Chinese Halloween activities for immersion classrooms (K-5)
A ready-to-run week of Halloween in Mandarin: vocabulary with pinyin, a read-aloud, a pumpkin craft, 田字格 writing, and classroom games.
By Avery Studio, made by a veteran K-5 classroom teacher. Updated 2026-09-29.
Short answer: Teach 8-12 Halloween words (万圣节, 南瓜, 糖果, 黑猫, 蝙蝠...) across a story, a labeled craft, 田字格 writing, and a Friday game round. Keep it cute for K-2 and add retelling and dictation for grades 3-5.
What makes a Halloween lesson work in a Chinese immersion classroom
Immersion teachers need Halloween activities that keep the whole period in Mandarin, stay cute rather than scary for K-2, and still give grades 3-5 real reading and writing. The strongest plans combine three things: a short story read aloud in Chinese, a hands-on craft with word labels, and quick vocabulary games that recycle the same 8-12 words all week.
Core Halloween vocabulary in Chinese (with pinyin)
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 万圣节 | wànshèngjié | Halloween |
| 南瓜 | nánguā | pumpkin |
| 南瓜灯 | nánguā dēng | jack-o'-lantern |
| 糖果 | tángguǒ | candy |
| 黑猫 | hēi māo | black cat |
| 蝙蝠 | biānfú | bat |
| 蜘蛛 | zhīzhū | spider |
| 女巫 | nǚwū | witch |
| 月亮 | yuèliang | moon |
| 面具 | miànjù | mask |
| 眼睛 | yǎnjing | eyes |
| 嘴巴 | zuǐba | mouth |
| 不给糖就捣蛋 | bù gěi táng jiù dǎodàn | trick or treat |
Simplified characters shown. Pick 6-8 words for K-1 and the full list for grades 2-5.
A one-week plan (about 20 minutes a day)
- Monday, meet the words. Flashcards and a picture sort. The FREE Halloween Chinese Vocab flashcards and worksheets set covers this.
- Tuesday, read the story. Read aloud, then have students point to each vocabulary word. See the Halloween Chinese Story Book ($4.99).
- Wednesday, craft with labels. Students color, cut, and label a pumpkin face (眼睛, 嘴巴, 南瓜). The Halloween Pumpkin Craft & Coloring ($4.99) includes a mystery color-by-character page, a roll-a-face game, and a word-wheel craft.
- Thursday, write it. 田字格 practice for 2-4 characters, stroke by stroke. See Halloween Chinese Writing 田字格 ($4.99).
- Friday, play. Paste the week's words into Avery Games and play a whole-class round on the projector, then partner games from the Halloween Chinese Activities ($4.99) pack.
Everything above comes together in the Halloween Chinese Mini Bundle ($12): story, writing, and activities for less than the three singles.
Differentiating by grade
- K-1: listen-and-point, color-by-character with 3-4 characters, oral sentence frames like 我看见一个南瓜。
- 2-3: label the craft, trace then write 南 瓜 糖 果, simple sentences with 有 and 是.
- 4-5: retell the story, write a 3-sentence costume description, dictation of the week's words.
Frequently asked questions
What are good Halloween activities for a Mandarin immersion class?
A Chinese read-aloud story, a pumpkin craft labeled with Chinese words, 田字格 writing practice, and quick vocabulary games. Keep K-2 content cute rather than scary.
How do you say Halloween in Chinese?
万圣节 (wànshèngjié). Trick or treat is 不给糖就捣蛋 (bù gěi táng jiù dǎodàn).
Is there a free Halloween Chinese vocabulary printable?
Yes. Avery Studio has a FREE Halloween Chinese Vocab set of flashcards and worksheets for K-5 on Teachers Pay Teachers: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FREE-Halloween-Chinese-Vocab-Flashcards-and-Worksheets-K-5-17597740
How can I teach Halloween without scary content for young learners?
Focus on pumpkins, black cats, bats, the moon, masks, and candy. Skip ghosts and skeletons for K-1 if your school prefers, and frame the week around fall and harvest words.
Can I use these with traditional characters?
The current Halloween printables use simplified characters. Avery Games lets you paste your own word list, so you can type traditional characters for game play.
Join the Avery Games founding-teacher waitlist
Avery Games is getting a teacher plan with level-sorted word sets, a new seasonal game every month tied to our printables, and a projector mode for whole-class play. Founding teachers get a locked-in launch discount and a free trial before anything is charged.
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