While we do usually teach Halloween words, for us the main aim of a party class is to give students a break from studying, relax, and learn a little about western culture. Traditional games played in England for Halloween include bobbing apples, and the classic game of trying to eat marchmallows hanging from strin. Although it would certainly be fun to teach these games, with the current problems with the coronavirus, parents may take issue with children eating at school. In the lesson plan below children will touch, but not eat, jelly, so be sure that they do not have allergies before class.
When planning a party, it can be difficult thinking up new games and activities every year. For inspiration, it can sometimes help to decide on a theme for the party. All costumes and games can then follow the same theme, and even games that children have been played many times in the past can seem fresh and new if they're decorated differently. The following games and activities are based around the theme of pirates.
Lesson length : 40 to 50 minutes
Class size : Small Group class
Preparation time : 20 + minutes (depending on how much detail you put into your kracken) to prepare the “Jelly grab” game , 10 – 20 minutes to prepare the materials for “Ping Pong Launcher” craft, 30 + minutes (depending on how much detail you put into your shark) , and 10 minutes to print alphabet flashcards, and a further 30+ minutes if teachers plan to make a pirate ship (depending on how much detail goes into the ship), and flashcards.
Materials :
- For “Jelly Grab” : Teachers with a little extra time can make a Kracken with a hole in its head from balloons and paper mache, as we did, to place over a bucket of jelly. Teachers with less time on their hands could just draw a kracken onto the side of the bucket with a marker; cheap jelly; pictures of pirate items a sword, a flag, and an anchor print onto paper and laminated in plastic (enough for each student to reach take one), wierd items to put in the jelly, like eyeballs made of ping pong balls, rubber snakes
- For “Ping Pong Launcher” craft : A balloon for each student; a paper cup for each student; strong masking tape; scissors; colour pens or pencils if students wish to personalize their launcher
- For the “Shoot Jaws' teeth out” : Cut out a wide-mouthed shark made by cutting a big mouth-shaped hole out of cardboard, then loosely tape cardboard teeth into the jaw of the mouth with number written on their front. Make sure that the teeth are taped loosely enough that they can be knocked out with the slightest hit. * Or teachers could draw sharks on the whiteboard and have students fire at the teeth there.
- For “Swim for Safety” : One set of alphabet flashcards to scatter on the floor, and another to decide where the pirate ship will bomb next; for teachers who like a little extra authenticity, a pirate ship made from cardboard.
Instructions :
1. First brainstorm Halloween vocabulary to see how many monsters students can name, and then have students repeat the new words of he Halloween flashcards. If students have come in costume, and any students are wearing the same costumes as the flashcards, match those to the students.
2. Tell students that there is a fierce Kracken in the classroom, and that they should stand outside for a moment while you battle with it. Teachers enter the class and close the door without students seeing inside. Make a big noise of pretending to battling the kracken, then open the door looking bruised and disheveled. Then play "Jelly Grab" : Tell students that while battling the beast you lost some important seafaring items in it's mouth, and that you need their help getting them out. For fun teachers reach in to the hole in the Kracken's head, into the bucket of jelly, first, and pull out one of the eyeballs or snakes and give the children a little scare (not too much, or students won't want to try themselves). Then one by one, students reach in, feel around and try to pull out one of the laminated pirate items.
3. Next make the “Ping Pong Launcher” craft : Instructions to making the craft can be accessed by left-clicking the button below.
4. For an immediate opportunity to use the "Ping Pong Launcher“, play a game of "Shoot Jaws' teeth out” in teams : This can plays similarly to the "Fow Teeth Shooter" game of our Easter class, but instead of a fox and chickens, students play as swimmers escaping a shark to safety. Draw a path of 20 dots on the board, and a beach for the goal. Position the swimmers on the 17th dot from the goal, and the shark character on the 20th dot. Assign one swimmer to each team. Each turn students fire their Ping Pong launcher at the mouth of the shark. If they are able to hit (and ideally knock out) a tooth, move the team's chicken the number indicated by the tooth along the dots. Should a student miss a tooth, the shark moves one dot closer to the swimmers. If the swimmer reaches a swimmer, that team is eliminated. If a swimmer reaches the beach, that team wins. For a recap of our Easter lesson, access the lesson plan by left-clicking the button below.
5. As a final show down boss battle against some evil pirates, play "Swim for Safety" : Lay the alphabet cards across the floor of the classroom, and if the teacher has made a pirate ship, place that in the centre of the room. Explain that, in order to beat the pirates, at least one of the students must survive the canon bombs. Each turn the teacher closes their eyes and counts to 10. The students choose one of the letters of the alphabet on the floor and stand on top of the card. On the count of 10, the teacher randomly chooses two cards from the deck of alphabet cards in their hand, and shows them to the class. If a student is standing on that card, they have to think of a Halloween monster that starts with that letter. If they are able to do so, they have survived the bombing to the next round. If they are unable to do so, they have drowned and must sit out. In either case, the alphabet card is removed from the floor, so that each round the cards become fewer and fewer. After 5 rounds, if a student remains, the team has beaten the pirate.
* This game could also be played competitively with teams each trying to survive past the 5th round.
RATHER THAN ALPHABET CARDS, WE USED FORM ALPHABET PUZZLES PIECES, WHICH SEEMED MORE LIKE AN ISLAND WAS BEING DESTROYED