about spiders! A good book is never a bad bulletin board theme. Students can glance at the titles before they head to the library.

Little Monsters

This board is so much fun and is a great way to get children excited about the spooky holiday. You can pre-cut the monsters and have the children paint or color them.

Pre-K Is Spectacular

This is a great idea if you want something a little spooky, but not too scary! These look like friendly ghosts and children can make or decorate their own.

We're Wrapped Up In Learning

This one looks super easy and inexpensive. You can use white party streamer or whatever white paper you have on hand for this mummy board!

We're A Spooky Batch

Bats and witches don't have to be scary! This one is adorable and the bats hanging from the top with string gives them some flying movement!

Haunted House Bulletin Board

This one looks very simple and your children will have a great time looking at this one. You could put a student's face in each of the haunted house windows!

October Door Displays

The classroom door is often the first thing children see when they come in to school in the morning. Make walking into school exciting with these October door displays!

Cutest Pumpkins In The Patch

This door display is an easy way to get students involved in classroom decor. You cut out the pumpkins and they can decorate them however they see fit!

Look Who's Hiding In The Leaves

Students love to see themselves in classroom decor! This is a cute way to show off all of the adorable faces in your classroom.

We're Popping Into Fall

This adorable fall bulletin board doesn't use pumpkins or ghosts if you are looking for something slightly different. Each student can paint their own ear of corn.

Fall Owls In A Tree

This fun board comes with a fun craft! Each student can make their own owl and the fall leaves make it perfect for October! If you want to add a touch of Halloween, you could put some bats in the tree too.

Scarecrow Face Door

This door display will have everyone stopping and staring! All you need is your paper of choice and you've got a giant scarecrow across your classroom door.

Come In My Pretties!

This October bulletin board will have everyone walking in excited about the spooky season!

Before you go, here are more Fall posts you'll enjoy:
10 Best Fall Poems for Kids Free Fall Bundle for PreK-2nd 35 Fun Fall Books for Kids
October Bulletin Board Ideas

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30 October Bulletin Board Ideas - Little Learning Corner

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30 October Bulletin Board Ideas Let's get ready for Fall with these 30 October Bulletin Board Ideas! October is when the fall season really starts to peak. The leaves are changing, temperatures are getting lower, and Halloween

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· Amazon affiliate links provided for your convenience.

It's fall, and this paper pumpkin craft tutorial is the perfect pumpkin craft for kids. Can't you just imagine a whole classroom filled with these hanging pumpkins. They are beautiful as they twirl in circles. With very few supplies needed, it's so easy to make these with kids. Working on how to measure can be another component of this craft. This cute paper craft is so easy, but I love the results. For more pumpkin crafts check out these adorable sock pumpkins.
* Affiliate links provided for your convenience. Anything you purchase through these links helps to support Meaningful Mama and the free resources I provide. Thank you for choosing to support us.
Paper Pumpkin Craft Tutorial - Materials Needed

Paper Pumpkin Craft Tutorial

Cut a piece of paper into 1 inch strips.

Cut the one inch strips into the following lengths: 11 inches (x2), 9 inches (x2), 7 inches (x2) and 6 inches (x1).

One piece of paper creates one pumpkin.

Next it's time to put the pumpkin together. You want to have the 6 inch one in the middle and then sandwich out from smallest to largest. Make sure the top is flush and put in a staple.

You now want to line up the other end flush and staple.

Cut out some leaves and a stem. Curl the stem around a pencil. We stapled it all together.

This original post from October 2012 was revamped and republished in September of 2016.

Here's my YouTube tutorial:

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Want More Fun Fall Crafts?
Harvest Leaf Masks for Kids Salt Dough Leaf Bowls Stained Glass Crayon Leaves Paper Plate Pumpkin Craft

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· Amazon affiliate links provided for your convenience. It's fall, and this paper pumpkin craft tutorial is the perfect pumpkin craft for kids. Can't you just imagine a whole classroom filled with these hanging pumpkins. They are beautiful as they twirl in circles. With very few supplies needed, it's so easy to make these with kids.

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Pin by Rebecca Key on Halloween | Halloween preschool, Halloween classroom, Preschool classroom decor

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Oct 3, 2021 - This Pin was discovered by Rebecca Key. Discover (and save!) your own Pins on Pinterest

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Halloween math activities and reading comprehension can be so much fun with Halloween Project Based Learning! What upper elementary student doesn't love haunted houses and everything spooky? Turn that excitement into learning with a creative, engaging, hands-on Design a Haunted House Project!

This project is not only perfect for classrooms already familiar with project based learning (PBL), but it's also ideal for teachers who are looking for ways to really engage students with a high-interest activity.

Kick off your Halloween Project Based Learning Unit by showing several different videos or ads which highlight haunted attractions and persuade people to visit them. These can be found with a quick YouTube search (be sure to preview them ahead of time). In groups, brainstorm and make lists possible rooms and activities they could include in a new haunted house attraction. Make a master list with the class and keep that list displayed throughout the entirety of the unit

Once the unit is properly introduced, your students will be super excited and motivated to design the best haunted houses ever!

From this point, you can choose to have students work in small groups to complete the project or you can have students work independently. Keep in mind, however, that students working in groups may develop communication skills as a result of working together.

Ideally, a Project Based Learning unit will include certain key components, such as academic content, inquiry, a driving question, student choice, and a public audience. Here is the unit guide I use with my Design a Haunted House PBL Unit. By planning out the project ahead of time, you can easily meet those PBL expectations. Have project based learning questions? Find more answers in this post.

While this project is quite fu n, it also should be academically aligned and should allow for problem-solving opportunities. My project has 3 goals:

1. Design, map, and find area and perimeter of a haunted house.

2. Convince people to visit the haunted attraction through a student-created brochure.

3. Use the 3 modes of writing (persuasive, informational, and narrative) in relation to the haunted house.

Here are some more details and photos of how students work through each of the 3 goals:

Design and Map the Haunted House:

You can either provide graph paper or blank paper for students to design their house. Keep in mind that it is much easier for students to find area and perimeter of rooms and the entire house when they use graph paper.

Also, by giving them an example floor plan and a few symbols used in floor plans, it will be easier for them to get started. I'm not great at making big charts, so I prefer to make copies of mine for students. If chart-making is your gig, go for it!

Student-Created Brochure

Students generally LOVE this part of the project. It's a chance for them to really let their haunted house shine! Provide students with a list of everything their brochure must include beforehand, and let their creativity take over.

I also think that when students can refer to a scoring rubric while make their projects, it helps them to do an even better job and meet the criteria for an outstanding project. (All scoring rubrics for my Haunted House PBL Unit are included for you.)

3 Modes of Writing

This is a great chance to help students understand that we write for different purposes. Through the three modes of writing, they can persuade people to visit their house, inform them about the house, and describe ( narrate) an event that happened at the house.

Have students plan and write a paragraph about their haunted house for each of the three modes. I like allowing students to publish their writing in more creative ways, so I use a flip book, with one page for each of the three paragraphs. Lined paper would be just fine, though!

Other Halloween Project Based Learning Ideas:

Of course, I always like to throw in a few other bonus activities that I know students will enjoy. Some other ideas of things you can do during this unit are:

Create a shopping list

Planning the props

Choosing a cause (to donate proceeds)

Building a spooky playlist

Haunted selfies

Haunted house word problems

Making a advertisement poster

Concession stand planning

The spooky sky is the limit with this unit! Here are some photo examples of the ideas I listed above:

This Halloween Project Based Learning Unit is pretty much guaranteed to be a haunted homerun!

Remember that you are free to make the project as big or as simple as you feel is best for your students. The key is to provide them opportunity for collaboration and problem-solving.

While some PBL units will require research, this Halloween project based learning unit does not demand it. It definitely can have its place, though. I personally would have students do research to find a particular cause for which their haunted house could raise money. I like this kind of research because I find that students are sometimes inspired to actually take their ideas and put them into action in the real world, thus making a difference in someone else's life.

If you love this unit, be sure to read my blog post about 10 Winter Project Based Learning Ideas that your students will LOVE!
Click HERE to purchase the complete Haunted House Unit.
My ready-to-go, printable Design a Haunted House Unit includes all the pieces you see in the photos above, plus a few more. All scoring rubrics, templates, and printables are included! I created it keeping your busy schedules in mind, so it's basically print and go. Isn't NO PREP a great thing?

Looking for More Seasonal Learning?

If you love connecting your classroom learning to the seasons or holidays then you must check out these other posts. Here are many seasonal activities that will engage your students while still keeping them focused on the important skills and standards they need.

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Halloween Project Based Learning - Appletastic Learning

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Halloween math activities and reading comprehension can be so much fun with Halloween Project Based Learning! What upper elementary student doesn't love haunted houses and everything spooky? Turn that excitement into learning with a creative, engaging, hands-on Design a Haunted House Project!

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When I taught math in Boston my classroom was next to a Geometry teacher who had a math word wall that spread just about floor to ceiling. At the time I thought it was a bit extreme. I mean, aren't high school kids a little old for so many visuals? Did they really need all that?

Well, my teacher neighbor went on to become Teacher of the Year and I went on to realize how powerful math word walls are - especially those that show math vocabulary in context.

Before landing that first full-time teaching job, I was a substitute teacher for a year. I'll never forget a job I took in a kindergarten class. The letter of the day was K. Some kids could write "kite", "kat" (English is so weird), while other kids couldn't even write a K.

The discrepancy in abilities I saw that day in kids so young completely blew my mind. If there was such a large span of abilities in five year olds, what about in 15, 16, 17, 18 year olds? And how would I reach them?

In all of our classrooms there is a wide range of abilities. Some kids are above grade level while others may be years behind. What I like the most about math word walls is that they are always there offering information to students who need it.

Whether they are too shy to ask a question or need a quick reminder, or maybe they have a hard time concentrating so do a lot of looking around the room. While they are glancing around, maybe they'll learn something new. Word walls allow kids to access the curriculum at their level and continue to offer support every day. I write more about this in the post 5 Ways Math Word Walls Have Changed My Teaching .

In this post I'll share photos of my own classroom's word walls (like the photo at the top) as well as photos of word walls I have made for teachers by request. This post is linked in 8 Out-of-the-Box Ideas for Teaching Algebra and Geometry on the We Are Teachers blog.

My teacher back in Boston neighbor was absolutely right in putting it all out there like that. If you think about it, there's a measly 5 year age difference between a 4th grader and a 9th grader. Yes, kids do grow quick, but what is it about those 5 short years that suddenly allows students to remember and recall everything and no longer need visual reminders?

When my husband moved from teaching elementary school to high school he was a little worried. I told him that high schoolers are just little kids in big bodies. It's true! They still need the support of word walls as much as the little ones do.
For me, adding to my walls not only made my classroom a more inviting place to learn, it also made it one giant reference sheet. This immediately lowered my students' anxiety levels to where memorization and past misconceptions were no longer sticking points.

All of my math word walls are available in this. Each math word wall is
available individually and in smaller 4-grade bundles.

Since starting at my current school, I have taught Geometry, Biology, Consumer Math and Algebra 2. Since is so important, we have references for it too. Here are some photos of the word walls in my classroom.

Here you can see an anchor chart for drawing and naming points, lines and segments. I made the parallel lines cut by a transversal poster below it from cut paper.

This parallel lines cut by a transversal poster was one I made for a class of sophomore study skills students who were taking Geometry. Many of them were mixing up the angle pairs. So I made this poster for them to put in their notebooks (above is the enlarged version ).

I also converted it to work on GOOGLE Slides as a digital angle pairs poster .

I recently made a Geometry word wall and a super sweet teacher sent me this photo of it hanging in her classroom. Here is my own photo of some of the included parts up close:

Here is a closeup of the transformations section:

Next up is our wall of , Geometry and Algebra 2 formulas. I like to think of this wall as "the hodgepodge", though I have since updated most of my math word walls .

The , slope formula, y=mx+b, and green exponents posters are all also made from cut colored paper like the angle pairs poster in the previous photo. Here's a close up of the exponents posters:

This exponent rules posters is made out of cut paper too. I added exponent rules into my 8th grade math word wall. Here is a photo of some of the graphing references included. You can also see all of the middle school math word walls I have made in the post Middle School Math Word Wall Ideas .

An scatter plots:

This PEMDAS mobile was a recent addition.

Our Algebra 2 word wall has grown a lot over the years. Teachers have asked me to make parent graphs for nonlinear functions and also expand the word wall in other areas. It's gone through a lot of updates! :) Here's a photo of our reference for quadratics.

And of course we need a Quadratic Formula anchor chart. My students were able to use this one a lot more effectively once I added the white-out to the a, b and c in the formula. You can read more about our quadratics activities in the post Fun with Quadratics .

We teach a lot of vertex form in Algebra 2 so we reference these 3 anchor charts on our Algebra 2 word wall for nonlinear equations all year. These are updated printable versions of cut paper versions I finally retired this year. It was time.

I love catching students glancing at our word walls for hints. To me, knowing how to access information is just as important as the information itself. Every year I add more and more to our classroom word walls. The more I add, the better things get. One of the
free quadratics math posters that worked especially well during our combined graphing calculator/projectile motion unit - a unit that is VERY hard at first for my students - was this one.

It shows good cursor placements for finding maximum points and zeros. My students get confused by "left bound" and "right bound" and this poster all but completely eliminates this confusion.

These factoring anchor charts hang in my room to remind my students how to factor trinomials and binomials. I always find my students have a harder time retaining how to factor binomials than trinomials!

In an earlier post I wrote about our classroom Fridge, an area in our classroom where students are invited to display their hard work. I am always surprised that even my seniors would rather hang their work in our classroom than take it home. Math pennants are another fun way to display student work. See more math pennants .

Having a
language of math poster has helped so much, especially for those small but powerful words like "of" and "is". When kids start seeing Math as a language that can be translated into symbols... WHOA watch out World! :)
With references on the walls I feel like a better teacher and my students feel less anxious and more confident in their ability to do hard math. The more I add to my classroom walls the more empowered my students feel and become.

Math word wall posts:

High school math word walls:

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fun math teaching ideas and activities for middle school and high school

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math pennants and free reference sheets.

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When I taught math in Boston my classroom was next to a Geometry teacher who had a math word wall that spread just about floor to ceiling. At the time I thought it was a bit extreme. I mean, aren't high school kids a little old for so many visuals?

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Looking for some engaging fall activities for middle school classes? Look no further! These are fun, academic activities for math and other classes.

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Geometry projects are a fantastic way to do some hands on math with kids. In this 3D Nets Geometry Activity, students will learn about shapes, dimensions and calculating area. Fun geometry projects that are interactive are a wonderful way to engage students in math. You can either build this ahead of time, or have your students build it themselves. This project makes the perfect addition to a math center. It is simple and fun math!

Fun Geometry Project

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WHAT IS GEOMETRY?

First let's start with a very obvious question our students are going to have... What is geometry? Geometry is one of the oldest sciences and a branch of mathematics. It focuses on shapes and their properties such as size, position, angles, and dimensions (think 2D and 3D). It is also the study of lines, angles, symmetry, and space.

Geometry is used every day by people all over the world. Some real life applications include: art, architecture, engineering, robotics, astronomy, sculpture, blacksmithing, space, nature, sports, machines, cars, and so much more.

In this particular activity we are focused on shapes and dimensions. Learning how to take a flat 2D shape and make it 3D - three dimensional.

Check out the 3D Nets Video

This is a fantastic activity to help kids interact and develop a solid understanding of these concepts. Just watch this video! If you can't see the video, please turn off your adblockers. You can also find this video on the STEAM Powered Family YouTube Channel.

THE BASIC PROPERTIES OF 3D SHAPES

Everything on earth is made up of shapes. Some of these shapes are 2D and others are 3D. So, what is the difference between the two? Let's compare a square and a cube:

The letter "D" tells us that the shape has dimensions. 2D shapes have two dimensions and 3D shapes have three. The dimensions of the 2D shape are length and height and the 3D shape has three: length, width, and height.

2D shapes are flat shapes and are known as 2-dimensional. They have a surface area only. 3D shapes are 3-dimensional and in Geometry are also known as solid shapes. They take up space and have a surface area and volume. Volume is the space inside a 3D shape.

Here are some basic 3D shapes:

This concept can be a bit confusing, so you are going to make 3D Pull-up Nets to understand the differences between 2D and 3D shapes.

WHAT IS A GEOMETRIC NET?

A net is a 2D picture of what a 3D shape would look like if it was opened out and laid flat. Some 3D shapes, like a cube, have many different nets, but end up looking like a cube when folded and glued together.

The three pull-up nets you are going to make are three of the four shapes you will be using in your tree house design. They are a cube, a triangular prism, and a cuboid.

The fourth shape is a cylinder. You are not going to make a net for this shape, as there is something you use in your home daily that is a cylinder and instead of throwing it away, you are going to give this item a new purpose in this project. Can you guess what it is?

