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If you've taught middle school for more than a week, you know what Halloween does to a room. The costumes are all anyone's thinking about, the candy shows up early, and good luck getting anyone to focus on a lecture.
So don't fight it. Every Halloween science experiment and activity on this page lets your students have fun and still walk out having learned real science. Some of it is free, including a brand new digital escape room. Pick what fits your week!
Somebody locked all the Halloween candy inside a haunted manor, and your students have to break in and get it back. They explore the manor and crack eight locked doors using real science.
Start here if you want something your class can do tomorrow without buying anything.
Students pick a pumpkin, set the counterweight on a trebuchet and let it fly. The lab freezes each throw at the start of the swing so they can work out the net force and acceleration on their worksheet. Pull too hard and the pumpkin bursts, so cranking every setting to the max won't win the contest.
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Students build their own monsters out of mix-and-match parts, then find out which ones would survive in each biome. It's a fun way to review adaptations, genetics and ecosystems the week of Halloween.
Get it freeThese take a full class period (or more) and keep kids working the whole time.
Prefer paper and real locks? This one comes with eight printable puzzles covering moon phases, dichotomous keys, brain anatomy, sound waves, and solids, liquids and gases. It also has an intro video, props and answer keys. Use as many puzzles as your class period allows, and the locks and boxes are optional.
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Skeletons are everywhere in October, so why not have your students build one? Groups make a scale model of the human skeleton, label the bones from your list and explain what the skeletal system does. It's a multi-day project with a teacher guide, slides and a student notebook, and the supplies are cheap things like cardboard, newspaper and glue.
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Twelve hands-on experiments your students do themselves, like Ghost Eggs, Glow in the Dark Slime and Goblin Guts. Every lab has students write a claim, evidence and reasoning, and there's a modified version for students who need it.
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Nineteen demos you run at the front of the room, from Boo Bubbles to the Screaming Balloon. Each one has a materials list, step-by-step directions and the science behind it. They're a good pick when the materials aren't safe for students to handle themselves.
See the demos
The Ultimate Halloween Bundle puts the 19 demos, the 12 student labs and the 45-minute assembly video together, plus Steve's "Dry Ice Secrets" as a bonus.
Get the bundle on TPTWhen the whole grade is in the gym, or you need something easy for the day before Halloween.
A 45-minute Halloween science show from Steve Spangler himself, with a worksheet so it still counts as science. It plays from Vimeo, so you won't get YouTube ads or comments popping up in front of your class.
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A no-prep lesson built around one of Steve Spangler's videos. Students watch, answer questions and extend what they saw. It's an easy sub plan if you're out Halloween week, and it includes a version written for grades 6 to 8.
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Forty posters, each with a creepy science fact and the explanation behind it (yes, it really can rain spiders). Put them all up for Halloween, or post one a week and they'll last you the rest of the school year.
See the postersHalloween week is one of the few weeks of the year when kids walk in already excited. Here's how I'd use that, one day at a time, with what's on this page. Move the days around to fit your calendar. The one thing I'd keep is saving the biggest event for the day closest to Halloween.
Put up the Science is Spooky posters before the kids get there and start class with one of the facts. The one about spiders raining from the sky is a good place to start. Then hand out Monster Mix and Match for the rest of the period. It's free, and it's a sneaky review of adaptations and ecosystems.
Open the free Pumpkin Chunk-Off lab. Kids want to crank every setting to the max, and the pumpkins burst when they do, so they have to think about force and mass to win. By the end they've used F = ma on their worksheet without you having to sell it.
Pick one or two of Steve's Experience Labs, like Ghost Eggs or Glow in the Dark Slime, and let groups run them. Each lab ends with a claim, evidence and reasoning, so the fun comes with some writing attached.
Put students in teams, set the clock and let them work through the eight locked doors in Save the Candy. It runs on Chromebooks with nothing to print, so you get to walk around and listen to them argue about moon phases.
Do a few of Steve's demos at the front of the room, or put on his 45-minute assembly video and hand out the worksheet. If you're out that day, the STEM Starter lesson makes an easy sub plan.
Want a bigger project that runs longer than a week? Project Dry Bones takes several class periods, and a room full of student-built skeletons fits right in during October.
Most of them are written for middle school, grades 5 to 8. The STEM Starter includes versions for younger kids too, so it works if you teach elementary.
The STEM Starter lesson or the assembly video. Both need nothing but a copy of the worksheet and a way to play a video. The escape room and the Pumpkin Chunk-Off lab are free and run in any browser, too.
Some of Steve's labs and demos use materials from his kits, but each one lists do-it-yourself swaps you can pick up on your own. Check the list on the product page before you buy.
The Pumpkin Chunk-Off lab covers force, mass and acceleration (TEKS 8.7A). The escape rooms cover moon phases, sound waves, states of matter, brain anatomy and dichotomous keys. Project Dry Bones covers the skeletal system. Monster Mix and Match reviews adaptations, genetics and ecosystems.
I hope your Halloween week is more fun than chaos. Happy Halloween!
Start with the free lab