Free Halloween Worksheets for Kids (Ages 6-8): Maths, Reading and Not-Too-Spooky Fun
Last updated: 8 October 2026
Hi lovely teachers, parents and homeschoolers, and welcome! Looking for Halloween worksheets that are properly educational, genuinely fun and not at all scary? You’ll find them here: free Halloween worksheets for ages 6-8 (1st to 2nd grade, or Years 2-3 in the UK), grouped into packs of five. There’s reading comprehension, maths (math), crosswords and word puzzles, plus three of my favourite read-along stories. Every pack is a free PDF with answer keys, made for US Letter paper, and there are A4 printing tips for UK classrooms below.
Our not-scary pledge: friendly pumpkins, sleepy bats and shy little ghosts only. No gore, no graveyards, no frights. Every worksheet also comes in an autumn (fall) version, so it works for schools and families that don’t celebrate Halloween.
Whether you’re a teacher planning a festive-but-focused Friday, or a parent whose seven-year-old has decided every shadow is a ghost, you can print these and go. Short on time? Jump to the at-a-glance table below, or start with Pack 1, where every reading passage comes at three levels so each child gets a read that feels just right.
Pack 1 gives you five reading worksheets, including three original passages that each come at three levels, so every child gets a read that feels just right. The passages are all friendly: facts about bats, a pumpkin’s journey from seed to patch, and a gentle story about a very shy little ghost.
Download: Halloween Reading Comprehension Pack (free PDF, answer keys included): US Letterย ยท A4 ย ยท Autumn (fall) version: US Letter ยท A4
Worksheet
Type
What children do
US standards
England
Bats Are Night Helpers
Non-fiction passage, 3 levels
Answer when, what and where questions, make one inference, work out the word “echo” from context and label a bat diagram
RI.2.1, RI.2.4, RI.2.5
Y2: answering and asking questions about non-fiction, clarifying word meanings, using labelled diagrams to find facts
From Seed to Pumpkin
Non-fiction passage, 3 levels
Put the life-cycle stages in order, answer true or false and explain one “why” question
RI.1.3, RI.2.3
Y2: sequencing and linking information; fits plants in science
Pip the Shy Little Ghost
Gentle story, 3 levels
Talk about Pip’s feelings, predict what happens next and find the beginning, middle and end
RL.2.1, RL.2.3, RL.2.5
Y1-2: making inferences from what is said and done, predicting, retelling stories
Story Steps: Cut and Order
Sequencing
Cut out six cards from Pip’s story, glue them in order and retell it in their own words
RL.1.3, RL.2.5
Y1-2: retelling stories and discussing the sequence of events
My Friendly Monster
Read, draw and write
Read three clues, draw the friendly monster and write two or three sentences about it
W.1.2
Y1-2: composing a sentence out loud first, then checking capital letters and full stops
Codes are mainly 2nd grade. The shorter โ texts also support the 1st-grade versions of the same skills. The US codes are Common Core (some states use their own standards, so check yours). The England column paraphrases the national curriculum, so please check the exact wording on gov.uk before quoting it in a plan.
Three levels, one pack
โ Short (about 80-120 words): picture clues and mostly circle-or-tick answers.
โ โ Medium (about 140-200 words): a mix of “who and what” questions and “how do you know?” questions.
โ โ โ Longer (about 200-300 words): inference, vocabulary in context and a find-the-evidence question.
Start where a child feels confident, then step up when they’re ready.
Bats Are Night Helpers
A friendly fact-file about how bats sleep, hunt insects and find their way in the dark. It’s a gentle way to practise pulling facts out of a text and showing how you know.
From Seed to Pumpkin
Follow a pumpkin from a tiny seed to a ripe pumpkin in the patch. It pairs nicely with a science topic on plants, and the ordering task has children number the stages from seed to pumpkin.
Pip the Shy Little Ghost
Pip is a little ghost who is far too shy to say “boo”. It’s a calm, kind story about finding the courage to say hello, with plenty to talk about: how Pip feels, what might happen next and what you would say to Pip.
Teacher tips: questions that build inference
Ask “How do you know?” after every answer, and have children point to the clue in the words or the picture.
Model the first question out loud, thinking as you go, then let children try the next one.
Let pairs say their answers before they write, because talking about a text is a big part of understanding it.
Go back to the text with a finger or highlighter to find the sentence that proves each answer.
Join our free online kids book club!
Want reading practice with a story attached? On our YouTube channel, Story Time with Karyn, gentle, low-stimulation animated read-alouds bring wonderful picture books to life, and every story comes with a free companion worksheet. It’s a free online kids book club that turns screen time into reading, writing and art time. Teachers, school counsellors, homeschoolers and parents can browse by theme and find free educational resources that spark big conversations about feelings, kindness and being yourself. Grab a cosy blanket, press play and download your worksheet at changetheworldwithkaryn.com.
