18 Great Halloween Writing Activities

Celebrate candy, trick-or-treating, ghosts, haunted houses, witches, October, and all things Halloween-related using these fun Halloween writing activities.

During the holidays, it can be more of a challenge to keep students focused on learning.

One way to overcome this obstacle is by incorporating fun and engaging writing activities into your lessons.

What’s nice about writing is that it can be integrated into any subject area.

Here you will find a collection of Halloween writing activities that improve writing skills, expose students to different writing genres, stretch the imagination, and prompt critical thinking.

Whether you’re seeking scary, creepy, or just plain fun Halloween writing activities, you’ll want to include a few of these exciting activities in your Halloween writing collection.

Related: Halloween reading activities

Halloween Writing Activities

1. Complete a Halloween Word Splash.

Word Splash is a great whole-class, vocabulary-building activity.

Take a piece of chart paper, and write the title “Halloween Word Splash” at the top.

As students brainstorm all the words they can think of related to Halloween, the teacher records the words on the chart paper.

Afterwards, students write sentences or a story using some of the words.  

2. Design a Haunted House Writing.

Students will be so excited to complete this cool Halloween activity which integrates real-life math, writing, and reading skills.

For this activity, students plan and design a haunted house. They then try to convince others to visit it!

Grab a copy of the haunted house writing activity.

3. Write a Halloween-Themed Acrostic Poem.

Have students compose an acrostic poem about something related to Halloween.

Get an acrostic poem template here.

4. Respond to Halloween Writing Prompts.

One of the most low-prep Halloween writing activities, Halloween writing prompts offer the opportunity for students to sharpen their writing skills by responding to a variety of fun prompts.

5. Put Together a Halloween Party Menu.

Students pretend that they are in charge of planning a Halloween party.

They have to brainstorm what types of Halloween-themed snacks, desserts, and beverages they will have at the party.

Students should describe each food and drink item.

6. Sell a Haunted House Writing Activity.

In this fun Halloween writing activity, students become a real estate agent who needs to create an online listing for a haunted house.

Students will draw the house, write a description of it, and highlight any cool features.

Afterwards, they’ll draft an advertisement that persuades potential buyers to visit.

See the Sell the Haunted House activity here.

7. Concoct a Witch’s Brew Recipe.

For this creative Halloween writing activity, students describe, step-by-step, a witch’s brew recipe. 

8. Make a List.

Provide a topic, and then ask students to make a list of things that relate to that topic.

For example, students may make a list of the safety rules for trick-or-treating, a grocery list for a witch, a list of the best Halloween candy, or a list of the best Halloween movies.

9. Design a Halloween Crossword Puzzle. 

For this Halloween writing activity, students construct a Halloween crossword puzzle.

First, as a class, brainstorm and record a bank of Halloween-related words. Then students use some of the words to create their own unique crossword puzzles.

10. Do a Halloween Monster Craftivity.

Students first create a monster using monster templates. Afterwards, they outline and write a descriptive paragraph about their unique creation.

See the Monster Craftivity here.

11. Construct an Essay. 

This Halloween writing activity is great for practicing essay writing.

Students will write a persuasive/opinion, informative, descriptive, or narrative essay depending on the topic given by the teacher.

Ideas…

  • Convince the teacher to dress up in a certain Halloween costume. (persuasive)
  • Describe a haunted house. (descriptive)
  • Write about the best Halloween you’ve ever experienced. (narrative)
  • Research a Halloween-related topic. (informational)
  • Tell what you think is the best candy. (opinion)

12. Draft a How-To Manual.

For this Halloween writing activity, ask students to draft a how-to manual about something they know how to do well.

Ideas include…

  • how to carve a pumpkin
  • how to find your way out of a corn maize
  • how to enjoy autumn
  • how to go trick-or-treating safely
  • how to win first prize in a Halloween costume contest
  • how to decorate a haunted house
  • how to bake the most delicious Halloween cookies

Grab a how-to manual template here.

13. Summarize a Halloween Book.

Students summarize their favorite Halloween-themed book.

14. Create Halloween-Themed Word Problems. 

This activity is great for integrating Halloween and math.

Ask students to create two, Halloween-themed math word problems along with the answers.

They will then exchange their math word problems with a partner to solve.

15. Compose a Haiku About Halloween.

Ask students to write a Haiku that relates to Halloween. See the rules for writing a Haiku.

16. Conduct and Record Research.

Provide each student with a topic related to Halloween.

Ideas include pumpkins, bats, scarecrows, haunted houses, trick-or-treating, candy, witches, and autumn.

Then have students conduct research on that topic, noting any interesting facts. See this great research search engine.

As an extension, have students present their research to the class or to a partner.

Grab a research template in PDF form.

17. Make A Halloween Party Invitation.

Imagine that students will host a Halloween party at their homes.

They need to create a Halloween invitation that persuades their classmates to attend their Halloween party.

Students need to make sure that their invitations include all the appropriate information so that potential attendees know exactly where to go and how to dress.

18. Write a Halloween Story.

Students write a story about a monster who is looking for friends.

Final Thoughts

Now you have a helpful collection of fun Halloween writing activities that strengthen students’ writing skills in a fun way.

Be sure to include these in your collection of Halloween activities.