We all remember the excitement and anticipation we felt as Halloween neared when we were kids. Let’s be honest, some of us still feel that way as adults! I am one of those adults. As soon as my calendar turns to October 1st, I get up early to go to the store and buy mini pumpkins that I can distribute around my classroom (I usually buy about 10). Then, about half-way through the month, I decorate for Halloween. The week of Halloween is usually a delightful mash-up of Halloween themed lessons/demos (like this), labs (like this), activities (like this) and silly movies (like this). Sometimes I think I get more into this holiday then my students do (some of them, at least)!

Below are just a small sampling of my classroom decorations; I really hope you enjoy them!
(All decorations came from the Dollar Tree, the pumpkins came from the grocery store. In total, I spent less then 10 dollars total!)

These paper bats were pre cut, but decided to laminate them so that I can reuse them from year to year. I taped string to the back and tied that to a paper-clip that I used to hang the bats from my light fixtures. I really enjoy the 3-dimentionality that these hanging bats create in my classroom.

Here, you can see my spooooky desk and all that I added to it (spider webs, pumpkins, silhouette figures, skull, etc.) Below are two close-ups of more details:

Who doesn’t love a skull on their desk that is covered in spider webs?!

The rest of my desk has lots of spider webs, pumpkins, and the some creepy silhouettes!

I made to sure to add details to my white board as well!

I wanted to be sure that I added little details, so I put a rat silhouette in the bathroom pass…

…and on the clock!

I hung this mummy on my door to greet my students as they enter the room! (also a dollar tree find!)

And, of course, a pumpkin mug to enjoy my afternoon tea in!

Well, that’s my SPOOK-tacular classroom! I hope it inspires you to put up some decorations for this week!

Happy Halloween!

-The Ardent Teacher