When the spooky season rolls around, it’s the perfect time to spice up your music lessons with some Halloween music games! Students love anything holiday-themed, and with Halloween-themed music games, you can make learning fun and memorable! Not only will these games add some extra excitement to your classes, they’ll also reinforce important musical concepts like rhythm, beat, and note reading.
Whether you’re looking to engage younger students with simple activities like pass the pumpkin, challenge older students with more complex rhythm games, or plan a fun but still educational Halloween music class party, these five Halloween music games will keep your class interested and learning at the same time. Ready to dive in? Here are my five favorite music games for the Halloween season!
1. Halloween Music Bingo
Get ready for some spooky tunes! Halloween Music Bingo is an exciting way to introduce students to spooky music while also exposing them to a variety of genres of music. You can play a playlist of Halloween and spooky tunes—think “Monster Mash,” the “Ghostbusters” theme song, plus some spooky classical pieces like Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor and Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre. As you play excerpts from each piece, students listen and try to mark off the pieces on their bingo cards.
How to play:
- Prepare Halloween-themed bingo cards with a variety of Halloween and spooky music from various genres.
- Open a playlist of the pieces included in your bingo game.
- Play snippets from each piece of music, and have students mark the spaces on their cards.
- Optional: Have a small prize for the winners (or for everybody if you wish)!
You can make your own customized Halloween music bingo cards, or you can grab some pre-made ones. I’ve created a printable set that includes both the bingo cards (color and printer-friendly versions) and a curated playlist, making it super easy for a last-minute activity. Grab yours here!
2. Halloween Rhythm Toss
Need a game that will get your students up and moving while still practicing their musical skills? Halloween Rhythm Toss is perfect for a Halloween party class or just letting students move around while practicing rhythm skills. This game requires students to toss beanbags (or a balled-up piece of scrap paper) into a pumpkin bucket or witch’s hat, with the added challenge of correctly clapping a rhythm.
How to play:
- Create or print 4-beat rhythm cards for whichever rhythms your students need to review (half note, sixteenth notes, etc.)
- Place a bucket or hat for each team you will have along one side of the room.
- Place a piece of tape or other marker where you would like students to stand (place a couple of distances if you’d like to have the game progress from easy to more challenging).
- Place a stack of at least 5-10 cards at each bucket or hat.
- Divide students into teams of 3-6, and direct each team to line up at their own bucket/hat.
- Students stand behind a marked line and take turns tossing a beanbag toward the bucket.
- They must then clap the rhythm correctly to earn extra points.
- Once the student has taken a turn, they move to the back of the line and the next student takes their turn.
- The game ends when you reach a certain number of points (agree on this ahead of time), or a time limit (a timer adds an extra level of fun and keeps your class on track).
Scoring:
- 1 point for landing the toss.
- 1 additional point for clapping the rhythm correctly.
You can make up your own rules and scoring to best fit your group of kiddos!
3. Poison Rhythm Game
Poison rhythm is not just one of my favorite Halloween music games, it’s one I love year-round! The Poison Rhythm Game is a sneaky (and only slightly spooky) way to get students to practice rhythm without realizing they’re learning. Students have to avoid playing the “poison rhythm,” which is a specific 4-beat rhythm they are forbidden from clapping back.
- Play or clap a 4-beat rhythm. You may wish to show the rhythm on a slide, or flashcard, or write it on the board.
- Tell students this is the “poison rhythm.” Have them repeat it a couple of times, before telling them they must not clap it if they see it again. If they do, they will be out.
- Have all your students stand up (unless you are playing this in a private/partner class)
- Clap or play various 4-beat rhythms, having students echo each one. Every so often clap the poison rhythm again.
- If you clap the poison rhythm, students have to remain silent—no clapping allowed, not even a sound, or they are out and must sit down!
- Anyone who claps the poison rhythm is out for that round, and the last one standing wins.
- Keep this game moving quite quickly. This will keep students engaged, and prevent anyone who is out from sitting too long.
- Once the round is over, everyone can stand up again, you can declare a new poison rhythm, and begin again.
This game is great for reinforcing rhythm recognition and helps students develop strong listening skills. Plus, it’s perfect for a spooky, but not overtly Halloween activity!
Create your own, or find my pre-made games in 9 different rhythm levels here.
4. Halloween Music Escape Room
A Halloween Music Escape Room is an exciting and engaging way for students to apply their musical knowledge to solve puzzles and escape a haunted house. While you can certainly go all out and create your own if you have the time, I’ve created ready-to-go printable escape room games with a Halloween-themed storyline, making it easy for you to implement in your classroom. Students will work together in small groups, using their musical skills to “escape” before the time runs out!
How to play:
- Print out the escape room materials (story and puzzles) and set up your classroom as you wish. You will need to provide each group with a copy of the puzzles, crayons, pencils, and an eraser.
- Read the story together, before starting a timer visible to your students.
- Let them work through the puzzles together – each puzzle requires musical knowledge, such as identifying rhythms, naming notes, or musical terms. (multiple skill levels are available)
- Any group that finishes before the timer runs out has ‘escaped’ and wins the game!
- Optional: have a small prize for teams that escape – you could even have the prize locked in a box and let them physically unlock their prize.
The best part? Escape rooms get students attention and you’ll be surprised how excited they are to pull out all the musical skills you’ve taught them. Plus, these games are excellent review of different concepts and there are options for different skill levels.
I have two print-and-go options for you – my Halloween music escape room (in the video below) uses basic music class knowledge such as note names, rhythms, and basic musical symbols (it also includes 2 levels, so you can adapt it to your students!) For your intermediate students, this music escape room (in the photo above) reviews key signatures and ledger line notes. The spooky themes make it extra thrilling!
5. Pass the Pumpkin
For younger students in K-2, Pass the Pumpkin is a fun and simple game that gets kids practicing a steady beat. All you need is a small pumpkin or another Halloween-themed object like a plush ghost or stuffed black cat.
How to play:
- Students sit in a circle, and you play some spooky music with a steady beat.
- Students pass the pumpkin around the circle in time with the beat.
- You can use a variety of tempos—start with something slow like The Addams Family theme, then switch to a faster song if you want a challenge.
- For little ones, a pattern such as “PASS-2-3-4, PASS-2-3-4” chanted aloud can help keep the activity calm and help them get started.
Have you tried any of these Halloween music games? What are your favorites for this time of year?
These five Halloween music games are guaranteed to bring some spooky (but educational!) fun to your lessons. From rhythm and beat to listening skills and teamwork, music games offer a perfect balance of education and Halloween fun.
Ready to get started? You can find all my Halloween music games and resources, including Halloween Music Bingo and the Music Escape Room, right here.
Happy haunting, and may your music lessons be filled with spooky music and fun this Halloween! 🎃
