With the school year underway and the arrival of fall, Halloween is just around the corner. Students get so excited this time of year and it’s easy to motivate them with fun hands-on Halloween math activities. Whether you are a classroom teacher or a homeschooling parent, you already know that breaking out the manipulatives can make learning time even more thrilling.
There are a variety of Halloween-themed items like these adorable Jack-o'-Lantern Mini Erasers and pumpkin pencil top erasers. I'm going to show you how I used these in a variety of ways during Math time in my own classroom, during both guided and independent workshop groups.
Number Recognition and Matching
Students love to use these fun jack-o'-lantern manipulatives to count. During independent workshop time, they have the option of sitting quietly to match them up with the numbers on their whiteboards. 
I observe them at work which allows me to see if they're in need of some extra support with number recognition. As a primary grades teacher, I recognize the students' need for play and so, there are times when I do allow them to just sit and play with these also.
Manipulatives and Dry Erase Boards
Using these lined dry erase boards in my classroom is great for so many reasons. The students get to feel like "teachers" when they're writing on their own whiteboard, and It cuts down on the usage (and waste) of paper. 
As we practice different strands in Math, like number recognition, addition, and subtraction, I like to incorporate whiteboards as well as the manipulatives. I also feel like these allow learners of all types to have equal access to the curriculum. It's important to remember that not all learners, take in the information that you're teaching just one way.
Jack-O'-Lantern Addition It's fun to do simple addition problems as a whole group, using mini jack o'lantern erasers. 
Prior to passing them out to students, we worked together. (If you pass them out first, they won't pay attention.) The students watched me while I demonstrated on the overhead projector. Once I felt confident that they grasped the concept, I gave them their own set of mini jack-o'-lanterns to work with independently. I'm sure you can imagine how loud my classroom became once I did pass them out to the students! 
Pumpkin Subtraction One of my favorite ways to work on subtraction with the students involves using these little pumpkin erasers. 
It's fun to make up subtraction stories about a farm truck carrying pumpkins. Here's how I did it: 1) First, I'd make up a scenario about the pumpkins being in the back of the farmer's truck and we'd come up with a number and illustrate those pumpkins. 2) Next, we'd decide how many pumpkins rolled out of the truck when it hit a bump, draw an arrow showing them rolling out, draw them rolling out, and cross out that same amount inside the truck, showing the part we'd subtract. 3) Finally, we'd count how many pumpkins were still in the back of the truck and write a subtraction equation to match our story. 
After a couple of days practicing subtraction word stories on their individual whiteboards like this, we made a cute art project to illustrating our "Pumpkin Subtraction" stories.
It's fun to have nice, finished pieces of student work to put up on the bulletin board. It really makes the students feel proud to see their work on display, especially when they receive compliments from other teachers and even our principal!
Do you like to integrate fun hand-on Halloween with your students? If you couldn't already tell, I'm absolutely giddy about anything and everything pumpkin, as are my students! Happy fall, y'all!
