Mega List of Learning Resources for Five Halloween-Themed Topics..Even If You Don't Want to Celebrate the Holiday

Whether or not you celebrate Halloween in your family, you’re probably going to be faced with the signs of the holiday- costumes, decorations, candy, and more candy. And your kids are likely to have some knowledge of and interest in all of the buzz around Halloween.

One of the really fun things about homeschooling is that we can capitalize on things our kids have interest in by providing learning resources that correspond with our kids’ interests. Even if you don’t want to do a unit study on Halloween itself, there are quite a few related topics that provide great learning opportunities.

In this post, I’ve listed five of the topics that you can study surrounding the holiday of Halloween. There are unit studies, printable resources, fun and craft ideas, and more for each of these topics. (I’ve tried to note which printable resources are free.) If you’ve never created your own unit study, you can find five easy steps as well as a free unit study planner here.

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~Bats~

 

Learn about how bats use sonar with this fun game from Raising Lifelong Learners.

Find step-by-step instructions for how to draw a bat.

Get a complete thematic unit about bats for the early elementary grades here.

Kidzone has a great free printable sheet about the lifecycle of a brown bat.

National Geographic has a great video about Flying Foxes– world’s largest bat.

Get a detailed lapbook all about bats from Live and Learn Press.

Find a free bat unit study from Royal Baloo.

Homeschool Share has a free unit study for one of my favorite bat books– Stellaluna.

 

Get the instructions for a cool bat silhouette craft here.

I love lapbooks from Hands of a Child. You can find their Bats lapbook for elementary ages here.

Simply Kinder has an awesome list of bat and spider videos for kids.

Find a free printable “How a Bat Grows” mini book here.

You can pick up a free Label a Bat sheet at Teachers Pay Teachers. (You do have to set up an account to get the sheet, but the accounts are free.)

A Journey Through Learning has a great quick lapbook- Express Lapbook- all about bats.

~Bat Books~

 

Stellaluna– A sweet story about a little bat who is separated from her family

Bats- This is an awesome introduction to bats by Gail Gibbons

Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats– This is an easy-to-read book that young kids can read independently to learn all about bats.

National Geographic Readers: Bats- This book has detailed information and beautiful photos of bats.

Nightsong- This is a beautiful fictional story of a young bat.

~Spiders~

 

 

Get a free prtinable pack of spider-themed learning pages at Rock Your Homeschool.

Get a printable pack of preschool lesson plans for spiders from A Teaching Mommy.

Hands of a Child has a great multi-age lapbook about spiders.

You can get a free Counting Spiders book for little people here. (You need a free Teachers Pay Teachers account to download.)

Find a free printable Life Cycle of a Spider activity pack at 123 Homeschool 4 Me.

This Spiders Express lapbook from A Journey Through Learning is a quick lapbook for any age.

Kids can use marshmallows, candy, and toothpicks for this spider web STEM activity.

This is another great STEM activity that allows kids to test tensile strength.

Younger kids can practice gross motor skills with this spider web walking activity.

This Curiosity Files Vegetarian Spiders unit study is for upper elementary aged kids.

This site has slides that show the body parts of a spider and a free worksheet that you can save as a photo and print to allow kids to label the spider parts.

Preschool Powol Packets has a free spider lapbook for preschoolers.

~Spider Books~

National Geographic Readers: Spiders– This book has great facts and beautiful photos all about spiders for elementary aged kids.

Spiders- This Gail Gibbons book talks about physical characters and different types of spiders.

Are You a Spider? – Find all kinds of interesting spider facts in this Backyard Books book.

Aaaarrgghh! Spider– In this fictional picture book, a little spider just wants to be a family pet.

Spinning Spiders- This Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out-Science book has information about all kinds of web-building spiders.

~Pumpkins~

Find free pumpkin printables for preschool or toddlers from A Teaching Mommy.

Find a free My Pumpkin Book printable that will help kids explore math, science, and creation at Layered Soul.

Hands of a Child has an adorable Five Little Pumpkins lapbook for preschoolers.

The Unlikely Homeschooler has a great idea to make a pumpkin bird feeder and includes some awesome learning extension ideas to use as you make this project.

