Holiday Lesson Ideas

Before class, set up the playing area as follows:

Use the cones to form a very large rectangle in the middle of the playing area. This area represents the "haunted house". Scatter the bean bags (i.e. "pumpkins") inside the haunted house. Outside the haunted house, in all four corners, place the "trick or treat bags" (the hula hoops).

Explain to students that this game requires them to use their chasing, fleeing, and dodging skills. They will have to use "quick moves " and change their pathways in order to not get caught! The game goes as follows (demonstrate with a few students if need be):

There are four "taggers" in the haunted house -- these are the "ghosts and goblins" (they wear the pinnies). Ghosts and goblins can only move throughout the haunted house. Everyone else is a "trick or treater". Trick or treaters move (jog, skip, etc.) around the outside of the haunted house while the music is playing (they need to move throughout the whole space, not just move in a circle around the haunted house). When the music stops, trick or treaters enter the haunted house and try to grab a pumpkin. If a trick or treater successfully grabs a pumpkin without getting tagged by a ghost or goblin, they then place the pumpkin in a "trick or treat bag" (a hula hoop).

If a trick or treater does get tagged by a ghost or goblin, they are "stuck" in the haunted house. They must sit down and place their foot on their knee. To re-enter the game, a trick or treater who is not "stuck" must tag the foot of a "stuck" player. If a trick or treater is tagged while capturing a pumpkin, they must put the pumpkin back in the circle and sit down in the captured position.