Holiday Lesson Ideas

Set up:
The gym is darkened to facilitate the use of flashlights. Cones are set up at one end of the gym to represent the trick or treat houses. A pile of beanbags is next to each house. Depending on the size of the class, there should be two cones for every group of three students. One student will start out sitting between two cones, handing out treats (beanbags) while the other two take turns going to the house for treats.

Directions:
Tell students that you will be calling out different Halloween characters, and on the signal, they will enact that costume with a corresponding locomotor skill: Cowboy - gallop, Rabbit - jump, Ballerina - dance, Speed Racer - run, Scarecrow - skip, and Zombie - walk. Before the game begins, one beanbag should be placed under one of the two cones at each house. The trick-or-treaters for each house will take turns using the flashlight to go to the house, and will have to try to guess which cone has the treat under it. If they guess correctly, they get to take the treat back with them. If they guess incorrectly, they are "tricked" and go back empty-handed. The flashlight is used as a baton, so upon return, the flashlight is handed to the partner to take a turn. The "house" continues to put beanbags under the cones until the lights come on and the music stops. Rotate positions so the student who is handing out the treats has a turn being the trick-or-treater. Have students count the number of beanbags collected after each round, to see if they had better luck guessing as the game continued. This is also good counting practice!