Halloween Math Centers

1. Halloween Math Centers

2. Pumpkin Nim Directions: • Players take turns placing one pattern block piece at a time until the pumpkin is covered. • The person who fills in the last hexagon wins! • Play again and change the rules so that the loser is the one who covers the last hexagon.

3. Pumpkin Nim Materials • Pattern blocks • Pumpkin Nim pattern

4. Creepy Crawly Estimation Directions: • Select one student to be the “Counter” and one student to be the “Estimator.” • The “Counter” should count a number of critters and place them in the bag. Do not tell the “Estimator” the secret number. • The “Estimator” should estimate how many critters are in the bag. (Be sure to have some critters available to use as a reference.) They may feel and shake the bag, but they may not open it. Have the “Estimator” talk about the reasons for their guess. • The “Estimator” should then empty the bag of critters and count them. How close was the estimate? • Switch roles and repeat the activity.

5. Creepy Crawly Materials • Paper bags • Black & orange unifix cubes, critters, frogs, etc. to estimate

6. Spooky Data Collection Directions: • Select a bag of Halloween objects. • Sort and count the objects in the bag. • Create a representation to display the data (chart, table, pictograph, bar graph, etc). • Extension: Create several questions about your data display.

7. Spooky Data Collection Materials • Paper bags • Halloween Objects • Snapping cubes, color cubes, etc. • Paper/recording sheet • Markers, crayons, or colored pencils

8. Mysterious Counting Bags Directions: • Select a bag of Halloween objects. • Empty the bag and count the objects. • Record your results. • Extension: Create your own mystery bag and exchange with a partner.

9. Mysterious Counting Bags Materials • Paper bags • Halloween Objects • Snapping cubes, color cubes, etc. • Paper/recording sheet

10. Sweet Pictographs Sara returned from trick-or-treating with lots of candy. Help Sara sort her candy. Create a pictograph to display your results.

11. Sweet Pictograph Materials • Bucket of candy • Paper/recording sheet

12. Creepy Counting Directions: • Place a handful of pumpkin ghost counters in a cup. • Shake the counters in the cup and spill them on the table. • Look at the counters. • Are there more ghosts? • Are there more pumpkins? • Are the amounts equal? • Record your results. Write a greater than or less than equation for each time you spill the counters. • Repeat the activity at least more 5 times.

13. Creepy Counting Materials • Lima beans—one side painted orange with 2 triangles for eyes and a zig zag mouth (Jack-o-Lantern face) and one side with 2 black eyes (Ghost) • Cups • Recording sheet/paper

14. Haunting Equations Directions: • Place a handful of pumpkin ghost counters in a cup. • Shake the counters in the cup and spill them on the table. • Create an addition or subtraction equation to show how many altogether or how many more. • Record your equations. • Extension: Create a word problem for each equation. + = 6

15. Haunting Equations Materials • Lima beans—one side painted orange (Jack-o-Lantern face) and one side with 2 black eyes (Ghost) • Cups • Recording sheet/paper

16. Frightening Patterns Using the assortment of spooky objects, create a variety of different patterns. Record your patterns on the paper provided. ABAB ABCABC AABB ABBA ABABBABBB

17. Frightening Patterns Materials • Halloween stamps • Halloween objects such as bugs, bats, spiders, leaves, etc. • Sentence strips/recording sheet

18. Spooky Sorting • Sort the Halloween objects into groups based on one common attribute. • Can your partner guess the attribute you selected? • Sort the objects by two attributes and have your partner guess the attributes you selected. • Switch roles and repeat the activity.

19. Spooky Sorting Materials • Materials to sort—leaves, candy, critters • Venn rings

20. Witchy Weighing • Predict which pumpkin has the greatest mass. • Place the pumpkins in order, from the pumpkin with the greatest mass to the pumpkin with the least mass. • Weigh the pumpkins to determine how close your predictions were. • Record the mass of each pumpkin.

21. Witchy Weighing Materials • Balance scale • Weighing objects • Pumpkins of various sizes

22. Cauldron Capacities • Predict which container has the greatest capacity. • Place the containers in order, from the container that will hold the least amount of liquid to the container that will hold the most. • Find the capacity of each container to determine how close your predictions were. • Record the capacity of each container.

23. Cauldron Capacities Materials • Containers of various sizes • Water, rice, or beans for measuring

24. Measuring Pumpkins • Estimate the height, width, and circumference of the pumpkin. Cut a piece of string to match each of your estimates. • Measure the height, width, and circumference of the pumpkin. Compare the lengths of your string with the actual measurements of the pumpkin. • How close were your estimates? • Measure the height and width of the pumpkin using non-standard units. Compare your results.

25. Measuring Pumpkins Materials • Pumpkin • String • Scissors • Non-standard units—paper clips, cubes, etc.

26. Witches’ Stew Create your own concoction by filling a bag with your favorite goodies. • Dragon Scales • Shriveled Spiders • Troll Eyes • Rat Toenails • Witch Teeth • Vampire Blood

27. Witches’ Stew Materials Dragon Scales—Cinnamon Toast Crunch Shriveled Spiders—Raisins Troll Eyes—M & M candy Rat Toenails—Peanuts Witch Teeth—Candy Corn Vampire Blood—Dried Cranberries (Craisins) • Cauldrons/containers • Ziplock bags • Cups or spoons to measure food

28. Fabulous Fall Ideas Describe additional ideas you use in your math class to engage and motivate your students during the fall season.