Teach Beside Me has a great idea using pumpkins to create a model of the solar system.

And Royal, Baloo, and Logi-Bear too has a fun idea for creating a pumpkin clock to help kids with telling time.

The Practically Perfect Pumpkins mini lapbook from Knowledge Box will help kids of multiple ages learn about pumpkins.

You can download a free Life-Cycle of a Pumpkin printable pack from Homeschool Preschool.

This Pumpkin Pickup and Counting game from Stir the Wonder is a great way to practice motor skills and counting for little people.

Use the movie It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown to discuss plot lines, point of view, and WW1 history.

I loved this cute paper strips pumpkin craft from Color the Moon.

This pumpkin copywork pack from Homeschool Bits has copywork for a variety of ages, and kids will learn facts about the pumpkin as they write.

~Pumpkin Books~

Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie- This book for young children follows the life cycle of the pumpkin.

The Pumpkin Book- This book by Gail Gibbons gives facts and information and talks about what pumpkins are used for.

How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? – This book for preschoolers explores counting and estimation.

Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden- This book for younger elementary-aged kids explores the life cycle of a pumpkin as it looks at the seasons of a garden.

Too Many Pumpkins- This is a cute fictional story about what happens when you throw your pumpkin seeds carelessly out in the yard.

~Nocturnal Animals~

Kids can learn about nocturnal animals from this cute video done by kids.

You can get free printables all about nocturnal animals from A Little Pinch of Perfect.

Homeschool Share has a free nocturnal animals lapbook.

Find tips for observing nocturnal animals from Still Playing School.

This Night Creatures book has three projects to help kids learn about different nocturnal animals.

Life Over C’s has a great patterning activity using free printable nocturnal animal cards.

Discover. Learn. Connect. has a great free nocturnal scavenger hunt for the kids.

Get a free Are These Animals Nocturnal Lift-the-Flap from Teachers Pay Teachers. (You do have to have a free account to download.

Play this interactive game to find nocturnal animals from Sheppard Software.

Find three sheets here that allow you to color and sort nighttime animals. You can click on the sheet and then choose print from your browser.

~Nocturnal Animals Books~

Out of Sight Till Tonight: All About Nocturnal Animals- This is a Cat in the Hat book all about nocturnal animals.

 Moonlight Animals- This book is all about what happens in the forest after dark.

Where Are the Night Animals?- This Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out-Science book talks about what animals are doing while we sleep at night.

Nocturnal Animals- This book for elementary kids talks about how nocturnal animals survive at night.

Night Animals- This fiction book intended for preschoolers features animals who want to know who is awake out there in the dark.

 

~Bones~

Try this experiment to find out what happens to bones in vinegar and why.

This site teaches kids all about bones and has a cool slideshow.

You can find two great skeleton activities here at A Little Pinch of Perfect, as well as free printables.

Learn about the bones of the body with this skeleton song on YouTube.

This lapbook- Inside My Body- from A Journey Through Learning teaches kids all about what’s inside the body.

Find free Human Body Labeling sheets at Twink. (You need a free account to download.)

You can print these skeleton pieces and connect them. The link takes you to Pinterest, but when you click the picture, you can get the PDF.

Find a free, printable skeleton to label at the Crayola site.

Kids can learn about bones with this interactive unit study from Christian Homeschool Publishing.

This is a cool skeleton art project using tape resist.

Kids Activities Blog has a cool printable Skeleton Learning Game for kids.

Find a great, free skeletal system lapbook at Cynce’s Place.

~Books About Bones~

Bones– This Step-Into-Reading book for young readers teaches kids facts about the skeletal system.

The Skeleton Book- With some awesome 3D images, this book teaches older elementary kids all about our skeletons.

Bones: Our Skeletal System- This is another book with great pictures to accompany facts about our bones.

The Skeleton Inside You- This Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out-Science book tells kids all about our skeletons and what they do for us.

Dem Bones- Based on the traditional song that’s an African-American spiritual, this book contains the words to the song along with lively, fun pictures. The naming of each bones will introduce kids to the skeletal system.