3D PULL UP NETS DIY INSTRUCTIONS

Supplies and Materials

Single-wall cardboard cut to 45cm (17¾ inches) X 20cm (8inches)
Glue stick
Small hole punch or a thumb tack and wooden skewer
3 pieces of string or yarn cut to 70cm (28inches)
Scissors

Directions

To do this fun activity, you first print the templates on cardstock in 4 different colours.

Cut out all the pieces on the solid lines.

Punch holes on all the dots on each of the 3 pull-up nets with the hole punch.

Place all three nets onto the cardboard and mark the two holes that are on the "base" section of each net.

Fold the nets on the solid lines in both directions (first away from you then back towards you). This will allow the net to fold easily when pulling them up to form the 3D shapes.

Punch the two holes for each net on the bottom of the cardboard that you marked earlier.

Glue each "base" section of the net to the carboard, lining up the holes at the bottom of the nets and the cardboard.

Glue all the labels onto the cardboard, matching up the net with each label.

Start threading the string from under the cardboard up through the hole at the bottom of the net and then through all the other holes and finally back to the last hole, through to the back of the cardboard.

Take both strings and make a knot.

Fold the pull tag in half and glue it over the strings just under the knot, then trim the strings to the same length on the ends.

The nets are done! Let's watch the video to see the pull-up nets in action.

USING 3D NETS WITH STUDENTS

Now that you have completed your amazing 3D Nets, here are fun geometry activities for you to explore:

Identify the parts of 3D Shapes

3D shapes have faces or sides, edges and vertices or corners.

A face is a flat or curved surface on a 3D shape. A cube has six faces, a cylinder has three and a sphere has just one.

An edge is where two faces meet. A cube has 12 edges, a cylinder has two and a sphere has none.

A vertex is a corner where edges meet. The plural is vertices. A cube has eight vertices, a cone has one vertex, and a sphere has none.

Have your students examine the 3D Nets and identify the faces, edges and vertices.

Calculate the number of faces, edges, and vertices of the shapes you used.

Calculate Area

Now that students have explored the shapes, it is time to do some math. Have them calculate the area of all the faces and the surface area of each of the 3D shapes.

The area of one face of a cube = Length X Height. (Example: if the length is 5cm and the height is 5cm, the area equals 5 X 5 = 25). The surface area of a 3D shape = The sum of all the areas of all the faces. (Example: A cube has 6 faces. The area of each face = 25. The surface area = 6 X 25 = 150).

Go on a 3D Scavenger Hunt

Have students go on a scavenger hunt and find real-life examples of the 3D shapes used in this project.

Engineer with 3D Shapes

Now your students have learned about 3D shapes, challenge them to build using those shapes. We took this concept and challenged the kids to a Dream Treehouse Building Project using Geometry.

Have fun with geometry and 3D Nets!

More Hands On Math Projects

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Fun Interactive 3D Nets Geometry Activity for Elementary Students

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Geometry projects are a fantastic way to do some hands on math with kids. In this 3D Nets Geometry Activity, students will learn about shapes, dimensions and calculating area. Fun geometry projects that are interactive are a wonderful way to engage students in math.

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How Much Does a Pumpkin Cost? {FREE Algebra Lesson!}

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Use a real life example to help kids learn to write linear equations, then evaluate and solve them! Finding the cost of a pumpkin is perfect math for Fall!

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Parallel lines, perpendicular lines, intersecting lines...so many types of lines! If these terms are part of your Geometry unit then you HAVE to try out this FUN and FREE project I created when I taught 3rd grade.

This geometry project has students camouflage a set of lines. Print out several sets of the provided templates for this project that appear at the end of this post:

Have students choose a paper and use crayons, colored pencils and/or markers to turn their set of lines into something unique. Here are a few examples:

Afterwards, display their creations. Everyone will enjoy checking out the beautiful artwork that was created out of a simple set of lines😉

Click the image below to take you to a FREE download of the paper templates:

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Types of Lines Geometry Project Your Students Will Love

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Your students will LOVE this Geometry project that covers the three types of lines: parallel lines, perpendicular lines and intersecting lines. This is a great way to combine art and math! Come grab this FREE activity.

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I really do love fall. I always have. The beautiful colors, the crisp air, pumpkin spiced everything... and perhaps most importantly, the end of MOSQUITOES!

Mind you, this year wasn't too bad for the guys, but I remember a few years back the mosquitoes in our area were truly out of this world. Our neighbours who have lived here for over 30 years claimed they have never seen anything like it. And the farmers down the road say it has not been this bad in 70 years. Thankfully it seems to have been a one year fluke and not the new normal!

Anywho, for one reason or another, fall ALSO means science experiment time in our house. Apparently, this is not a widely held tradition, but it is ours nonetheless.

Before we get into all of the wonderful fall science experiment ideas I have for you, I thought you might like to grab this science freebie: How to Turn Milk into Plastic! Well, not plastic exactly, but the transformation is really neat for little ones to see! Grab your step-by-step instructions right here:

Okay, back to it! Here are some of our favourite fall science experiments, and a few new ones we hope to try:

Why Do Leaves Change Colour - A hands-on science experiment that lets kids learn about chlorophyll and leaves as they change colour.

The Smelly Pumpkin Experiment by Fun-A-Day - Let the kids explore decomposition with old pumpkins! Go even further to see if pumpkin plants can be grown in the backyard.

Apple Science Experiment by Pre-K Pages - Children predict and investigate how to prevent apples from browning.

Pumpkin Guts Exploration by Stir the Wonder - Before breaking into the pumpkin, have the kids hypothesize what they'll find inside. Then let them inspect, explore, and record their findings.

Fall Sink or Float by B-Inspired Mama - Grab some pine cones, acorns, and other fall-themed items with the kids. They can then predict and determine which items sink and which float.

Sorting Leaves and Seeds by Inspiration Laboratories - Go for a nature walk with the kids and grab items that have dropped from fall leaves. Children can then sort and classify the items they found.

Exploring How Water Travels through Leaves by Buggy and Buddy - Help children experiment with how leaves get water. A great way to explore living things during the fall.

Saving Seeds Science by Rainy Day Mum - Grab different fall items, like pumpkins and gourds. Then let the children dig their hands in to collect, compare, and contrast the seeds they find.

Animal Tracking Station by Creekside Learning - Help little scientists create an animal tracking station in the backyard! Once some tracks have been discovered, research to determine which animals are in your neighborhood.

Why Do Pine Cones Open by Lemon Lime Adventures - Collect pine cones from around the neighborhood, then delve into an experiment to see why they open and close.

Parts of an Apple by Natural Beach Learning - Kids can dissect an apple and explore the different parts of it. Add some literacy by labeling each part, too.

Hopping Corn Science Activity by One Time Through - Get corn kernels dancing in a jar with this simple, but fun, fall science experiment.

Erupting Apple Science by Kids Play Box - The kids will have a blast making their own "apples" and then making them fizz.

Crunchy Leaf Science by Teach Preschool - How long does it take a leaf to dry out and get crunchy? Let the kids collect some leaves and find out.

Growing Pumpkins in Pumpkins by Life with Moore Babies - Can you grow pumpkin plants inside a pumpkin? Let the kids try and find out.

Corncob Popcorn Experiment by TinkerLab - See if you can make popcorn straight from a dried corncob. Extend the experiment by trying out other types of corncobs, as well.

Nighttime Scavenger Hunt by Edventures with Kids - Grab the flashlights and go on a nighttime scavenger hunt with the kids. Can they see or hear any nocturnal animals while outside in the fall night?

Autumn Ice by Cakes and Scribbles - Add fall nature items to water and freeze. Then let the kids explore melting the ice!

Sprouting Indian Corn by Gift of Curiosity - An easy fall science experiment to try with the kids. All you need is Indian corn, water, and curious kids.

Pumpkin Spice Scented Volcano by Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails - Add some fall spice to the traditional baking soda and vinegar experiment.

There you have it! Oodles of fall science experiments to get those little ones curious about the changes of the season. Perhaps fall science experiments will be a new tradition in your home too?

I hope you are having a lovely week. Thank you so much for reading.
P.S. Don't forget to grab your step-by-step science experiment instructions for how to turn milk into plastic!

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I really do love fall. I always have. The beautiful colors, the crisp air, pumpkin spiced everything... and perhaps most importantly, the end of MOSQUITOES! Mind you, this year wasn't too bad for the guys,

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After exploring and Learning About the Parts of Leaves we decided to learn about leaf color and chlorophyll with an easy science experiment. I found the idea to extract chlorophyll from leaves on Home Science Tools. I thought that it sounded simple enough we could give it a try with a few modifications. I am so glad we did because the results are beautiful and it helped my kids see and better understand the role chlorophyll plays with changing leaf colors.

Before you start this activity the first thing is to go and enjoy the outdoors and gather up some fall leaves. The kids and I feel so lucky to live close to mountains that are ablaze with the beautiful fall colors-one of my favorite times of the year! We went on a little hike, gathered leaves, and other nature treasures and headed home to be scientists.

Fall Leaf Science Experiment

Pot of boiling water (adults only)

Different colored leaves (We used a green, green & red, yellow, and brown leaves)

1. Place leaves in a boiling pot of water for 5 minutes. While they are boiling, fill up small containers with rubbing alcohol.

2. When the five minutes are up, use the tongs to remove the leaves and place each one in the rubbing alcohol making sure to sort by color if you are using multiple leaves.

3. Observe what color the alcohol is. Come back throughout the day and check to see if the alcohol has changed color. We let our experiment sit overnight and in the morning the colors were even darker but the second night resulted in no change.

4. Discuss experiment and compare differences between the containers. We recently continued our learning with a STEAM Coffee Filter Art Activity to make Fall Leaves that would be a perfect addition to this activity.

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Easy Fall Leaf Science Experiment: Exploring Colors & Chlorophyll with Kids -

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After exploring and Learning About the Parts of Leaves we decided to learn about leaf color and chlorophyll with an easy science experiment. I found the idea to extract chlorophyll from leaves on Home Science Tools. I thought that it sounded simple enough we could give it a try with a few modifications.

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In the past we have explored various circuits. From our very first Circuit Bugs, to Potato Batteries and Lemon Batteries, to our recent Harry Potter wands that cast Lumos with the flick of the thumb. It is safe to say we really enjoy building circuits and batteries around here. So with fall upon us that means harvest season. So we decided to test out some pumpkins and squash from the garden and see if we could build a fruit battery. The results were surprising!

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First of all we were not 100% sure this would work.

One hypothesis we had as that pumpkins and squash would not be acidic enough to act as a battery. Our lemons worked well but they are highly acidic. For our potato battery we had to prepare the potatoes in order for them to work effectively. So really we were not sure this would go anywhere.

Our second hypothesis was that, if it did work, the larger pumpkins would produce much more energy than our tiny little squash.

Our hypothesizes were both wrong. Which was a great thing! When making a hypothesis it is not about being right, it is about making a prediction and adjusting variables to see the outcomes. That's part of mastering the scientific method.
Looking for tips on using the Scientific Method? Check out this resource and grab a free printable.
Which by the way is totally addictive and my kids are constantly telling me they NEED to do scientific investigations, as they pull apart my kitchen pantry and cupboards. The pursuit of scientific knowledge can be messy!

Oh and yes, Pumpkins and Squash are fruit. You can read more here.

Since we do these kinds of experiments a lot, we had everything we needed on hand, once we gathered the fruit from the garden. The best part is once you buy these, you can do so many cool experiments! For this experiment you will need:

Multimeter
Zinc plates
Copper plates
Wires with alligator clamps
Sharp knife (about the width of your plates makes things easier)
Pumpkins and/or Squash (ours was Zucchini Globe Squash)*

*We had 2 pumpkins and 3 small squash, based on our results you need at least 4 pieces to get enough energy to power an LED. If we had more pumpkins we would have used all pumpkins, but we wanted to use what we had available.

We didn't grab video this time, we were having too much fun exploring, but we used a similar approach and technique in our lemon battery experiment. You can watch that video here:

STEP 1 - How much energy does a pumpkin or squash produce?

I find with these experiments it is important to go step by step and really let the kids explore and see what is happening.

The first step was taking one of our pumpkins and cutting one slit in either side. It is important that you place these slits so the plates will not touch. I chose to position my slits where I would cut the top of the pumpkin to remove the top for carving. That way once we were done our circuits we could still carve our pumpkins! And after pumpkin carving, don't forget to turn them into Puking Pumpkins!

Next we carefully inserted a zinc plate in one slit and a copper plate in the second slit.

Now it was time to see how much energy our pumpkin was producing! Using the multimeter we took our first reading.

Turns out it was producing around 0.96 volts.

Interesting... that is pretty much exactly what our lemons produced when we made a lemon battery.

At this point my son's curiosity was through the roof! He had to see what the other pumpkin and our tiny little squashes would produce. We made two slits in each piece and inserted one zinc plate and one copper plate into each.

Then he spent about 10 minutes testing and retesting each piece of fruit. Each piece produced between 0.90 and 1.00 volts. It seemed almost like the smaller the squash the more energy it produced, but I will say there was a lot of error as my son was still learning how to hold the probes steady and properly to get a proper reading. He was sure having fun though!

So both of our hypothesizes were proven wrong. Not only did it work, larger fruit did not equal more voltage.

STEP 2 - Building a Fruit Battery

Next up we started linking the pumpkins and squash. This is the connecting of the cells in our battery.

We started by linking the pumpkins to each other. To link the fruit run an alligator clip from the copper plate on the first pumpkin to the zinc plate on the second pumpkin. Then touch the multimeter to the zinc plate on the first pumpkin and copper plate on the second pumpkin to see how your voltage output has changed with two cells.

Then we added the first squash. For this we ran an alligator clip from the copper plate on the second pumpkin to the zinc plate on the squash. To test we touched the multimeter to the zinc on the first pumpkin and copper on the squash.

You always want to connect copper to zinc. Make sure you take a reading each time to see how your energy output is growing.

Once we had everything linked the highest we could get was 3.99 volts. We tried everything to break 4 volts, but just couldn't get the numbers that high. It was fun trying though.

STEP 3 - Light Up An LED With Pumpkins

Once we had our fruit battery built, with both pumpkins and our 3 squash all nicely linked together, it was time to hook up an LED and see if it would light up.

In both our potato battery and lemon battery experiments this step worked, so we really hoped it would work this time too!

We replaced the multimeter with an alligator clip going from the zinc on the first pumpkin and an alligator clip going from the copper plate in the last squash. Then we carefully attached the alligator clips to the LED light. Nothing.

We turned the light around. Maybe we had our positive and negative legs mixed up.

Still nothing.

I grabbed a different LED from our bin. Knowing this really should be working. I carefully attached the alligator clips to each leg and... WE HAD LIGHT!

The science behind how food can power a light bulb is really fascinating. Our zinc and copper plates are called electrodes, and the inside of our fruit, which is moist, is our electrolyte.

All batteries have a "+" (known as the cathode) and a "-" (known as the anode) terminal. In our fruit battery, the copper plate is our positive cathode and the zinc plate the negative anode.

Electric current is created by the flow of atomic particles called electrons. Conductors are materials that allow electrons (and the electrical current) to flow through them. Electrons flow from the negative to the positive terminal.

So in our experiment electrons are flowing from our zinc plate, through the fruit to the copper plate. From there it goes into our alligator clip, along the wire, into the zinc plate on the next piece of fruit, where it picks up more energy as it travels through that cell. It continues on, building energy with each additional cell we add. Until finally we have enough voltage to power a light bulb.

Volts (or voltage) is a measurement of the force moving the electrons through our fruit battery. The higher the voltage the more power the battery has, but higher voltage also means greater danger. Always remember to be careful and safe around electricity. Thankfully our food based batteries are very low voltage.

Unlike our lemons that we rolled to make them juicy and our potatoes that we boiled to prep, we can't really do much to prepare pumpkins and squash to make them better battery cells. That's why it is very important to get the freshest pieces you can. Ours literally came out of the garden and were used for science within 48 hours.

If you are not getting a reading, make sure you are using your multimeter correctly. Read the instructions that came with your device to ensure proper usage.

Also, always remember to connect zinc to copper. My son did try copper to copper and zinc to zinc. He had to see what would happen. Which is fine. But for your battery to work, it needs to be linked correctly.

Have fun exploring pumpkin batteries!

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Pumpkin Battery - Halloween & Fall Harvest Electricity Experiment

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Build a Pumpkin battery in this STEM activity and explore how electricity is produced by the pumpkin and how to use it to power LED lights.

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Halloween Magnetic Poetry with Google Drawings!

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Who’s ready for a little Halloween fun with Google Drawings? I’ve created a Halloween-themed magnetic poetry template with Google Drawings for you and your students.

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Fall-themed worksheets, spooky season lesson plans, or Halloween ELA activities, whatever you call your October lessons, you can make them both festive and educational for middle school and high school students!

