October is here, and that means cooler weather, falling leaves, and of course—Halloween! We know how much elementary school students look forward to the magic and excitement of this festive season. Why not channel that energy into a creative, collaborative activity that’s equal parts spooky and educational? This Halloween, try a group project where students team up to design their very own Halloween creature. It's a fantastic way to encourage teamwork, imagination, and problem-solving—all wrapped up in a fun, themed activity!
Materials:
Step 1: Preparation
First, assign students to groups of three. Make sure each group has a flat surface to draw and write on. Hand out three pieces of plain white paper to each group, as well as coloring utensils and pencils.
Instruct students to fold their papers into vertical thirds. For younger students, you may wish to have the paper pre-folded.
Step 2: Design
Make sure each student has a piece of paper. On the top third of the paper, it’s time to get creative and draw a head and face. Encourage students to make their faces silly, scary, or spooky—whatever they want! We recommend giving students about five minutes to draw and color the faces. Of course, allow for more time if needed.
Step 3: Switch Papers
This is where the collaboration comes in! Have students switch papers with someone else in their group. This second artist will draw the creature’s body on the middle third of the paper. They can draw a body that is similar to the head, or draw a completely different body: the choice is theirs!
Step 4: Switch Again
Finally, have students switch papers one more time. On the bottom third, they should draw the creature’s legs and feet—or tail or tentacles! Let those creative juices flow!
Step 5: Writing
Return the paper to the original owner (the child who drew the head). Give students time to show each other their creative creatures. Then, the original owner of the drawing can write the creature’s name, where they live, what they like to do, and any other interesting details on the paper. Remind students to use their imaginations and have fun!
One fun variation of the activity is to use dividers to have completely blind switches, allowing kids to be completely surprised—and entertained!—by the final product. If you go this route, make sure the students draw tiny lines over the creases into the next section of the paper. That gives the next person a guide for where the head connects to the torso or the torso to the bottom.
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Try out this creative activity with your students this Halloween season! Be sure to check out Super Teacher Worksheet’s Halloween Page for more fun activities!
