5 Spook-Tacular Halloween Literacy Stations Your Students Will Love
Halloween is the perfect time to bring a little spooky fun into your literacy block! Kids are already buzzing with excitement—so why not channel that energy into meaningful, brain-building reading practice?
The best part: these Halloween literacy activities are aligned with the Science of Reading, giving your students evidence-based practice in a way that feels like play.
Here are five fa-BOO-lous Halloween literacy stations from the Literacy Edventures Shop to make your October reading block both fun and effective.
Say It, Build It, Read It (Phoneme–Grapheme Mapping)
Students use Halloween-themed task cards with pictures to guide their word work. They:
Say it – name the picture.
Tap it – tap the sounds they hear.
Build it – use letter tiles to spell the word.
Read it – blend and read the completed word.
This hands-on activity turns phoneme–grapheme mapping into an engaging literacy center.
Science of Reading tie-in: Students strengthen the connection between sounds and print while reinforcing decoding and encoding.
BOO! Game (Phonics & Word Reading)
This fast-paced game is always a hit. Place letter, sound, word, or sentence cards into a Halloween bucket along with a few BOO! cards. Students take turns pulling cards: if they can read it, they keep it. If not, it goes back in the bucket. But beware—the BOO! card sends all their cards back! BOO!
Differentiate easily:
Letter/sound cards for beginners
Word cards for developing readers
Sentence cards for advanced practice
Science of Reading tie-in: Students get repeated, meaningful practice with phoneme–grapheme correspondence, decoding, and fluency—all while staying highly engaged.
Pumpkin Patch Roll & Read (Fluency)
Nothing says fall like a pumpkin patch! In this activity, students roll a die and read a row of words or phrases. The repeated practice boosts word recognition while keeping things seasonal and fun.
Teacher tip: Use mini pumpkin erasers as markers to make the game even more festive.
Science of Reading tie-in: Repeated reading builds automaticity, moving words into long-term memory and freeing up cognitive space for comprehension.
Halloween Game Boards (Phonics & Word Recognition)
Halloween-themed game boards keep kids engaged while practicing letter sounds and word reading. Students roll a die, move their marker, and read the letter or word they land on. Choose boards that focus on letter sounds, short vowels, or complete wordsHalloween game boards (1).
Teacher tip: Use spooky counters, festive erasers, or tiny spiders as game pieces.
Science of Reading tie-in: Provides repeated decoding practice, helping students strengthen phonics skills and automatic word recognition in a fun, low-stakes way.
Candy Corn Word Mapping (Encoding & Decoding)
This activity gives a festive twist to phoneme–grapheme mapping. Students use candy-corn-shaped mats to:
Say the word
Tap the sounds
Map the phonemes
Write the word
It’s the familiar “Say it, Tap it, Map it, Write it” routine—just with a seasonal candy-corn design.
Science of Reading tie-in: Mapping sounds to letters builds orthographic knowledge, reinforcing both spelling and decoding.
Why Halloween Literacy Stations Work
When kids are motivated, they learn more deeply. By pairing seasonal themes with evidence-based literacy practices, you create engaging activities that don’t just entertain—they accelerate reading growth.
These Halloween reading centers are:
Low-prep
Hands-on
Effective practice aligned with the Science of Reading
So go ahead—add a little spooky sparkle to your classroom this October. Your students will think it’s a treat, and you’ll know it’s truly a trick for building stronger readers.
👉 You can grab all of these Halloween activities (and more) in the Literacy Edventures Shop.
Wish you had a literacy coach and resources in your back pocket?
I understand that buying each resource separately can quickly ADD UP. As a teacher, I know we have to make the money we spend COUNT! But don’t worry—there’s a more straightforward, more efficient solution with Route2Reading, my K-2 membership designed to streamline planning, prepping, and teaching small group instruction. Rather than spending your weekends glued to your computer, searching for Science of Reading-aligned phonemic awareness, phonics lessons, and decodable texts for your small groups, you can log in to Route2Reading. Choose the focus skill for the week, download the detailed, step-by-step lesson plans and activities, and your small group instruction is ready to go in just a few clicks. Planning has never been easier!
I hope that you found today’s post helpful. Whether you choose to join the membership or not, I am always here to help you in any way that I can. Leave your questions below or send me an email Amie@literacyedventures.com