Here are a few of my favorite fall and Halloween ELA activities that are fun enough to spice up your spooky season and academic enough to where you wouldn't be aghast if administration walked during the lesson. 😉

Since I hate messing up my normal flow of lessons, these activities can be done with ANY piece of literature; this means you can use these Halloween ELA activities no matter where you are in your curriculum when Halloween rolls around!

Create Paper Ghosts

One of my post popular ideas is using old dictionaries to make get-to-know-you banners for the first day of school. Teachers love this because it builds community and provides cheap classroom décor. For a spooky take on this fun craftivity, create paper ghosts!

Here are some ideas for this Halloween ELA activity:

Practice Creepy Root Words

I find etymology fascinating and when you add some creepy vibes to the mix, hopefully your students will too! To help, made a simple handout with coffins and creepy root words like "mort," "crypt," and "corp." Students are to "unearth" words that stem from these roots. Next, they use the words to write a short story setting. If you want to take this Halloween ELA activity further, you can play the story game where you choose the best setting to start a story then go around the room and each student has to add one line to progress the plot. For an academic spin, they must incorporate a new vocabulary word into the story!

You can get this free handout by signing up for my Building Book Love Letter. I send weekly(ish) emails with ELA ideas like this one.

Make Symbolism Pumpkins for ANY text!

Have students think critically about symbols and color connotations by designing a pumpkin for a character or author. They will use evidence from the text to prove their choices, so this Halloween ELA activity is both creative and rigorous!

Click here to download this fall-themed lesson plan : Painted Pumpkin Symbolism and Halloween Writing

As students are working on their Halloween ELA activity, play some festive ambience like this Halloween Cafe Ambience

As I write in our book Keeping the Wonder: An Educator's Guide to Magical, Engaging, and Joyful Learning, ambient media is the perfect tool to create instant room transformations! There are tons of spooky themed ambient scenes on YouTube that will enhance any ELA Halloween activity from this list!

Hunt Frightful Figurative Language

These creepy literary device posters make fantastic mentor texts and decorations! I recently updated this set to include diverse authors, posters in color, a spooky show vs tell activity, and a figurative language PPT that can serve as a gallery walk. If you want to see an example of this, look at my love-themed version under number 8 here: Valentines gallery walk and scavenger hunt

You can download the spooky version here: Halloween Literary Device Posters: Frightful Figurative Language

Listen to a Ghastly Podcast

Spooky season is the perfect time to try out podcasts in the classroom! Last year we were right in the middle of Macbeth, so I set up a mini classroom transformation by adding finger lights to each table and projecting a creepy scene. I came up with some essential questions about ghosts in literature (we had just finished the Banquo's ghost scene) and then students read articles about why ghosts occur in books. We then listened to an episode of the Spooked podcast and continued our discussion on scary stories. It was SUCH a fun day that lingered in their memories for the rest of the semester!

You can read all about it here as well as check out other spooky season podcast recommendations:
Spooky Podcast Episodes for the ELA classroom

Sneak in Halloween Test Prep

Sneak in a little test prep by doing a history of Halloween informational text close reading.

Students will closely read about the history of Halloween masks, do test prep questions, create a personalized mask, and then do a Halloween writing prompt.
History of Halloween Masks Close Reading and Test Prep
(Use digitally or print!)

Act Out Scenes

Tap into students' desire to dress up for Halloween by acting out scenes from any story, book, or play. Any time students get the chance to put on silly costumes or props, they love it! This is my go-to activity for when my class starts feeling stale because it can be done on a whim (just have students make costumes using paper and items from your room), requires productive group work, and makes students read independently! The key to this assignment is to make sure groups have a small, but important section to read then act out in ONE class period. If you give them until the next day, it's inevitable that a group member will be absent and their play will be "ruined." Plus, putting a pressing time frame on this assignment really brings out their creativity! Students can use cell phone lights, music, and random items from your classroom to act out their play.

If you want a no-prep way to bring your text to life through mini plays, you can find my assignment here which includes task cards for each group member and emoji critique cards.

Act It Out: An engaging reading activity for ANY text, drama, or story

Erect an Eerie Mural

When we had our Keeping the Wonder Workshop at the Poe Museum in Richmond, VA, creating a raven feather mural was such a hit that I decided to adapt it for classroom use. This raven feather mural makes an obvious pairing and activity for "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe, and not only provides students an opportunity to engage with the text, but also creates a collaborative raven feather mural that makes a perfect POE-to opt for your students after a successful reading of "The Raven."
The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe Activity: Raven Feather Mural and Writing

Wear a Spooky Boooish Shirt

If you can't tell by this post, I love spooky season! Each year I design an ELA teacher t-shirt for charity to celebrate. You can find all my spooky shirt designs here: Building Book Love Shirts for Charity

I hope that this post has given you lots of Halloween ELA activity ideas for your middle school and high school students! Happy fall, ya'll!

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Halloween ELA Activities for Middle School and High School - Building Book Love

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Fall-themed worksheets, spooky season lesson plans, or Halloween ELA activities, whatever you call your October lessons, you can make them both festive and educational for middle school and high school students!

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As a teacher, you already know that every student in your classroom is different. They have their own personalities, their own likes and dislikes, and their own ways of learning best. That's why differentiated instruction strategies are so important. They give every kid a chance to succeed by adapting the learning to fit their needs. Add these examples of differentiated instruction strategies to your teacher toolkit so you can pull them out and use them as needed.

More differentiated instruction resources:

1. Stoplight system

An important part of using differentiated instruction strategies is knowing when they're needed in the first place. Try an easy way to check for understanding by giving students a non-verbal way to show where they are. Green means they're good to go, yellow means they're struggling, and red means they're stuck entirely. Try this with sticky notes, folded desk tents, colored cups, and more.

Learn more: Stoplight System at the Ardent Teacher

2. Pre-teaching

Getting ready to tackle a really tough topic? Try pre-teaching a smaller group of students first. This gives you a chance to try out your lesson plan, plus it creates a built-in group of "experts" to help you out when the whole class is learning. Use this strategy regularly, but switch up the student experts. Teaching others helps kids learn too.

Learn more: Pre-Teaching at Continually Learning

3. Evens or odds

Some kids feel overwhelmed when they have to complete an entire worksheet. Practice is important, of course, but it's better that they focus well on fewer problems than give up halfway through. Assigning just evens or odds to students who work more slowly allows them to get the practice they need without spending far more time than their peers.

Learn more: 8 Ways to Differentiate a Worksheet at Classroom Tested Resources

4. Cooperative Learning structures

Cooperative Learning describes a strategy where students work together in small groups under supervision to accomplish a goal. These groups are carefully constructed based on student needs, abilities, and learning styles. It means knowing your students well, but once you do, you can put these groups together quickly depending on your current activity.

Learn more: Top 10 Cooperative Learning Structures

5. Projects with choices

When you offer choices, students feel more comfortable with the assignment. Plus, they often get a sense of ownership-being allowed to pick and choose encourages kids to take responsibility for their choices. To make this work, determine what goals all students need to achieve. Then, let them come up with ways to demonstrate those goals, or give them a few options that appeal to different types of learners.

Learn more: Raki's Rad Resources

6. Self-paced learning

One of the best things technology has given us is a better ability to use self-paced learning in and out of the classroom. When you use computer programs and games, kids can advance at the pace that makes sense to them. Of course, you'll need to ensure students stay on task when they're working independently. Also, remember that a computer program may only have the ability to explain things one way, so be ready to step in and give kids information in other ways when needed.

Learn more: How To Create a Self-Paced Classroom at Cult of Pedagogy

7. Color coding

One of the best differentiated instruction strategies is color coding. It can work in all sorts of classroom applications, including organization and routines. But you can apply it to learning strategies too. Color helps kids see things more clearly, especially when the subject is complex.

Learn more: Color-Coding in the Classroom

8. Small groups

Elementary teachers have been using small reading groups as a differentiated instruction strategy for years. Really, they work in any subject, offering teachers a chance to get more face time with their students. You can group students by skill level, but that's not necessarily the best way to help learners. Consider grouping by learning styles instead, so you can tailor a lesson's delivery specifically for those styles.

Learn more: Your Questions About Small Groups Answered

9. Student-led lessons

Assign students a topic or let them pick their own, then ask them each to become an expert and plan a lesson to share with the class. This goes beyond just giving a presentation. Encourage them to think of creative ways to share the information, planning interactive activities they themselves would like to do in the classroom. You're bound to get a lot of new teaching strategies yourself!

Learn more: Student-Led Lessons Rather Than Student Presentations

10. Question wait-time

This one is all about teacher patience. When you ask your class a question, don't immediately call on the first person to raise their hand. Instead, wait a few more seconds, and call on someone whose hand came up a little later. This allows slower, more thorough thinkers a chance to get their ideas heard too.

Source: The Thinker Builder

11. Classroom environment

When you're reading a book, what's your favorite position? Curled up on the couch with a pillow under your head? Stretched out on your stomach on your bed? Sitting upright at a table with a cup of tea? Can you handle background noise like music, or do you prefer it to be completely silent? Your students' choices would be just as varied as your own. Whenever you can, allow them to sit, stand, or even stretch out. Help them control distractions with noise-cancelling headphones, or let them listen to music with earbuds if it helps them concentrate.

Learn more: 8 Types of Learning Spaces to Include in Your Classroom

12. Anchor charts

Good news! Those anchor charts hanging all over your walls are a popular differentiation strategy. They help visual learners succeed, giving them strong images to relate to key skills and topics. You don't need to be an artist to make great charts, but the more color, the better.

Learn more: Anchor Charts 101

13. Co-teaching

Just as students have different learning styles, teachers have different instructional styles as well. Use this to your advantage! You don't necessarily need to co-teach full-time. Work as a team with your fellow teachers to learn what their style is like, and consider switching things up from time to time by trading duties for certain lessons or subjects.

Learn more: 8 Things Successful Co-Teachers Do

14. Peer buddy program

Pairing students of varying levels as buddies benefits all kids. Some schools pair those with disabilities with a buddy to help them as needed. Others pair older students with younger ones. Whatever you choose, plan your program carefully and monitor pairings to ensure they're working out.

Learn more: A Win/Win for All Students: Expert Q&A on Peer Buddy Programs

15. Must-dos and may-dos

Not all students need extra time; in fact, some finish everything up too quickly! That's where the ability to provide enrichment activities comes in handy. For any lesson, be prepared with "must do" and "may do" activities. This helps kids prioritize the most important items and gives fast finishers meaningful work to do too.

Learn more: The Case for Must-Dos and May-Dos

16. Multiple intelligences

You don't necessarily need to create multiple activities to cater to your students' multiple intelligences. For example, if you're reviewing a timeline of the American Civil War for an upcoming test, give each student an index card with a major event (e.g., Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, etc.), and while playing Civil War-era music, ask students to line up in front of the class to put the events in order. This single activity activates brain stimulation for six different learning styles:

Visual-spatial learners use a mental image of the lineup as a mnemonic device.

Kinesthetic learners get to move around and create a life-size timeline.

Interpersonal learners communicate with each other to decide where to stand in line.

Musical-rhythm learners benefit from the background music.

Logical-mathematical learners thrive on creating a chronological line.

Verbal-linguistic learners review notes and their textbooks during the activity.

Learn more: Understanding Multiple Intelligences for the Classroom

17. Leveled materials

Leveled reading materials are another strategy that has been around for years, mostly for teaching kids how to read. These days, though, there are more options online that are free or more affordable than keeping dozens of different versions of the same books on hand. Sites like Newsela allow you to change the reading level as needed and assign that reading directly to your students. Just remember that while reading levels are helpful, you shouldn't let them define your students or limit what they choose to read.

Learn more: Top 6 Websites Offering Free Leveled Reading Passages

18. Audiobooks

Reading is a key skill, no doubt about it. But when a student struggles with it, it can often affect their learning in other areas too. Unless reading itself is key to the topic you're presenting, consider letting students listen to an audiobook instead. This lets them focus on the content, rather than just the words and sentences.

Learn more: 10 Places Kids Can Listen to Free Audiobooks

19. Pre-assessments

Before you present a new topic, take a few minutes to find out what kids already know. Their responses might change how you decide to teach, especially if you find they're lacking in prerequisite knowledge or already understand the new subject pretty well. Tip: Save time by checking out Kahoot! for pre-made quizzes on your topic.

Learn more: 6 Benefits of Pre-Assessment at Minds in Bloom

20. Alternative assessments

Written tests aren't the only way to check for learning, as teachers well know. Alternative assessments provide ways to differentiate in your classroom, by giving students multiple ways to show what they know. For students who struggle with writing, consider a discussion instead (unless you're specifically working on writing skills). Instead of a traditional book report, have students turn the story into their own graphic novel. Find ways to help students shine!

Learn more: 25 Alternative Assessment Ideas

21. Accommodations

An out-of-the box way to find more differentiated instruction strategies is to explore lists of the classroom accommodations used to created IEPs and 504 plans. These include terrific ways to differentiate, even when students don't have specific written plans. You don't need to be diagnosed with dyscalculia to benefit from using graph paper to line up your math problems. Typing is easier than handwriting for lots of people. Reviewing an example list can spark ideas for all of your students.

Learn more: Ultimate List of IEP Accommodations, Modifications & Strategies

What are your go-to differentiated instruction strategies? Come share your ideas and ask for advice in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

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21 Differentiated Instruction Strategies Every Teacher Can Use

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Use these examples of differentiated instruction strategies to your classroom to ensure every student has a chance to succeed each day.

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Dec 24, 2019 - Executed well, student-centered instructional methods can disarm some of the more intimidating parts of academia.

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July: Find a park and enjoy nature. Take from the wisdom of Henry David Thoreau and spend quality time outdoors to recharge and rejuvenate. Simply sitting in the shade of a tree or on a park bench and listening to the sounds of nature will having a calming effect. If you're feeling adventurous, pack yourself a healthy lunch to enjoy al fresco.

August: Take some time to yourself to relax and listen to music. If sitting and listening to music isn't your thing, find an interesting podcast. Sometime, it's hard to sit still and focus on being present in each moment. If you find yourself rushing from one thing to the next, sitting and listening to music or a podcast might be really difficult, which means you probably need to take more time for yourself. You deserve it!

Click HERE to learn more about Teacher Care Crate and see items from past boxes.

September: Stretch or try yoga. Spending just ten minutes each morning or evening stretching will help to reduce inflammation and stress. The internet is filled with free videos to guide you through all levels of yoga or stretching. Yoga with Adriene even produced a free Yoga for Teachers video available on YouTube! Like walking, stretching and yoga don't require any fancy equipment or clothing. It's hard to make excuses when you can stretch in your pajamas in the comfort of your own home.

October: Trying a new recipe can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. Think about something you've always wanted to make, and make it! It doesn't have to be complicated. You can also look into taking a cooking or a baking class. There are even virtual cooking classes you can take in the comfort of your own home!

November: Watch a movie. Schedule some time this month to relax and watch a movie. Get cozy, grab some snacks, and enjoy a couple of hours of cinematic entertainment.

December: End the year by watching the sunset. Give yourself permission to immerse yourself in the moment. Take it all in. Notice the lingering colors in the sky, breathe the fresh air, and give yourself some time to think.

By the end of the year, you will have a complete arsenal of self-care strategies. Some you may even want to carry into the next year!
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE MONTHLY SELF-CARE CHECKLIST!

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Monthly Self-Care Checklist for Teachers

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This monthly self-care checklist is perfect for teachers! A different self-care strategy is included for each month of the year! Download your free printable checklist today!

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Self Care Tips for Teachers | Mindfulness for teachers, Teacher burnout, Teachers

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Apr 26, 2021 - I am sure I don’t speak for just myself when I say that we, as teachers, spend the majority of our days thinking about others. Our students, their families, our fellow teachers, how we can improve our practice, and so on, are constantly on our mind. I know that I personally spend all day with…

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As educators, we often put our needs aside in order to take care of everyone else. It's in our nature. As we head back to school this year, try to put a focus on avoiding burnout and thriving instead of merely surviving. Use the following 20 quotes about self care to get your mindset on track for personal wellness. Download the free signs here.

Self-Care Quotes for Teachers Part One

1. "When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care
enough about yourself to make room for it in your life. " - Jean Shinoda
Bolen

2."When I loved myself enough, I began leaving whatever wasn't healthy. This meant
people, jobs, my own beliefs and habits - anything that kept me small. My
judgement called it disloyal. Now I see it as self-loving." ~ Kim McMilllen

3."Of all the judgments we pass in life, none is more important than the judgment we pass on ourselves. " - Nathaniel Branden

4."Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others."
~Christopher Germer

5."We all have the tendency to believe self-doubt and self-criticism, but listening to this voice never gets us closer to our goals. Instead, try on the point of view of a mentor or good friend who believes in you, wants the best for your, and will encourage you when you feel discouraged." ~ Kelly McGonigal

6."People who love themselves come across as very loving, generous and kind; they express their self-confidence through humility, forgiveness and inclusiveness." ~SanayaRoman

7."The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with
yourself." ~ Steve Maraboli

8."Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it." ~ Buddha

9. "The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect
and beginning the work of becoming yourself." ~ Anna Quindlen

10."Nourishing yourself in a way that helps you blossom in the direction you want to go is attainable, and you are worth the effort." ~Deborah Day

Self-Care Quotes for Teachers Part Two

11."Your breathing is your greatest friend. Return to it in all your troubles and you will find comfort and guidance." ~Unknown

12."There are days I drop words of comfort on myself like falling leaves and remember that it is enough to be taken care of by my self." ~Brian Andreas

13. "Lighten up on yourself. No one is perfect. Gently accept your humanness. " -Deborah Day

14."Nothing external to you has any power over you. " - Ralph Waldo Emerson

15."Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind. " - Dr. Seuss

16."Give your stress wings, and let it fly away. " - Terri Guillemets

17. "Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths. " - Etty Hillesum

18."The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over
another. " - William James

19. "Love yourself first, and everything else falls in line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world. " - Lucille Ball

20. "You must love yourself before you love another. By accepting yourself and fully being what you are, your simple presence can make others happy. " -Unknown

I hope you find many ways to put these 20 self care quotes for teachers to good use. If you find yourself feeling stressed, treat yourself to some things that make you feel better mentally and physically. From going to the salon to doing yoga, everyone has their own favorite way to feel special.

Need a fun way to remind teachers at your school to practice self-care? Check out this ready to print kit. Also, read my latest self care post - 50 self-care ideas for educators.

What is your favorite way to take care of yourself to avoid burnout? Leave a comment and let us know your ideas.

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As educators, we often put our needs aside in order to take care of everyone else. It's in our nature. As we head back to school this year, try to put a focus on avoiding

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Published | Updated | By Heather Painchaud |

These free Hocus Pocus Bingo Printables are perfect for celebrating Halloween and keeping the kids busy! Simply download and print each of these sheets to use this year.
Too busy to print these right away?! Pin them for later! Pin this post to your favorite printables board on Pinterest and it'll be waiting for you when you're ready.
We are super excited for the release of the new Hocus Pocus movie this year! To celebrate I have created all sorts of nostalgic treats; like these Sanderson sister rice krispies, Hocus Pocus punch, spellbook brownies, Jinx the cat cookies, zombie Billy chocolate dipped pretzels and a whole Hocus Pocus dessert board.

A Hocus Pocus refresher:

The Sanderson sisters are the main characters of the 1993 film, Hocus Pocus. They run amuck with their evil spell book and henchmen Billy Butcherson while hunting children and turning one into Binx, an immortal black cat.

If you're looking for more Halloween Printables be sure to check out these Halloween Activity Printables Halloween Paper Lanterns and Halloween Word Search Printables.

You may also enjoy this awesome bundle of Halloween Activity Printables in the shop!

Free Hocus Pocus Bingo Game:

Simply cut out each of the Hocus Pocus images to use as calling cards. Place them into a bag or box and draw them one at a time. Children then mark off the corresponding spooky image on their own bingo card. When someone gets five images in a row they yell, "Bingo!"

These fun games are perfect for large groups or small groups at Halloween parties. Participants can use bingo markers or candy corn to mark each object on their printable game card.
This post contains affiliate links.
Essentials for printable projects:

There are six different movie themed bingo cards for children to chose from. I like to laminate each of them so that they can be reused over and over again as an easy Halloween game.

When laminated, kids can use bingo daubers or dry erase markers to mark each image as it is called. These are perfect for parties or classroom units with a halloween theme! Add these bingo sheets to your lesson plans.

Each printable sheet can easily be downloaded by right clicking on the image and selecting "save". Or scroll to the bottom for a downloadable PDF file. These free printable games are for personal use only.

Fun ways to use printables:

Create a coloring and activity book

Print the activity sheets and laminate them so that they can be reused

Use them as a fun activity at your next party or event

Add them to your Hocus Pocus party games

Create Halloween bingo boards to use year after year

Gift this printable bingo game at your next holiday party

These different bingo cards make a fun bingo game at Halloween parties. Just like traditional bingo, participants can mark out the free space on the unique cards to try to get four corners, a line or blackout bingo.

You can download all of the bingo sheets here:

Enter your name and email below to get an instant download of the files! You are then registered for my weekly email Newsletter that is full of fun recipes, easy crafts and free printables.

File usage:

All digital files on Homemade Heather are for personal use only.

Please direct others to the original website link when sharing.

Digital reselling, resharing or distribution is prohibited and NOT allowed.

If you love these free Hocus Pocus bingo printables, please help me share them on Facebook and Pinterest so that others can enjoy them too. Happy Halloween!

More educational resources are available in my large printable library:

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These free Hocus Pocus Bingo Printables are perfect for celebrating Halloween and keeping the kids busy! Simply print them to use this year.

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Hocus Pocus Party Games, Hocus Pocus Movie | Sanderson Sisters Halloween Scavenger Hunt and Bingo | Halloween Party Game Bundle in 2023 | Hocus pocus party, Halloween party games, Halloween party printables

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Sep 15, 2023 - Celebrate the return of the Sanderson Sisters with this duo of party games for your Hocus Pocus Party!  Two party games included - 5 x 7 Bingo Card and 8.5" x 11" Scavenger Hunt in this instant download digital template.  This set of Halloween games can be used for a Hocus Pocus themed Halloween Party, Watch Party, Bir…

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This could easily be made and teens might enjoy this activity.

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Our Happy Halloween - Selfie Scavenger Hunt - Witch Party Game is perfect and memorable - to take plenty of photos for you to look at afterwards. This game will prompt all of your friends to a take a variety of witches pics that everyone will like. Here are some ideas on how to play the game: Set a time limit and see who can complete as many challenges. You can do them as a team or individual or split them up. Pick a hashtag for your group so everyone can share them together. You can make them as risqué as you want or neutral as you want. Hand each guest a card or split into teams. See if they can complete the selfie photos listed before the end of the party to see who has the most points wins. The game comes in a set of 12 and is printed on heavy cards stock and is shaped like a witch's hat.

HOW TO PLAY: Decide if you plan to divide into teams or play individually and then hand out the selfie scavenger hunt game cards, one per team or individual. Set a time limit and let your guests scramble to complete all the selfie tasks. Each one completed earns a point if you have the photo on your phone at the end of the game to prove it. The team or person with the most points wins! TIP: Keep track of everyone's photos by designating a hashtag for sharing on your social media accounts.

HIGH-QUALITY PARTY SUPPLIES: Happy Halloween Selfie Scavenger Hunt party game cards are professionally printed on heavy-duty cardstock paper with a photo-like shine. They are individually inspected and carefully packaged by hand. This fun party game will arrive ready to use at your party. MADE IN THE USA: Happy Halloween - Witches Party Game - Selfie Scavenger Hunt is designed and manufactured at our Wisconsin facility using materials that are Made in the USA.

Happy Halloween Selfie Scavenger Hunt party game INCLUDES 12 game cards with selfie prompts for either team or individual play at your Halloween or birthday witch party. FUN PARTY GAME: Witch Party Selfie Scavenger Hunt game will be enjoyed by all your party guests of all ages. Each game card measures 5.75" wide x 6" tall and is cut in a fun witch hat shape. This game is perfect for playing with friends and family and is the ideal icebreaker at either a Halloween or birthday witches party.

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Big Dot of Happiness Donut Worry, Let's Party - Doughnut Party Game Scratch Off Cards - 22 Count

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Are you looking for some last minute Halloween Party Games? We've put together a large collection of games that are easy to create and fun to play with your child this Halloween.

Pick a theme for your Halloween Games from ghosts or pumpkins to witches and monsters, it's sure to be spooktacular fun!

Halloween Party Games for Kids

This Halloween Oobleek recipe and activity is perfect for a fall science lesson or as a fun and challenging Halloween Party game with a scientific twist.

Glow in the Dark Eyeballs and turn this Halloween sensory bottle into a Halloween Party Ball Game.

No Halloween is complete without a good game of Halloween Bingo. The best part is the kids can use small halloween candy to cover their board and they all win with a yummy treat at the end of the game.

Add a little fun to your home games too with this printable Halloween Hunt

Halloween Charades Game Cards & word list game for both kids & adults - perfect for party games, minute to win it or family fun!

Halloween Touch and Feel Game Mystery Bags. Grab the list of items to put in your box & FREE labels for a semi-spooky touch & feel game!

Halloween Themed Alphabet Bingo . A fun activity for a classroom party, co-op group, or play date to celebrate the holiday.

Play a game of Follow the Leader with these Halloween Yoga Poses

Grab some Halloween Scrapbook paper to create this DIY Tin Can Toss Game. Can you think of all the fun things you could take in to make a basket! Eyeballs, spiders, bats, and more!

Have a few more tin cans. Create your very own Halloween Tin Can Bowling Game!

Printable Halloween Scavenger Hunt Game w/ FREE printable for kids, tweens, teens & adults! A fun party game or alternative to trick or treating too.

Help the kids channel their Halloween excitement with 4 awesome (and easy!) Halloween Obstacle Course They're fun, non-spooky ways for the kids to play.

Ghost Themed Halloween Party Games

Get ready for some haunting fun with Ghost Races, all you need is a pillow case and a special ghost face.

Ghost Bean Bag Toss Game make ghost or skull boards for a DIY bean bag toss game for kids. Perfect for a spooky party or Halloween!

Mini Ghost Pinata! You can fill them with all sorts of things - edible wriggly worms or plastic spiders or ghost erasers, or simply with some chocolate treats!

Make some cute and friendly Ghosts pom,pom Popper as a fun Halloween craft for kids. Pom pom poppers are simple to make and are a cool DIY toy!

With just a white board and a balloon you can create your very own Ghost Toss for an easy Halloween Game for Kids!

Add a little spooky fun to the room with a DIY Ghost Pinatas using crepe paper and a paper lantern. Here's how!

Sneak in some sight words this Halloween with a Ghost Sensory Bottle Sight Word Game that you can make into a Bingo Game.

Pumpkin Themed Halloween Party Games

This fun DIY Pumpkin Bowling game is perfect for a Halloween Party or Fall Festival!

With a few orange balloons you can create your very own Pumpkin Patch Stomp Game !

Fill the Pumpkin with Popcorn Relay Race is a quick and easy way to get kids moving at your next Halloween party with just popcorn and pumpkins!

Pumpkin Popper Halloween Party Game , make any party (or rainy day!) come alive with this Halloween party game for kids

Sneak in some learning with this DYI Pumpkin Memory Game is a fun learning game that has students practicing letters, numbers, addition or subtraction, and sight words.

Make your own Pumpkin Golf that the kids will love playing at Halloween Carnivals and Parties! The Pumpkin Games will be their favorite part of the party!

Glow Sticker Pumpkin Ring Toss using glow in the dark necklaces as rings! Brilliant for a not so spooky game for kids.

Try you best to make the tallest pumpkin tower with a stacking pumpkin game.

Monster Themed Halloween Party Games

From post it notes to pinata! This is one clever, no mess DIY Monster Pinata. Choose from adorable owl or fun Monster Pinata!

Pin the Eyes on the Monster Game is sure to be a hit at your Monster Bash for Halloween.

Work on your tossing skills with this fuzzy Feed the Monster Halloween game or this simple Feed the Monster Game for younger kids.

Create a monster scavenger hunt with this adorable letter monsters with your child.

Mummy Themed Halloween Party Games

Keep the kids entertained this Halloween with Mummy Bowling Game Mummy Bowling, a twist on the traditional "wrap the mummy" game.

Can you guess what's in the Coffin? Eyeballs, brains, fingers and more with this Kids Halloween Creepy Muffin Coffin Guessing Game.

Spider Themed Halloween Party Games

Here's a super easy way to decorate a tabletop cornhole board for a fun Halloween game with a Halloween Cornhole Game with Spiders !

DIY Pin the Eyes on the Spooky Spider . Just download the free, easy-to-follow template to make your own giant Spooky Spider.

Fall harvest or Halloween games are easy to put together. This Spider Frisbee Toss Game is easy to make and such fun to play with in your backyard.

Pin the Spider on the Web makes for the perfect party decoration and spooky fun with spiders.

Spider Race Game is a great Halloween Minute to Win It game for kids and adults!

Spider webs are common to Halloween, but this Sticky Spider Web activity can be played all year long. It's a fun challenge to get kids moving!

Spider Web Walking Game with just colored packaging tape. This game is simple, spooky but not at all frightening.

Witch Themes Halloween Party Games

Create your own Witches Hat Ring Toss with just foam foam board and black construction page.

Have a little fun with the letters of the alphabet with this Witched Themed Alphabet Game.

With a special treat under each hat, create a fun Witch Hat Memory Game for your party.

Witches Brew Halloween Water Play Sometimes all you need is a bucket of water, some silly Halloween props to create hours of fun. Put on your witch hats and for a great time with some Halloween water play.

Use these Glow in the Dark Broomsticks to create a fun craft or even a tossing game.

More Halloween Fun at The Educators' Spin On It

These activities are perfect for your Halloween Activities at School or even as you plan your fall carnival or fall festival.

Wishing you a Happy Halloween!

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Are you looking for some last minute Halloween Party Games? We've put together a large collection of games that are easy to create and fun to play with your child this Halloween. Pick a theme for your Halloween Games from ghosts or pumpkins to witches and monsters, it's sure to be spooktacular fun!

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. When you click on a link and/or make a purchase, I may be paid a small commission at no additional cost to you. Additionally, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my Disclosure page for more information.

If you're a parent of tweens or teens, no doubt the way you celebrate Halloween has changed a lot over the years. First, it was more of a children's holiday with trick or treating and class parties.

Now, many teens don't even bother to dress up in costumes anymore because they're busy with other activities like school clubs and extracurriculars.

In this post, I have some fun ways to make Halloween for Tweens fun! And if you're looking for more ideas, check out Unforgettable Halloween Party Ideas for Tweens and Teens.

Just because your kids are too old to trick or treat, it doesn't mean that Halloween is no longer fun. In fact, there are plenty of ways to have a good time on All Hallows' Eve without going door-to-door looking for candy or wearing an over-the-top costume.

Don't leave without checking out 70+ Easy Halloween Party Recipes & Decorations that will make Halloween party planning so much easier! And if you're looking for fun this to do on the cheap this Fall, check out Fall Bucket List Ideas for Broke People.

I also have a FREE Printable Hocus Pocus Bingo Game that's fun for the entire family. It's an interactive way to watch this classic Halloween movie.

Teen-approved Halloween Ideas

Visit a local pumpkin patch to pick out your own jack-o'-lantern.

Find fun attractions like corn mazes and free hayrides - it's a great outing for the entire family.

Visit a local apple orchard with cider and donuts, then go pick out your own apples. This is an especially good option if there aren't any pumpkin patches near you.

Take the kids to a haunted house that is appropriate for their age.

Throw a Halloween party with plenty of creepy snacks and themed drinks and prizes for creative costumes - think scariest, best makeup, or even best Halloween theme.

Make and eat lots of delicious treats made with pumpkin, like pies, breads or cheesecake.

Create a Halloween charcuterie board filled with your favorite spooky treats.

For a fun at home activity, make a batch of ghostly chocolate covered strawberries.

Have a Halloween movie marathon where you can watch The Nightmare Before Christmas or Hocus Pocus (grab the FREE Disney Halloween Movie printable). If your kids are old enough you could even watch a real screamer of a movie like Nightmare on Elm Street or Child's Play.

Halloween Snack Ideas and Treats

Below are some of my favorite treats to serve during fall and around Halloween!

Halloween Would You Rather for Tweens

One of my favorite things to do is start a conversation at dinner, using questions that are silly but get the kids talking. And the best part is it's perfect for families with younger to older kids.

This Halloween Would You Rather: Hocus Pocus Edition is the perfect way to ask fun questions and start a healthy debate about the way people answer. It's a great way to get a peek into how your family and friends think too!

It's easy to use ( just download the pdf), print it out on heavy cardstock, and set them on the table for the kids to choose and answer.

Let each person tell their answer to see what each person thinks and even encourage a healthy discussion of why they choose the answers they do.

The questions are fun and really have no right answer, so answering is just good old fun and laughter. Pair the game with a Hocus Pocus-themed meal and watch the movie for a whole night of fun with your teenagers.

The possibilities are endless! There are so many fun things to do on the holiday that don't entail having to wear a costume or going from house to house asking for candy.

No one says you have to do anything you don't really want to, so feel free to celebrate Halloween your own way with your tweens!

How did you celebrate Halloween when you were younger? What are your plans this year?

Let us know in the comments below and happy Halloween!

Looking for another fun Halloween activity for the whole family? Grab our Hocus Pocus Movie Printable Bingo Boards for free!

If you're lucky enough to visit Disneyland during the spooky season, check Disneyland Halloween (Everything You Need to Know!) for our best tips.

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Would You Rather Game - Halloween Ideas for Tweens

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Would you rather Hocus Pocus game is great for teens and tweens to play at your next Halloween party or halloween themed family night! Don't for to download the printables!

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Our Hocus Pocus Trivia Questions and Answers Printable is here to cast a spell on your Halloween party this year!

Hocus Pocus Trivia Questions and Answers Printable

Remember the Sanderson Sisters? Oh, how could we forget Bette Midler as the unforgettable Winifred Sanderson! Or Sarah Jessica Parker and her whimsical take on Sarah Sanderson? And, of course, with her wonky grin, Mary Sanderson, played by Kathy Najimy.

Relive all the magic and mischief from the 1993 cult classic with our printable trivia quiz that is perfect for a movie night!

Answer sheets are included, making it easy peasy to find out who's the ultimate Hocus Pocus fan among your crew.

But wait, it's not just a bunch of hocus pocus; it's an absolutely free download, no extra cost!

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Ultimate Hocus Pocus Quiz Printable!

Who says Halloween parties can't have a little intellectual flair? With 30 questions, this printable makes a fabulous addition to your spooky celebration.

Our Hocus Pocus trivia questions and answers printable is perfect for adding a dash of magic and a pinch of "dead man's toe" to your Halloween party.

Challenge your guests to see who remembers what actors played the Sanderson Sisters or which high school the older kids in the movie attend.

We have also provided an editable version, which you can edit in Canva to create your ultimate Hocus Pocus quiz!

The free printable contains 30 Hocus Pocus movie questions with multiple-choice answers, which makes it easier for everyone to play-players can just guess if they need to!

But if you want to up the ante, there is a question and blank answer sheet for players to write their answers.

And there is a third option, with an answer sheet for teams or solo players. You can then read out the questions for everyone to answer. Whether you provide the multiple-choice options or let everyone have a guess is up to you.

If you're a big fan of the movie and throwing a Hocus Pocus Party for Halloween, we've got the best Hocus Pocus Party Ideas to help with your planning!

Where Are The Free Printables?

You will find the download links further down this page, surrounded by a purple box outline.

Tap the purple download buttons to save the file(s) to your device.

Printables are available in two paper sizes - A4 and US Letter (8.5″ x 11″).

Download the paper size that is appropriate for your printer.

UK Readers! No printer? No problem! Get your printables printed and sent to you with Doxzoo!

Check out other Halloween printables in the Purple Pumpkin Printables Shop.

The post is part of the Crafty October series on The Purple Pumpkin Blog, filled with free printables, crafts, recipes, and more for Halloween! Check out Crafty October from 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012 for tons of awesome Halloween ideas and inspiration!

How To Use Hocus Pocus Trivia Questions and Answers Printable

Download the printable PDF to your device and print as many as you need onto printer paper.

Hand out the quiz to the players with a pen.

There are several ways that you can play the trivia quiz:

Printable questions with multiple-choice answers sheet (correct answers on a separate sheet). Players will read the questions themselves and circle the correct answer from the choices available.

Printable question sheet with blank space to write the answers (correct answers on a separate sheet). Players will read the questions themselves and write in their answers.

Blank answer sheet. The host will read out the questions for the blank answer sheet, and players will write their answers down. Sheets are available for solo players or teams.

As a bonus, there are also completely blank sheets for you to handwrite on.

If you are a Canva user, you can even edit the trivia sheets with your own questions. You could weave in more general trivia or the Salem Witch Trials, which is the historical event the movie is loosely based on.

The link to the editable Canva template is in the free printable download, found at the bottom of this post.

More Halloween Printables

There are over 50 Free Halloween Printables on The Purple Pumpkin Blog! Check them out next!

Download Hocus Pocus Trivia Questions and Answers Printable

Hocus Pocus Quiz Questions

And if you don't want the free printable PDF, here are the questions in this Hocus Pocus trivia quiz:

1. What year was "Hocus Pocus" released? (1993)

2. What is the name of the black cat in the movie? (Binx)

3. Which Sanderson sister is played by Bette Midler? (Winifred)

4. Who accidentally resurrects the Sanderson Sisters? (Max)

5. In what U.S. state does the movie take place? (Massachusetts)

6. What does Max light to bring back the witches? (Candle)

7. Which ingredient is NOT part of the Sanderson sisters' "life potion"? (Frog Legs)

8. What song do the Sanderson Sisters perform at the town's Halloween party? (I Put a Spell on You)

9. Who is turned into a statue in the movie? (Winifred)

10. What did Max, Dani, and Allison use to fake the sunrise? (Car Headlamps)

11. Who sews Billy's mouth shut? (Winifred)

12. Which Sanderson sister rides a vacuum cleaner? (Mary)

13. Who is the first child the witches try to suck the life out of after being resurrected? (Dani)

14. Which seasoning protects against witches? (Salt)

15. What is the first name of Max's little sister? (Dani)

16. What was the color of the potion that the sisters use on the children? (Green)

17. What does Max's family give out for Halloween? (Toothbrushes)

18. Why can't the Sanderson sisters go into the cemetery? (It's hallowed ground)

19. Which sister is obsessed with sniffing out children? (Mary)

20. What is the name of the spell book? (Manual of Witchcraft and Alchemy)

21. What was the original title of the film during development? (Disney's Halloween House)

22. Who played the role of Max Dennison? (Omri Katz)

23. How much did Hocus Pocus gross at the box office worldwide? ($44.9 million)

24. Who played the role of Allison Watts? (Vinessa Shaw)

25. What is the year at the beginning of the movie? (1693)

26. What is the name of the zombie that the Sanderson sisters raise from the dead? (Billy Butcherson)

27. What is the name of the school that Max and Allison attend? (Jacob Bailey High School)

28. What was the original release date for Hocus Pocus? (July 16, 1993)

29. What phase does the moon need to be at on Halloween night for the sisters to come back? (Full Moon)

30. What does Max promise Dani he will dress up as if she visits the Sanderson House with him? (Peter Pan)

More Hocus Pocus Trivia Questions and Answers

And if you need some ideas for additional questions when you edit your Hocus Pocus trivia sheet, here are some more! You can add your own multiple choices.

Who sings the song "Come Little Children" in Hocus Pocus? (Sarah Sanderson)

What is the song "Come Little Children" also known as? (Sarah's Theme)

Who do the Sanderson sisters kidnap and steal the life force from? (Emily Binx)

Why do the Sanderson sisters need to drain the life force from children? (It gives them eternal youth)

What type of car do Max's parents drive? (Station Wagon)

What is the name of the magical candle that brings the witches back to life? (Black Flame Candle)

What did Max and Dani's mother dress up as for the Halloween party? (Madonna)

What happens to Binx at the end of the movie? (Thackery Binx's soul is released from his cat form)

Who voices the role of Binx the cat? (Jason Marsden)

What is the cover of Winifred's magic book made from? (Human skin)

The post is part of the Crafty October series on The Purple Pumpkin Blog, filled with free printables, crafts, recipes, and more for Halloween! You can check out Crafty October from 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012 for awesome Halloween ideas and inspiration!

The free printable(s) is (are) a PDF and can be opened with the free-to-use Adobe Reader (PDF reader). Printables designed and created by The Purple Pumpkin Blog and its Designers are for PERSONAL USE ONLY and NOT FOR RESALE under any circumstances. Please read the full Terms and Conditions. You are welcome to print these free printables at a print shop if you don't have access to a printer; however, some print shops may not print licensed characters. Colors may vary slightly on printing due to different screen and printer settings. You may share this free printable blog post on social media, including Pinterest, and on your blog/website with a link to this blog post. Please DO NOT share the PDF on social media or your blog/website. If you use any of my printables, it would be awesome to know about them! Post a picture on the social media platform that you hang out on, and follow me: Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest! Use the hashtag #TPPBprintables so I can find you. I hope you enjoy these free printables!

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Free Hocus Pocus Trivia Questions and Answers Printable You Can Edit!

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Unveil the magic at your Halloween party with our Free Hocus Pocus Trivia Questions and Answers Printable with 30 questions that you can edit!

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This would be such a cool idea for a review (especially on Halloween) if you use these categories: trick, treat, and trade.

(Candy remains on desktop and can't be eaten until after the game.)

trick- answer question to receive treat

treat (only a couple)- automatic candy

trade- trade a candy with someone; if no candy yet, steal a piece from someone

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As someone who has planned too many Halloween parties to count and always been put in charge of the games, I'm always trying to come up with simple, inexpensive, and fun Halloween games that will work for various ages. This bone to pick game is exactly that - a Halloween game that you can customize to make work for any group of people and any Halloween celebration!

Plus, we show you a super simple way to make your very own DIY game spinner that you can use not only for this bone to pick Halloween party game but also for any other occasion, just replace the bone with another long and thin thing that will spin!

I've been the classroom mom for ten years and coming up with new Halloween games for that, our youth nights, and our family Halloween party is a struggle.

The biggest problem I've found in the past is finding games that work for all ages so that I can repeat them across parties. For instance this Halloween family feud game works great for our family party but isn't necessarily a good option for my preschooler.

And this Halloween word search definitely doesn't work well for adults, but these Halloween trivia questions do. It's a real problem I run into every single year!

So this year I wanted to create fun Halloween party games that would work for kids, teens, and adults. I already shared our ghost bowling game and this DIY bone to pick game is the second in our collection of games for any age.

This game is as easy as creating a DIY spinner, adding choices, and then turning it into a game. And I've come up with various options you can use to make the game work for any age - so no having to come up with new games for every Halloween celebration this year!

It's one of the Halloween activities we're going to setup with our trunk or treat this year too along with this viral witch hat ring toss game!

Why You'll Love This Game

Cheap - the materials to make this spinner cost me $1. That's right, all I needed was the bone and everything else I had on hand to make the spinner. And that's not just because I have a lot of stuff at home, you'll likely have it on hand too! The only thing that you'll have to pay for on top of the spinner is any prizes you want to use!

Easy to make - you'll be surprised how easy this comes together with everyday items. I think the hardest part was drawing the circle.

Endless variations - there are so many different ways to play this game that you can make it a fun Halloween game that any age can enjoy!

Supplies

Cardboard - I used an old box I had lying around the house. You will want it to be big enough to fit the bone and writing. You can also use a foam board.

Plastic bone - I got mine from the Dollar Tree. If you can't find one there, you can try using a paper towel roll with a bone drawn on it or a piece of PVC pipe. Or really anything else long and skinny that will spin.

Markers - it worked best to have a variety of colors for the game we played with it. If you're just going to do trick or treat (and not use the colors), you can just do black permanent marker.

Plastic straw - you will want two of these.

Drill - while I would highly recommend using a drill with a drill bit for this, you could try using an Exacto Knife. Please remember to use caution when using this and keep it out of the hands of any kids. If you are using a paper towel roll a knife will be just fine.

Tape - I used painter's tape because that's what I found first, but any type will do as long as it's sturdy!

Compass - I used a makeshift compass by tying two pencils together with a string. You can also simply trace a circle if you have something on hand large enough. I have used a clock before that worked great as well or a pizza pan works too!

Prizes - if you're doing a version with prizes, you'll want to make sure and have different prizes on hand!

Trick cards - I use the ones that you can print out in this trick or treat game but you could also print out yoru own!

How to make the DIY Game Spinner

This easy DIY spinner takes about ten minutes to make, uses mainly things you have on hand, and can be used for several different games.

Adding this spinner to your Halloween games should be a no-brainer. And once it once, it should be easy to recreate for different holidays!

1 - Create Your Circle

1. Start by cutting your cardboard to the desired size using a box cutter, knife, or scissors. Remember to be careful while doing this portion since the tools are sharp!

2. Once cut you will want to mark the center of the cardboard using a marker.

3. Using your compass place one pencil in the center of the cardboard. Then, without moving the pencil in the middle begin drawing a circle with the other attached pencil by keeping the string taut while you circle the cardboard. This is easier if you have a large circular item like a clock you can trace. Or you can freehand it if you trust yourself!

4. Then use a straight edge, like a ruler or a leftover piece of cardboard, and divide the circle into twelve sections. It'll look like a pie chart.

2 - Add the bone to the Spinner

1. With the game board set up, it is time to add the spinner. Begin by inserting one of the two straws into the other. I had to squish mine to make it fit, it doesn't have to be pretty, it's just for support.

2. Next mark the center of your bone using a pencil or marker.

3. Using your drill with a drill bit that is slightly larger than your straw, drill a hole through the mark on your bone. You'll want to keep this as straight as possible when you go through the bone so it spins easily.

4. Test your straw to make sure it fits easily into the hole you've drilled. Make adjustments as needed using larger drill bits. It's better to start smaller than get bigger if you need to.

3 - Attach The Bone Spinner

1. Make a hole the size of your straw in the marked center of the cardboard. I used a screwdriver for this, but a pen would also be just fine.

2. Cut three slits into the end of the doubled-up straw about an inch long. Then fold those sections so they sit flat on a surface like a tripod.

3. Insert the straw into precut hole in the cardboard with the cut slits on the bottom of your game board.

4. Tape the cut slits to the back of the cardboard to secure your straw in place.

5. Put the bone onto the secured straw then cut the straw to an appropriate length so you don't have an extra long straw sticking out of your game board.

6. Test out your spinner and make any minor adjustments you need.

4 - Fill in Your Game Board

This is going to vary depending on how you want to play the game. So before you write on the cardboard you will want to decide what version of the game you want to play and write your sections accordingly.

Here are the instructions for the version we played.

1. Using a different colored marker for each section, write the word treat in eight of the twelve sections. We used markers in colors that matched Halloween buckets that we had filled with prizes!

2. Then using a black marker write the word trick in the remaining four. These can be in any order you want. There is no wrong way to do this.

3. Once your game board is filled in how you want it, your spinner is ready to go!

How To Play The Bone to Pick Game

There are a lot of different ways you can use this easy DIY Halloween spinner to play games. I wrote out some of my favorites, but I'd love to hear how you ended up using it in the comments.

For all of these options, you will want to write trick and treat on the game board. You can include as many trick-or-treats as you want, I chose to do eight and four.

You will also want to set up your tricks and treats before the game. For tricks, fill a bucket with trick cards, I used these printable trick cards and they worked perfectly! The "scares" from our truth or scare game would also work great!

The treats will vary depending on what version you are playing and what age you are playing with. You can see the different types of treats and buckets we used for our game below!

Option 1: Bone To Pick

For this option, you will want to write the word treat in a different color that is coordinated with a prize. Gather colored buckets that match the markers you use and fill them with individual prizes.

For example, fill a pink bucket with a bag of spider rings. Make sure you remember to set out your trick bucket as well.

To play, take turns spinning the spinner. Where the smallest part of the bone lands is the prize they get. If they land on the orange treat space they would pick a treat from the orange bucket.

If the person spinning lands on a trick space they would have to pull a trick card from the bucket and do what it says. If you're playing with kids, I recommend letting them pick out a treat of some sort (maybe one from a consolation bucket) after they complete their trick!

Play until everyone gets to spin once or until everyone earns a prize.

Upgrade for Teens and Adults

Buy just one prize per treat spot on the board and add a colored sticker instead of using buckets. Once that treat gets spun, the person who spun it wins the treat and it's gone. If someone else spins that treat spot, they're out of luck!

Option 2: Bone of Fortune

Begin by printing out these Halloween trivia questions and filling your board with trick and treat spots.

This version is simple, start by asking one person a trivia question. If they get it right they get to spin the bone and either win a prize or do a trick.

Play until everyone gets two turns or earns a prize.

Upgrade for Teens and Adults

Have people spin first like you do in wheel of fortune. Instead of putting out treat spots, tape gift cards, cash, or lotto tickets to the game board. Then have players spin BEFORE you ask them the Halloween trivia questions. Whatever they land on, they win only if they answer the question correctly.

If they answer the question correctly and win the prize, they take that prize off and that spot now becomes a trick as well.

Option 3:

For this version, you will want equal amounts of tricks and treats on the board. You will also need to print out this Halloween name that tune sheet. You will also want a bucket of treat items such as spider rings. These will be used as markers not prizes for this game.

Split the players into equal teams. You can have as many teams as you want or play individually. Each team will need a piece of paper and a pen.

To play, you will read off one of the song lines from the name that tune sheet. Each team will write down what they think the song is within an allotted time, 15 seconds worked great for me. Then you will check the answers. If anyone got it correct they get to spin the wheel.

If they land on a treat space they get to pick up one of the treat markers. If they land on a trick they complete a trick card.

This will continue until you go through all twelve of the songs.

The goal of this game is to collect as many treat markers as you can in the twelve rounds. Whatever team has the most treat markers at the end wins!

Bone To Pick Prize Ideas

If you're putting this together for kids or an event where everyone wins a prize I suggest using small prizes so that everyone can get one. Things like bouncy balls, suckers, spider rings, or sticky hands work great.

If you are using it for adults or teens who won't win a prize each time here are some of my favorite prizes.

Other Ways to Play

Don't want to do the trick or treat version of the game? You can still use the spinner and just switch the things you put on the board! Try things like:

Fitness activities like jumping jacks, push-ups, or laps around the gym

Actual prizes - just like a normal prize wheel, put the prizes right on the spinner!

Points - use it to score points after answering trivia questions, completing challenges, etc.

Safe or not - spin to stay in the game! If they get a strike, they're out.

Game FAQs

How do you earn a spin?

Players can earn a spin either by answering trivia questions, completing challenges, or being the first to name one of these Halloween party songs when they play! Or you can just let anyone have a spin regardless of if they earn it or not and the spin can be the entire game!

What should I use as tricks?

You can either use things from this printable list of tricks (from our trick or treat game), any of the scares from our truth or dare game, or come up with your own list of Halloween challenges and silly things to do.

What can I use instead of the bone?

If you can't find a bone similar to the one we used, you can use anything that's somewhat sturdy, long, thin, and round. Some items that might work would be a longer PVC pipe, an empty paper towel roll, or an empty wrapping paper roll cut down to size.

More Halloween Games

This spinner game would be perfect with any of these other fun Halloween party games!

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Make your very own DIY game spinner to play this fun bone to pick Halloween game that's perfect for kids, teens, and adults!

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Aside from the drinking game, some of the others would be great.

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Aside from the drinking game, some of the others would be great.

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You're in for a devil of a time with these amazing party games! These DIY games will have all your guest in a magical trance of fun and joy!

A Hocus pocus spin on the classic pin the tail on the donkey. The blindfolded guest is spun around until he or she is disoriented. The guest walks around and tries to pin the tail on Thackery . The player who pins their tail closest to the target (the outline of Thackery's tail) wins. We sell a perfect printable here that will make this game even easier and stress free to put together. This printable comes in 2 sizes - an 8.5"x11" to print at home, or an 11"x17" to print at your local print shop.

Your printable game will arrive within minutes in printable PDF files. This is a digital purchase - No physical product will be mailed. If you do not see it in your email please check your junk folder before you contact us - that is the usual culprit. If you have any questions or feedback we would love to hear from you! Contact us at: HappyPartying@gmail.com

This game is strictly for our 21 plus hocus pocus fans. For this you are going to watch the movie and make a guideline of rules on when to drink. Some of the guidelines can be drink Every time Thackery Binx "dies" ,take a shot when someone says "dude!", and take a shot when a spell is cast. You can use this guideline, you can add some, make all your own or purchase our party printable here with a bunch of fun rules.

You probably have heard of or played ring toss this is a witchy twist on that traditional carnival game. For this game you will need 6 witch hats and 6 glow in the dark necklaces. Players /teams alternate turns , throwing one ring at a time until all rings have been thrown. Score 5 points for each ringer and 3 points for any ring touching the hat. The team/player with the most points at the ends wins!

This is a game to test how well you really know the 3 witches from hocus pocus. First things first you are gonna need a judge/host. This person will receive a list of physical characteristics, personality traits, and quotes from the witches and which one it corresponds with. The host will then test your party guest knowledge on such facts. For this your host will say a fact and the first person to correctly call out who said it gets a point. I suggest one guess per person per fact and also a system for guesses like who raises their hand first or who rings a bell first. You are gonna go through all the quotes and whoever gets the most points wins.

This game is gonna be super different and fun. For this game you will need various brown paper bags with different things inside it can literally be anything from a rotten banana to old gym shoes. You are going to label each bag with a number and line up your guest. The guest will need to have a blind fold on and get a chance to smell in each bag and write down their guess on a piece of paper with the corresponding bag number. After everyone has smelled in each bag reveal what's inside each one and the person who smelled the most right wins.

This party game is a relay race for it. You will need two brooms, a start line, a finish line, and an even amount of players. To play the game you will need to create two even lines as the start line. Each line will have a broomstick each person will hold the broom in their legs with no hands then go to the finish line and return back to their line with the broom and pass it off to the next person in line and they will repeat until everyone in the line goes. The first line to go through all their people without dropping their broom wins.

This game can be played two ways. You can play as don't cackle where you have one person trying to make a group of people laugh. Or you can play where you have a judge. Then each participant one at a time will do their best cackle. The judge will decide who has the witchest cackle and that's your winner.

This is a great way to let all of your party guests let their individuality shine. Set up a table with lots of options such as glitter, food coloring, beads, and the base ingredients for your slime of choice, or you can even buy our fun printable potions recipe here and print out one for all of your party guests. Not only will this be a fun activity for lots of ages it's a great party favor everyone can take home.

First, every member in the group is asked to form a circle . Once the circle has been formed, paper and pens are distributed and each member would write on the paper, three statements about them in which two of these statements are true and one statement is a bunch of hocus pocus. Now, the first person in the group reads out loud those three statements at once.Then he/she reads each statement again and asks other people in the group to vote which statement they think is true and which statement is hocus pocus. One of the members in the group can also participate as a moderator to keep track of the scores by writing it on the paper. The person with the highest score wins the game!

This game will require a judge/host whoever is assigned this role will need a list of quotes and the corresponding character who said each one. You can do this yourself or we have an attached free PDF you can use. For this your host will say a quote and the first person to correctly call out who said it gets a point. I suggest one guess per person per quote and also a system for guesses like who raises their hand first or who rings a bell first. You are gonna go through all the quotes and whoever gets the most points wins.

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These spooktacular Hocus Pocus party games will put a spell on all your guest. These games make it easy to throw an awesome Halloween Bash!

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Oct 5, 2018 - Discover (and save!) your own Pins on Pinterest.

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Halloween is just around the corner, and it's the perfect time to take a spooky spin on a few traditional classroom activities. Today on the blog, I have a handful of Halloween ideas for kids that you can tailor to the needs of your students and the content you're teaching this fall.

In the list you'll find below, I have a digital spin for you. The Halloween ideas for kids on this list incorporate Chromebooks and websites that work well on these popular devices. From interactive spooky storytelling (that might connect to your ELA standards) to measurement skills in a Halloween recipe, these are ready for you to customize for your group of students.

Let's jump into the list and start with a few ways to customize these Halloween ideas for kids!

How to Customize Halloween Ideas for Kids

Regular readers of the blog know that I'm a big fan of artificial intelligence in education. You might have explored this landing page full of resources or downloaded this ebook with ChatGPT prompts for teachers. What does AI have to do with Halloween? You can use artificial intelligence tools to customize the activities on this list.

Earlier this school year, I shared a post with 8 Fall Activities for Kids With a Digital Spin. In the post, I talked about how to customize the activity ideas using AI tools like ChatGPT or Bard. For example, you might like the idea of "Spooky Story Writing" from the list below. You can customize this activity by following these steps:

1. Open up a chatbot tool (like ChatGPT or Bard).

2. Copy and paste the activity idea you like (use the list below or tweak it a bit).

3. Then add the following to your prompt: Customize this activity for a group of [GRADE LEVEL] students who are learning about [OBJECTIVE/TOPIC] who have used [EDTECH TOOL] and are struggling with [AREA OF CONCERN].

Of course, you don't have to use the exact prompt above, but this gives you an idea of how to customize the activities I've listed below.

If you like the idea of customizing activity ideas, you'll definitely want to check out episode 230 of my Easy EdTech Podcast. It's called " Fall Activity Ideas You Can Customize with AI," and you can find it on your favorite podcast platform or press play below.

Halloween Ideas for Kids

Here is a list of 13 Halloween ideas for kids to try both inside and outside of the classroom.

Write a Scary Story

On Chromebooks, you can use a variety of open-ended creation tools to help students share their spooky stories. Book Creator gives students the ability to add voice recordings on each page, which is great for sharing sound effects. Students can also use the audio recording feature to have students record their voices sounding extra spooky as they narrate their writing.

Create Pictures for Scary Stories

Regular readers of the blog (sign up for the free newsletter here) know that I'm a big fan of all things Adobe. I even wrote a book featuring activity ideas for using Adobe Spark (now called Adobe Express). You can use the tool Adobe Firefly or the "text to image" option in Adobe Express to have students create pictures for their scary stories. They can export the image and add it to their digital story or print it out and add it to a physical book.

Create Halloween MadLibs-Style Stories

Do you love MadLibs? I loved MadLibs growing up, and it's not something I really used as a classroom teacher. Now, it's easier than ever to create a story to share with your students, asking them to add nouns, adjectives, and other specifics, just like traditional MadLibs. Try the prompt:
Write a MadLibs-Style short story to share with a group of [GRADE LEVEL] students about [TOPIC] and make a connection to Halloween. Don't forget to include [ADD SOMETHING EXTRA, SUCH AS SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR YOUR CLASS].
Measure a Pumpkin

Students can measure pumpkins of various sizes and record their measurements in a Chromebook-friendly space like Google Sheets. They can graph their findings or use this spreadsheet tool to find the average circumference of the class collection of pumpkins.

Film a Spooky Story Video

Have you used the green screen feature in Flip (formerly Flipgrid)? It's one of my favorite video tools because students can easily choose a background and film a video in front of that background. Students can either snap a picture, find a picture ( Unsplash is a great option), or upload a photo they've made themselves. You might have students create an AI-generated image like I mentioned earlier in this post, and then upload it to the background of their Flip video. It's the perfect combination for telling a spooky story.

Spooky Patterns

For another math connection, students can create spooky patterns related to Halloween shapes, like bats, ghosts, and pumpkins. You might have them open up a tool like Seesaw on their Chromebook and use the drawing tool to create a pattern. They can make patterns using Halloween emojis and ask a partner to guess what emoji comes next.

Note: T his podcast episode has more ideas for using emojis in the classroom.

Read Halloween-Themed Texts

There are lots of excellent reading materials students can access on Chromebooks. And I have two blog posts from the Class Tech Tips archives with ideas for you to explore. This first list of " 5 Favorite Print and Digital Halloween Books" includes links to the Kindle version, and this list of " Halloween Books for Kids & Spooky Teacher Gifts " consists of a combination of print and digital texts along with gift ideas for this season.

Research Historical Figures

Last year, I put together a blog post on " 6 Spooky Tips for Halloween Reading Activities." In this post, I shared the idea that you can take a spin on a Halloween reading topic by exploring biographies with students. I gave an example from PebbleGo Next, where you'll find articles in categories such as "Composers, Musicians, and Singers" as well as "Explorers and Pioneers." If you anticipate that students in your class are choosing historical figures for a Halloween costume, you can definitely make a particular connection. For example, they might dress up like Amelia Earhart and read an article all about her, too.

Halloween Trivia Quiz

Use a pre-made quiz or create your own in a favorite tool like Kahoot! It's Chromebook-friendly and great for getting every student involved. Not only can you start from scratch with your own Halloween trivia, but Kahoot has lots of options for pre-made content to explore. You can make a copy of a quiz and tailor it to your group of students, too.

Spooky Current Events

During the Halloween season, local and national news outlets often look for ways to make connections to this holiday. You might find that a newspaper's website has a profile of a spot in your community that is said to be haunted, or they are profiling a community event related to Halloween. This list of current events resources includes Chromebook-friendly connections for you to explore.

Halloween History Timeline

I am a big fan of timelines, and you might have caught this post with a dozen timeline tools that I posted on the blog earlier this year. You might decide to investigate a social studies topic related to the Halloween season with your students. They can create a timeline on Chromebooks using one of the tools on the list.

Spooky Musical Playlist

Looking for a musical connection? Try playing a different Halloween-themed song at the start of each day during the week leading up to Halloween. Have students post on Jamboard or Figjam which song is their favorite, along with a reason why. If you're looking to make a math connection, have students pick their favorite using a tool like Mentimeter and display the bar or circle graph with their results.

Try a Halloween Recipe

As I write this post for you in September, my social media is full of ideas for Halloween treats. You can ask students to try out a recipe as a way to put their measurement skills into practice. You might have them measure out trail mix for a Halloween community walk or chronicle the steps for creating a Halloween treat using Google Slides to showcase the steps they took to make their creation.

And there you have it! Here is a cauldron of bewitching Halloween ideas for kids that you can customize for your students. Chromebooks are powerful classroom tools that can boost creativity and foster collaborative learning environments. The possibilities are endless!

Let me know what you create this spooky season. Reach out on social media by sending a message or tagging me in a post on Instagram or Twitter (X). If you like to correspond via email instead, sign up for my free weekly newsletter and reply to any of my Monday messages to share your Halloween ideas for kids!

Find more posts on Seasonal Activity Ideas:

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13 Halloween Ideas for Kids Using Chromebooks - Class Tech Tips

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Get ready for a spooktacular classroom experience! Check out this list of Halloween activities for kids featuring a Chromebook connection.

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Make your very own dessert board for a party or movie night with this simple DIY dessert charcuterie tutorial! Perfect for serving lots of treats in a festive way!
One of my favorite things about movie night is the snacks and just like at a buffet, I love being able to sample a bunch of different snacks rather than just finish off a bucket of popcorn.

Last year for Halloween I made this super fun dessert board and I thought I'd share what I learned about how to make a dessert board from that experience!

A dessert board with a few movie night snacks like popcorn, pretzels, and pistachios for a little salty bonus. It's perfect for a Halloween party, Halloween movie night, or if you switch out the treats on it - perfect for any party really!

Ingredients

The beauty of creating a dessert board is that you get to choose what goes on it based on a couple of different things:

Your theme - I went with a witch theme and witchy colors.

Your tastes - Make the board what your family wants to eat for movie night. If you really like having sour candy at the movies, add sour candy to your board. I went with my son's favorite frosted cookies, donuts, and gummy frogs because I knew they were things he'd actually enjoy!

Your budget - If you want to keep it inexpensive, make things from scratch rather than buying them at the store. You can also keep things more budget friendly by limiting the number of dessert items on the board.

If you want to recreate this actual witch themed Halloween snack board, here's what I used from top to bottom, left to right.

Mint chocolate candies

Purple and black lollipops

Chocolate donuts

Green frosted cookies

Purple chocolate balls

Gummy frogs

Dark chocolate squares with nuts

Pistachios

Black grapes

Green jelly beans

Purple candy corn

Black rock candy

Purple chocolate candies

Chocolate covered pretzels

Green marshmallows

Green apple popcorn

Brownie pieces

Cat sugar cookies

Mint chocolate sandwich cookies

Green licorice

Dessert Board Supplies

Okay so I'm going to walk you through how I created this board so that you can recreate it at home!

But before we get to actually adding food to the board, let's talk about the base supplies you'll need!

1 - Choose a board

The first thing you need to do is choose your board. I really like to do boards that have a little lip around them so that things (like the chocolate candies) don't just roll off. It just helps keep things together.

I also prefer a rectangle board over a round one but if you already have round, feel free to use that instead. Use a board that's big enough for all the snacks you want to include!

2 - Choose your snacks

Next up you want to choose your snacks. I like to try to envision my board a bit before I go shopping, possibly even draw it out, like I do with my party tables.

It makes it easier to put everything together and you'll have a better sense of how much you want to buy.

One thing to note is that you likely will only be putting a portion of whatever you buy on the actual dessert board. Like this was only 1/4 the box of donuts, 1/2 the box of cookies, and like 1/4 cup of a whole bag of pistachios.

When you're shopping, keep the tips under ingredients above in mind. Also try to pick up things of varying size, shape, and texture. It'll give your board more visual appeal and help to fill in the large space and the small gaps between the large items.

How to Make a Halloween Dessert Board

Now that you have your snacks and board, you're ready to create your very own dessert board. It's easier than you think but can take a bit of practice or really just moving things around until you get it how you want.

1 - Start with 2-3 bowls

The first thing I like to do is to add 2-3 bowls to different sections of the board. You can either fill these with candies and popcorn like I did or if you're doing something where dips would make sense - dips are great in the bowls.

Split them up into different sections of your board and use them to anchor the rest of the items on your dessert board. They work well as posts to wrap other things around and also help to create a visual focal point.

2 - Add large items

Next up, add your largest items. And add them in varying spots on the board so they're not all together. I started with donuts on one corner and brownies on another.

If I'd put those two together not only would there be just a lot of big clunky items together, it'd be way too much dark all in one place.

3 - Add themed items

I always like to add themed elements into my snack boards, especially when I'm making a movie night snack board like this one.

With this being a witch themed board, I added in some witchy themed elements and colors. Purple cat cookies, black rock candy that look like witch broomsticks, and green gummy frogs.

I also had a large gummy snake but it just didn't fit.

And sometimes that happens - sometimes things really just don't fit. In that case, set them aside and just enjoy them for a snack some other time.

4 - Break up colors

Continue adding your larger and medium size items to the board keeping in mind what color each of the items is. The goal is to not have too much of any color right next to each other.

If your budget allows, have a number of different snacks in each color so you can easily break up blocks of colors with another snack item. Or just repeat more of a snack you've already put on the board!

5 - Curve Straight edged items

One of the problems I had with my first ever snack board was buying a ton of square and rectangle items and trying to get them to fit well.

Spoiler alert - they didn't. Most of those snacks just ended up in my son's lunchbox or baseball team snacks.

I've found it works better to use mostly round elements, especially if you're using a rounded board like I did. You can definitely add in some straight edge elements, just curve them on the board to give the illusion of being curved.

You can see how I did that below with the brownie and chocolate squares - two square items rounded around another circle shape to fit better into the space.

6 - Fill in gaps with small items

Last but not least, fill in any holes with all of those small items you picked up at the store. You want to cover up pretty much any empty space left on the board and feel free to use the same small item in different spaces on the board.

Items that work well as fillers include:

Small candies

Nuts and seeds

Popcorn

Small fruits like grapes and berries (just make sure they're finger food type fruits and not something like cut up kiwi)

And there you go, the ultimate DIY dessert board! They're super easy to make for any movie night, holiday, or game night. And super easy to customize based on your theme and occasion.

More Movie Night Snacks

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Make your very own dessert board for a party or movie night with this simple DIY dessert charcuterie tutorial! Perfect for serving treats!

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Nothing is better for a Halloween party than a Halloween snack board stuffed with spooky snacks and festive treats. This Halloween board has themed snacks for every type of eater, from homemade witch hat cookies to peanut butter monster snacks to jack-o-lantern oranges.

Plus, everything can be made in a few simple steps so you can spend less time worrying about food and more time enjoying it with your guests.

Halloween is a great time to get together with friends and family. Whether it's for a movie night, neighborhood party, classroom party, spooky baby shower, or big Halloween bash, they all have one thing in common - food.

You can't do Halloween without fun snacks and ever since I made this viral Halloween dessert board, I've wanted to make a snack version!

This festive Halloween snack board works for all types of Halloween celebrations. With the perfect combination of salty snacks, fresh fruit, sweet treats, and spooky elements, this Halloween board has it all.

The best thing is everything on the fun snack board can be made in a matter of minutes so there is no wasting time and it can be thrown together last minute!

Simply buy and prep the snacks then you can assemble the board in a matter of minutes, leaving you plenty of time to enjoy these fun Halloween games with everyone.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

1. Versatile - if there is something you don't love, you can switch it out with something you do.

2. Little supplies - you can make this whatever dishware you have. So if you don't have a good charcuterie board, use a large cutting board or large platter instead. Easily swap out the cauldrons for small bowls.

3. Quick and easy - everything on this board can be made in minutes or bought from a grocery store, saving you valuable time.

Ingredients

Note!

The ingredients shown in the image above are to create all of the Halloween snacks that I included on my board. Those ingredients are not all listed in the recipe card below, but there are links to the recipes to make them (like these witch hat cookies and these peanut butter monster snacks!

Ingredient Notes

Candy eyeballs - I like using a variety of sizes like this pack or you can use fun colored ones like these.

Gummy worms - you can also use these creepy gummy bugs for even more spooky fun.

String cheese - any brand works just fine.

Pretzel - I prefer the original shape to pretzel sticks but you can use your favorite type of pretzel.

Caramel apple suckers - I am a sucker for these because they are delicious and easy to find, but you can switch them out for these Halloween shapes or zombie suckers.

Candy flavor popcorn - use any type of popcorn you want! If you want a nonsweet option a cheddar popcorn would be perfect.

Additional Snack Options

In addition to the things I included on my snack board, any of these other recipes would be great to include in a Halloween snack board too!

Any of these Halloween party snacks would also make a great option!

How to make a halloween snack board

Making this spooky Halloween snack board is surprisingly easy to do. Below you will find everything you need to get it done in no time, including easy-to-follow steps with pictures.

1 - Prep The Halloween Snacks

1. Buy ingredients from the store.

2. Make the witch-hat cookies according to the recipe then set aside.

3. Make the peanut butter monster crackers according to the recipe then set aside.

4. Draw spooky faces on oranges and string cheese.

2 - Add Bowls to the Snack Board

1. Pick a board you want to use. This board would make it extra spooky!

2. Line the tray with parchment paper for easier cleanup or skip the parchment paper if you don't care!

3. Pick two medium bowls to place on your board. This white mini pumpkin bowl is really cute! Fill those medium bowls with items that would work well in bowls like cheese balls, popcorn, small candies, etc. Then place them on the board in opposite corners.

4. Pick three small bowls or cauldrons (these cauldrons are the perfect size) for the board and fill with smaller candies like candy corn, gummy worms, etc. Add to the board trying to space them out from each other and from the larger bowls.

3 - Add Large Items to the Snack Board

1. Place monster crackers along the center of the tray.

2. Add witch-hat cookies to the side of the monster crackers.

3. Add in any other larger snacks and treats you may be using, trying to space out the sweet treats so that you can add in the less sweet snacks!

4 - Add Additional Snacks

1. Add all the clementines to the upper corner of the tray so they fill the corner. They're round so work perfect in corners!

2. Place the string cheese on the other end of the board, balancing out the healthy snacks on the board.

3. Add suckers or any longer snacks in the extra spaces on the board. I like to do this after you add the other big items so that you can sneak the sucker sticks under things like the clementines!

5 - Add Spooky Finishing Touches

1. Fill in any empty space with gummy worms or other spooky candies like gummy eyeballs (like in my Halloween punch), candy corn, and more.

2. Place candy eyes throughout the board for an extra eerie feel.

3. Add your favorite Halloween decor to the table or tray. Plastic spiders or a skeleton hand would be great on the board and make a great topper for things like the caramel corn!

Once you have all of the snacks placed on the board how you want it, your Halloween snack board is now ready to serve!

I recommend serving immediately since it has string cheese but if you're not going to serve right away, simply remove the string cheese (remembering where it goes), wrap with plastic wrap to use later!

Expert Tips And Storage Info

Keep at room temperature unless you are using perishable items (like the string cheese) then store them accordingly in the fridge and just add to the board last minute.

Make the board ahead of time then wrap tightly with plastic wrap to keep the items fresh, making sure to remove any perishable items before you wrap it.

Switch out any of the items on the board with your Halloween favorites! You could even skip making any snacks and just use all store-bought snack items if you're really in a hurry!

Keep backups of all of the items available so that if all of the say string cheese gets eaten, you'll have ones ready to go to replace the items!

Recipe FAQs

What do you put on a charcuterie board for Halloween?

For a Halloween charcuterie board, put spooky snacks (like Halloween pretzels, ghost string cheese, and pumpkin pizzas) and Halloween treats (like Halloween rice krispies) on the board.

You can also mix in universal snack items like pretzels or popcorn that people enjoy year-round. You can also never go wrong with candy for Halloween.

How long should a charcuterie board sit out before serving?

It's best to leave a charcuterie board out for no more than two hours when dealing with any perishable items. However, if all the snack items on your board are safely kept at room temperature, you are safe to keep it out for as long as you like.

More Easy Halloween Snacks

If you're looking for more Halloween snacks, try out some of these fun Halloween recipes!

Candy corn cups - layers of pudding turn these into the cutest candy corn treats!

Halloween frosting board - this fun play on a Halloween dessert board combines a frosting board with a dirt cake!

Fall snack mix - add a few candy eyeballs to this autumn mix for the best Halloween snack mix!

Marshmallow dip - serve up some fresh fruit with this monster dip for a fun Halloween snack!

Frankenstein guacamole - chips and Frank, that's how the saying goes? This fun Halloween inspired snack is a great option!

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This fun Halloween snack board is the perfect addition to any Halloween party! Witch cookies, monster snacks, ghost string cheese, and more!

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This fun dirt and worms Halloween frosting board combines the classic dirt and worms desserts with the trendy chocolate frosting board.

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Easy Witch Halloween Rice Krispie Treats

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These witch rice krispy treats are not only cute but delicious as well! So easy to make and perfect for a classroom Halloween party treat or a party at home!

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These fun Hocus Pocus brownies look like spell book used by the Sanderson Sisters in the classic Halloween movie! Make them up for a movie night, a Hocus Pocus party, or even just any Halloween party! They're super easy to make and a great addition to any Halloween dessert table!

One of my favorite parts of the Hocus Pocus movies is the spellbook, so I thought it would be fun to share some Hocus Pocus themed recipes like these spell book brownies! I'll be sharing some more ideas soon but figured these Hocus Pocus spell book brownies was a good enough place to start as any!

I still can't believe they made a new Hocus Pocus movie honestly - it's like they're bringing back all of the classics. I'm glad they did the original justice, kind of like how they brought back Top Gun and the new one is a masterpiece. While Hocus Pocus may not at the top of my list of favorite Halloween movies, it's a good one. And we watch it every Halloween season, so that's something.

Anyway, these brownies will be the hit of a Hocus Pocus movie night or your next Hocus Pocus themed party!

They're designed to look like the Manual of Witchcraft and Alchemy that Winifred gets during the movie and that they use throughout the film. I mean Winifred Sanderson's spell book is almost a main character, so I needed to make brownies just for it!

You could even make this fun Halloween dessert board and just add these delicious Hocus Pocus brownies and these Hocus Pocus cookies to the board - it's already witched themed so it would go perfectly with these!

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Easy - by starting with a box brownie mix, these brownies will be done in no time! Plus, you know they'll be delicious since box brownie mixes always are!

Festive - if you like themed treats, you're in the right place because these are made specifically to be themed to the movie Hocus Pocus!

Great make ahead recipe - unlike some Halloween recipes that aren't easy to make ahead of time, these ones are! Brownies last for a few days so if you want to make the brownies first and then decorate just before serving, that's a great option!

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

Brownie Mix - you can either use a box brownie mix or you could make your own homemade brownies with this recipe. Honestly, as long as you get brownies out of the deal, you can really use anything. If you're using a box mix, you'll also need the things to mix into it (typically eggs, oil, and water).

Black Icing - you can either make your own using this sugar cookie icing recipe or you can buy store-bought decorator's icing - just make sure it's thin enough to actually decorate. I've had issues with the tubes of icing you buy at stores being too thick for the small designs on these brownies. If you don't have black icing, you could also substitute with melted chocolate piped with a piping bag. Or just pipe out black cookie frosting (store-bought works fine).

Candy eyes - if you can't find candy eyes in your stores yet (you should be able to), you can order them in bulk on Amazon here. Candy eyes are not optional, that's what makes this the Hocus Pocus book of spells! If you want to use large candy eyes, I recommend cutting your brownies a little bit bigger than normal. I like to use large candy eyes or jumbo candy eyes if I can find them but couldn't this summer so small ones were all I had!

How to Make hocus pocus brownies

Are you ready to make Hocus Pocus themed brownies? These aren't just for Hocus Pocus fans, they're easy enough that anyone can make them, whether you're a big fan of not!

Prepare the brownies according to the directions on the package. It's typically something like combining the brownie mix, eggs, oil, and water in a large bowl and mixing until smooth.

Pour the batter into an 8×8 or 9×9 square pan. This will give you thicker brownies, looking more like Winifred's spellbook.

Tip!

If you want to make it easier to get the brownies out of the pan and to cut them once they're cooled, you can also line the pan with parchment paper first, before you pour brownie batter in the prepared pan. Then when they're cool, you just pop out the parchment paper and cut the brownies into squares from there. A little parchment paper is always a great idea.

Bake according to the directions for brownies (not cake) on the box. Depending on your mix, it's typically 30-35 minutes but some are as short as 20-25 minutes so just read the directions carefully.

You can really make these with any kind of brownie mix, but I always prefer high quality brownies like Ghirardelli. I just love the added chocolate chips in the mixture.

Allow the brownies to cool completely. You can either leave them in the pan or if they're on parchment paper, you can pull them out and move to a cooling rack.

Once cooled, cut into 12 equal rectangles.These are Hocus Pocus spellbook brownies so you want to make them at least somewhat the shape of the spellbook so stick with wider rectangles compared to skinny and narrow.

Now gently press one candy eye into the right long side of each brownie about halfway down, toward the center of the brownies. Make sure you leave enough space to draw a circle around the eye. If you're worried about the eye staying on the brownie, you can add a small dot of frosting underneath first, but it's typically pretty easy to just press the eye into the brownie gently.

Next, use the black decorating icing or gel to draw a circle around the candy eye on each brownie.

To finish up the spell book, use the black icing in either a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner cut off to draw short horizontal lines (aka zig zag lines) like a book seam on the long side opposite the candy eye. You could also do one long straight line and short lines across it if you want.

Once you've done the seams, add half circles to each corner above and below the eye. You can also add additional vertical lines or swirls to add more character to your spell book brownie. You can google a picture of the actual spellbook if you want to be super precise but people will get the idea that these are Hocus Pocus book brownies just by the circled eye itself!

These fun Halloween brownies are perfect for a Hocus Pocus movie night, Halloween party, or just when you want a fun festive treat! They're perfect for watching the silly antics of the Sanderson sisters on screen again! I mean I'm just so excited to see Bette Middler and Sarah Jessica Parker back up on the screen together!

Expert Tips

Store the brownies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to five days. If they're not eaten by then (guessing they will be), toss any remaining brownies. Or give them away so someone can enjoy these delicious Halloween treats!

Test the icing out on a piece of wax or parchment paper before you start icing the brownies. Sometimes store-bought icings can get a bit watery and that needs to be removed before icing. Same thing with melted chocolate, make sure to squeeze out any excess chocolate clumps to make sure you can get one smooth frosting line.

Store in a cool place (but not the fridge) if you use melted chocolate into of black icing. If you store them in a warm place, the melted chocolate has a tendency to melt or smear easily.

Recipe FAQs

Do I have to use a box brownie mix?

No, you can use your favorite homemade brownie recipe as well!

What size candy eyeballs should I use?

If you want these to look the most like the spellbook, you can use a large or jumbo candy eye like the ones available on Amazon here. If you want to make these the easiest possible, just use regular candy eyes you can find in grocery stores all the time and especially around Halloween!

More Fun Halloween Treats

If you like fun and spooky treats, you're in the right place! Try one and these next and who knows, you may just find your new favorite Halloween dessert! Or if nothing else, treats for your next Halloween party!

Witch hat cookies - super easy cookies that look just like cute little witch hats!

Pretzel Spider Webs - a quick and easy spiderweb dessert that I shared last year that were super popular on TikTok!

Ghost brownies - another fun Halloween recipe that starts with a box brownie mix and gets topped with sweet ghosts!

Witch rice krispie treats - store-bought rice krispie treats get turned into the cutest witches you ever saw!

Candy corn cups - layers of pudding come together in this fun candy corn inspired treat!

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Quick and easy Hocus Pocus brownies that look just like the spellbook from the classic Halloween movie! Perfect for movie nights and parties!

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These fun Hocus Pocus brownies look like spell book used by the Sanderson Sisters in the classic Halloween movie! Make them up for a movie night, a Hocus Pocus party, or even just any Halloween party! They're super easy to make and a great addition to any Halloween dessert table!

One of my favorite parts of the Hocus Pocus movies is the spellbook, so I thought it would be fun to share some Hocus Pocus themed recipes like these spell book brownies! I'll be sharing some more ideas soon but figured these Hocus Pocus spell book brownies was a good enough place to start as any!

I still can't believe they made a new Hocus Pocus movie honestly - it's like they're bringing back all of the classics. I'm glad they did the original justice, kind of like how they brought back Top Gun and the new one is a masterpiece. While Hocus Pocus may not at the top of my list of favorite Halloween movies, it's a good one. And we watch it every Halloween season, so that's something.

Anyway, these brownies will be the hit of a Hocus Pocus movie night or your next Hocus Pocus themed party!

They're designed to look like the Manual of Witchcraft and Alchemy that Winifred gets during the movie and that they use throughout the film. I mean Winifred Sanderson's spell book is almost a main character, so I needed to make brownies just for it!

You could even make this fun Halloween dessert board and just add these delicious Hocus Pocus brownies and these Hocus Pocus cookies to the board - it's already witched themed so it would go perfectly with these!

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Easy - by starting with a box brownie mix, these brownies will be done in no time! Plus, you know they'll be delicious since box brownie mixes always are!

Festive - if you like themed treats, you're in the right place because these are made specifically to be themed to the movie Hocus Pocus!

Great make ahead recipe - unlike some Halloween recipes that aren't easy to make ahead of time, these ones are! Brownies last for a few days so if you want to make the brownies first and then decorate just before serving, that's a great option!

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

Brownie Mix - you can either use a box brownie mix or you could make your own homemade brownies with this recipe. Honestly, as long as you get brownies out of the deal, you can really use anything. If you're using a box mix, you'll also need the things to mix into it (typically eggs, oil, and water).

Black Icing - you can either make your own using this sugar cookie icing recipe or you can buy store-bought decorator's icing - just make sure it's thin enough to actually decorate. I've had issues with the tubes of icing you buy at stores being too thick for the small designs on these brownies. If you don't have black icing, you could also substitute with melted chocolate piped with a piping bag. Or just pipe out black cookie frosting (store-bought works fine).

Candy eyes - if you can't find candy eyes in your stores yet (you should be able to), you can order them in bulk on Amazon here. Candy eyes are not optional, that's what makes this the Hocus Pocus book of spells! If you want to use large candy eyes, I recommend cutting your brownies a little bit bigger than normal. I like to use large candy eyes or jumbo candy eyes if I can find them but couldn't this summer so small ones were all I had!

How to Make hocus pocus brownies

Are you ready to make Hocus Pocus themed brownies? These aren't just for Hocus Pocus fans, they're easy enough that anyone can make them, whether you're a big fan of not!

Prepare the brownies according to the directions on the package. It's typically something like combining the brownie mix, eggs, oil, and water in a large bowl and mixing until smooth.

Pour the batter into an 8×8 or 9×9 square pan. This will give you thicker brownies, looking more like Winifred's spellbook.

Tip!

If you want to make it easier to get the brownies out of the pan and to cut them once they're cooled, you can also line the pan with parchment paper first, before you pour brownie batter in the prepared pan. Then when they're cool, you just pop out the parchment paper and cut the brownies into squares from there. A little parchment paper is always a great idea.

Bake according to the directions for brownies (not cake) on the box. Depending on your mix, it's typically 30-35 minutes but some are as short as 20-25 minutes so just read the directions carefully.

You can really make these with any kind of brownie mix, but I always prefer high quality brownies like Ghirardelli. I just love the added chocolate chips in the mixture.

Allow the brownies to cool completely. You can either leave them in the pan or if they're on parchment paper, you can pull them out and move to a cooling rack.

Once cooled, cut into 12 equal rectangles.These are Hocus Pocus spellbook brownies so you want to make them at least somewhat the shape of the spellbook so stick with wider rectangles compared to skinny and narrow.

Now gently press one candy eye into the right long side of each brownie about halfway down, toward the center of the brownies. Make sure you leave enough space to draw a circle around the eye. If you're worried about the eye staying on the brownie, you can add a small dot of frosting underneath first, but it's typically pretty easy to just press the eye into the brownie gently.

Next, use the black decorating icing or gel to draw a circle around the candy eye on each brownie.

To finish up the spell book, use the black icing in either a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner cut off to draw short horizontal lines (aka zig zag lines) like a book seam on the long side opposite the candy eye. You could also do one long straight line and short lines across it if you want.

Once you've done the seams, add half circles to each corner above and below the eye. You can also add additional vertical lines or swirls to add more character to your spell book brownie. You can google a picture of the actual spellbook if you want to be super precise but people will get the idea that these are Hocus Pocus book brownies just by the circled eye itself!

These fun Halloween brownies are perfect for a Hocus Pocus movie night, Halloween party, or just when you want a fun festive treat! They're perfect for watching the silly antics of the Sanderson sisters on screen again! I mean I'm just so excited to see Bette Middler and Sarah Jessica Parker back up on the screen together!

Expert Tips

Store the brownies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to five days. If they're not eaten by then (guessing they will be), toss any remaining brownies. Or give them away so someone can enjoy these delicious Halloween treats!

Test the icing out on a piece of wax or parchment paper before you start icing the brownies. Sometimes store-bought icings can get a bit watery and that needs to be removed before icing. Same thing with melted chocolate, make sure to squeeze out any excess chocolate clumps to make sure you can get one smooth frosting line.

Store in a cool place (but not the fridge) if you use melted chocolate into of black icing. If you store them in a warm place, the melted chocolate has a tendency to melt or smear easily.

Recipe FAQs

Do I have to use a box brownie mix?

No, you can use your favorite homemade brownie recipe as well!

What size candy eyeballs should I use?

If you want these to look the most like the spellbook, you can use a large or jumbo candy eye like the ones available on Amazon here. If you want to make these the easiest possible, just use regular candy eyes you can find in grocery stores all the time and especially around Halloween!

More Fun Halloween Treats

If you like fun and spooky treats, you're in the right place! Try one and these next and who knows, you may just find your new favorite Halloween dessert! Or if nothing else, treats for your next Halloween party!

Witch hat cookies - super easy cookies that look just like cute little witch hats!

Pretzel Spider Webs - a quick and easy spiderweb dessert that I shared last year that were super popular on TikTok!

Ghost brownies - another fun Halloween recipe that starts with a box brownie mix and gets topped with sweet ghosts!

Witch rice krispie treats - store-bought rice krispie treats get turned into the cutest witches you ever saw!

Candy corn cups - layers of pudding come together in this fun candy corn inspired treat!

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Quick and easy Hocus Pocus brownies that look just like the spellbook from the classic Halloween movie! Perfect for movie nights and parties!

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Halloween cupcakes made in a witch’s cauldron that look just like a bubbling brew! Cauldron cupcakes that are adorable and delicious!

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These Halloween M&M cookie bars make a deliciously festive treat with the addition of Halloween M&Ms and Halloween sprinkles mixed into a delicious traditional cookie base. They're the perfect addition to any Halloween party table!

The countdown is on! Just over two weeks until Halloween, and I'm finally sharing the last of my Halloween recipes for the year! Still lots of pumpkin and fall flavors to come but this is the end of the Halloween goodies.

And I may have saved the best for last - I'll let you choose!

These yummy Halloween M&Ms cookie bars combine a typical cookie base with M&Ms, Oreos, and lots of Halloween sprinkles for not only a delicious but also a super festive treat!

If you like Oreos or cookies and cream flavor, you're going to love these bars! And if you don't, maybe try these cookie dough Oreo brownies instead!

They're also a super easy recipe to share, which means they're a great Halloween party food or would even be good wrapped up and added to a cute Halloween boo bucket!

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Super easy - just dump all the ingredients together, put in a baking dish, and bake! There's no finesse or delicacy needed in this recipe, making it a great one to make with kids!

Festive look - these not only have candies and cookies mixed into the dough, but they're topped with all sorts of festive treats as well, making them perfect for serving at a Halloween get together!

Cookies and cream flavor - the Oreos give these cookie bars a cookies and cream flavor that is just delicious (assuming you like Oreos anyway). If you want a regular sugar cookie bar recipe, I'll be sharing one of those soon too!

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

M&Ms - this recipe uses the Halloween Cookies and Cream M&Ms but it would be fine with traditional M&Ms as well, just try to find the Halloween colored ones!

Oreos - I used regular Oreos in this recipe but Double Stuffed would work fine as well. You want your Oreos to be chopped into bite-sized chunks. One cup of the Oreos will go into the cookie dough and the rest will be added on top of the M&M cookie bars.

Sprinkles - any kind of Halloween sprinkles can be used, I just used what I had on hand!

How to Make M&M Cookie Bars

One of the reasons I love making bars is just how easy they are to make - it's literally just mix, dump, bake, and cut!

Okay fine, there's a bit more to it but just a bit.

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and lining a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper. Lining it with parchment paper not only helps the bars not stick to the pan (since they're not touching the pan), it also allows you to pull the bars out once they're cooled to get perfect cuts!

While the oven preheats, whisk your dry ingredients - flour, salt, and baking soda - together in a bowl then set that bowl aside until later.

In the bowl for a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until well combined.

Once they're combined, add the eggs and vanilla then beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula if necessary to make sure everything gets combined together.

Slowly add in the flour mixture and mix until just combined; don't over mix.

Finish the dough by folding in one cup of the M&Ms and one of the chopped Oreos. Don't mix these with a beater or you'll end up changing the texture, color, and taste of the bars! Folding is key here.

Spread the cookie dough batter evenly into the prepared pan and top evenly with the remaining M&Ms, Oreo pieces, and sprinkles.

Bake in the oven for 24 to 27 minutes or until the edges are just golden. I start checking the bars around 20 minutes because my oven runs fairly hot and you don't want to over bake them so the edges get burnt.

Let the M&M cookie bars cool in the pan until completely cooled then use the edges of the parchment paper to pull the cookie bars out and place them on a solid surface to cut into squares.

I recommend cutting with a plastic knife and using it to saw through the cookie bars. You can also use a regular knife, just make sure to use a sawing motion rather than just trying to pull through the cookie bars.

Serve in squares once cooled! You can serve these plain or I personally think they'd be really yummy served with a little cookies and cream ice cream - might as well keep the Oreo theme going right?

Expert Tips

Make sure to bake these in a 9×13 baking pan. They're too thick to cook in a smaller pan and won't bake properly without being able to spread out and expand.

Store leftover bars (if there are any) in an airtight container for up to three days.

Recipe FAQs

Can you freeze M&M cookie bars?

I do not recommend freezing these Halloween M&M cookie bars because of the amount of candy, cookies, and sprinkles in the bars. They just don't thaw as well as say these M&M cookies.

How many bars does this make?

The recipe is written to make 24 small bars because they're thick and filling. You can also cut them into larger squares or smaller squares depending on how many people you need to serve.

More Halloween Treats

If you like these Halloween M&M cookie bars, you'll love these other easy Halloween treats!

Oreo dirt cake - an updated version of a vintage classic - a layered cake topped with dirt and worms!

Witch hat cookies - the easiest Halloween treat ever but also the cutest!

Ghost brownies - what happens when you combine a box brownie with a homemade ghost? These treats!

Halloween dessert board - an easy witch themed dessert board with step by step instructions to cast your spell perfectly!

Halloween rice krispie treats - boxed rice krispie treats become a decadent treat when combined with a little ghoulish frosting and sprinkles!

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These delicious cookies and cream Halloween M&M cookie bars combine a cookie base with Oreos, M&Ms, and sprinkles for a yummy festive treat!

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These monster cookie sandwiches are the perfect Halloween treat for kids and adults alike! And they're even better when paired with some chocolate milk turned into monster milk with free printable monster drink labels! While this post is sponsored as part of The National Milk Life Campaign, all ideas and opinions are 100% honest and my own.
There's just something that I adore about Halloween but I'm not really a huge dress up person.

I mean I am going to wear the DIY superhero costumes I made (or maybe the sweatshirt I made for the Not So Scary Halloween Party), but costumes aren't really my thing.

My thing is food. All of the cute food. Give me all of the candy eyeballs, really just candy period.

I don't want anything gross but things like these monster cinnamon rolls, and I'm all in.

My 5-year-old is just as obsessed with cute food and candy eyeballs as I am, so I thought it'd be fun to make a special like Halloween treat just for him (and me!) - milk and cookies. But not just any milk and cookies - monster milk and monster cookies.

And not just monster cookies - monster cookie sandwiches, because everyone knows a cookie sandwich is better than a cookie all by itself. Add candy eyeballs, and it's a Halloween home run!

And if you don't want to stop there - keep the monster theme going by playing a friendly game of Monster Mash bingo after you enjoy your monster cookies and milk!

DIY Monster Milk

I'll get to the monster cookie sandwiches in a minute but first let's start with the monster milk. Since this is supposed to be more of a treat, I decided to go with chocolate milk instead of regular milk.

Going with chocolate instead of milk just makes these monsters feel a little bit more fun and you know I'm all about making life more fun!

DIY Monster Milk Instructions

The monster milk is so simple to make. All you need are:

Printable monster labels (print out below)

double-sided tape

empty milk jars

striped straws (optional - to add a little pizzaz)

1 - Print out the monster labels on either full-sheet label paper or white card stock. Cut out the labels so there is no white showing on the labels.

2 - Place a piece of double-sided tape on the inside end of each of the labels.

3 - Tape one side of the label onto the back of the bottle, wrap the label around the bottle, and secure by taping the other end on top of the label on the back.

4 - Add chocolate milk, a striped straw, and some delicious monster cookies sandwiches!

Print the Monster Bottle Labels

Click the button below to download the free monster bottle labels. If you don't see the button, click here to download the PDF file.

Monster Cookie Sandwiches

I've seen tons of monster treats out there, but I thought monster cookies would be perfect for these cookie sandwiches because well monster cookies are I mean - they're monsters.

There's not really a recipe for these monster cookie sandwiches because the idea is for you to be as creative as possible. I actually recommend getting your kids involved and letting them put together their own! I'm going to do a walk-through of how I made them and some of my suggested toppings but have fun with it.

Make your own favorite Halloween monsters with your own favorite toppings and flavors!

These are the ingredients I used:

Monster cookies

Cream cheese frosting

Peanut butter

Chocolate frosting

Food coloring (to make the white cream cheese frosting colored)

Candy eyeballs

Sprinkles of all kinds

White chocolate chips & candy corn (for teeth)

1 - Bake your monster cookies. Make sure to use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to get cookies that are about the same size - essential for making cookie sandwiches!

2- While your cookies are baking, put together your very own monster cookie sandwich bar with all of the ingredients for people to make their own monster. Kids especially will love getting to be creative with sprinkles, eyeballs, and teeth!

3 - To make the cookie sandwiches, simply place some filling in between two similar sized monster cookies and smoosh together to press the filling to the side.

Then dip the cookie sandwich in sprinkles and add monster eyes and other embellishments. Or do it in reverse - add eyes and embellishments first then add sprinkles.

Enjoy with a cold glass of chocolate monster milk for one spooktacular treat! You could even make it into a competition, kind of like a gingerbread house making competition - see who can get the most creative with the supplies provided!

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Monster Milk and Cookie Sandwiches (with printable labels!)

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Monster cookie sandwiches are the perfect spooky food! Pair them with milk using free printable milk bottle labels for a Halloween treat!

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It's fall and that means it's time for... pumpkin everything. Pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin bread, visiting the pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins, you know the drill. Since pumpkins are already all around you, why not make them a part of your lesson plans too? We've rounded up 100 educational pumpkin activities you can use to bring this fun symbol into the classroom.

Educational Pumpkin Activities for Math

Educational Pumpkin Activities for Science

Educational Pumpkin Activities for Language Arts

Activities for Social Studies

1. Visit a pumpkin patch and talk about the role the pumpkin patch plays in your community.

2. Create a map that shows how to get to a local pumpkin patch or have students create a map after they visit the pumpkin patch. Students can also follow a map through a corn maze at the pumpkin patch.

3. Discuss with students the path a pumpkin takes to get from a seed to a pumpkin pie on the dinner table.

4. Did you know that 90% of pumpkins grown in the United States come from a 90-mile radius around Peoria, Illinois? Do some research on the state of Illinois and its pumpkin crop.

5. Do some research to figure out the top 5-10 pumpkin producing countries in the world.

6. Decorate pumpkins to represent different flags of the world or different states in the United States.

7. Paint a world globe onto a pumpkin. Use it to talk about concepts such as the equator, longitude, and latitude.

8. Why do people put out jack-o-lanterns on Halloween? Do some research to figure out the reason behind the tradition.

9. How have pumpkins been used throughout history? Have each student find one use and write a report on it.

10. Eat pumpkin like the Native Americans by cutting it and roasting it over a fire.

11. Read the book The Pumpkin People and talk about different personalities and types of people that exist in the world or choose other Halloween books to read.

12. Play a game of pumpkin trivia. Put together a set of historical questions about pumpkins and see how much students know.

Activities for Music

1. Sing the song "5 Little Pumpkins."

2. Sing the "I'm a Little Pumpkin" song to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot." (I'm a little pumpkin, orange and round)

3. Use two paper plates taped together with beans inside and painted orange to create pumpkin tambourines.

4. Use soft mallets to tap on pumpkins and see what sounds they make. Do they make different sounds once they have been cut open?

5. Replace the black dots on music notes with tiny pumpkin pictures on a silly tune about fall or Halloween for beginning learners to play.

6. Make up a clapping or stomping rhythm as kids spell out the word pumpkin.

7. Fill a plastic tube with dried pumpkin seeds to make a musical shaker.

8. Play a game of musical pass the pumpkin. Have students stand in a circle and pass around the pumpkin while music plays. Whoever is holding the pumpkin when the music stops is out.

9. Say a rhyme such as "Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater" while having students clap along. Try to say the rhyme faster and slower.

10. Have students make up a pumpkin dance, a dance that they think a big, round pumpkin might do or a dance they can do while holding a pumpkin.

11. Play students part of the soundtrack from "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and talk about the different sounds you hear.

12. Sing the song "Where is Thumbkin?" but insert pumpkin and pull out a pumpkin or two as you say the lines.

Activities for Physical Education

Activities for Art

Have more educational pumpkin activities? We'd love to hear your ideas. Share them in the comments. Visit Help Teaching for more fun fall activities and printables. Happy Fall from Help Teaching!

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100 Educational Pumpkin Activities - HelpTeaching.com

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When it's fall, it's time for all things pumpkin. Get loads of educational benefit with our list of educational pumpkin activities!