Pack 2: Halloween Maths (Math) Worksheets: Number Skills
Pack 2 gives you five number-skills worksheets with a friendly Halloween twist, covering number bonds, place value, skip counting, odd and even numbers, and adding and subtracting within 100.
Y1-2: number bonds and addition and subtraction facts to 20
Witch-Hat Place Value
Count tens and ones, write numbers in expanded form (47 = 40 + 7) and, at Challenge, work with hundreds
1.NBT.B.2, 2.NBT.A.1, 2.NBT.A.3
Y2: place value of each digit in a two-digit number (Challenge stretches to three digits, which is Y3)
Spider-Web Skip-Count Maze
Follow counting in 2s, 5s and 10s through a spider web
2.NBT.A.2 (5s and 10s), 2.OA.C.3 (2s)
Y1-2: counting in steps of 2, 5 and 10
Odd or Even Black Cats
Pair up cats, sort numbers into odd and even, and split even numbers into doubles
2.OA.C.3
Y2: odd and even numbers
Bat Add and Subtract
Add and subtract within 100, from sums like 42 + 5 to regrouping, and solve three bat story problems
1.NBT.C.4, 1.NBT.C.6, 2.NBT.B.5, 2.OA.A.1
Y1-2: adding and subtracting one-digit and two-digit numbers
How to use it: Pumpkin Number Bonds and Odd or Even Black Cats make quick starters. Witch-Hat Place Value and Bat Add and Subtract suit independent work. The spider-web maze is a good early-finisher. Short, regular practice of number facts is backed by US guidance on helping children who find maths tricky (see Why These Worksheets Work).
Pack 3: Halloween Maths (Math) Worksheets: Time, Money and Data
Pack 3 takes maths into everyday life, with clocks, coins, charts, shapes and arrays, the first step towards multiplication. The shop sells mittens, lanterns and toy bats, and no problem asks children to count or buy candy, treats or other food, so it’s allergy-aware and works for every classroom.
Read clocks and draw the hands: o’clock and half past, then five-minute times, quarter past, quarter to, a.m. and p.m., and “what time will it end?” problems
1.MD.B.3, 2.MD.C.7 (time later goes a little further than the standard)
Y1-2: telling the time to the hour, half hour and five minutes, and drawing the hands
Pumpkin Patch Shop
Count pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters, solve shop problems on a price board (totals, money left, change from one dollar) and decide which things are needs and which are wants
2.MD.C.8 (needs and wants is extra talk, not a standard)
Y1-2: knowing coin values, combining amounts and giving change (the pack uses US coins)
Favorite Costume Tally
Count tally marks, shade a pictogram, read a bar graph and draw a bar graph of their own
1.MD.C.4, 2.MD.D.10
Y2: tally charts, pictograms and block diagrams
Shape Monsters
Count and name 2-D shapes in a monster, draw their own monster, describe sides and corners, spot quadrilaterals and meet 3-D shapes (cube, sphere, cone, cylinder and box)
1.G.A.1, 1.G.A.2, 2.G.A.1
Y1-2: naming and describing 2-D and 3-D shapes (a box is a cuboid in England)
Spider-Leg Arrays
Count rows and columns, write addition sentences for arrays and add equal groups of 8 spider legs
2.OA.C.4 (Challenge looks ahead to 3.OA.A.1)
Y1-2: arrays and repeated addition
Good to know: the shop sheet uses US coins and cents, so UK classes will meet pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters instead of pounds and pence (the adding and change skills are the same). Spiders have eight legs, so the Challenge arrays page uses equal groups of 8, a gentle way into the 8 times table for children who are ready for it (the fall version uses groups of 4). If your class enjoys the need-or-want question, our free needs and wants worksheets go with an interactive video on our Learn with Karyn channel.
Flip, giggle, write! Our Halloween flipbook notebooks have a little pumpkin animation in the corner that springs to life when you flick the pages, plus jokes and fun facts on every page. With 140 pages of Halloween-coloured lines, they’re perfect for spelling practice, October journaling or a non-candy treat for class parties. Shop the notebooks: UKย ยท US
Pack 4: Halloween Crosswords and Word Puzzles
Pack 4 is five word puzzles that sneak in spelling and vocabulary practice: two crosswords, a word search, a word scramble and secret code jokes. Every puzzle comes at three levels, from picture clues and word banks for newer readers to crosswords with no word bank and backward words for confident ones.
Crack the code to read three jokes: numbers (A = 1) at Starter, then letters moved one step and three steps ahead
RF.1.3, L.1.2.d, L.2.2.d (counting on through the alphabet: 1.OA.C.5)
Y1-2: naming the alphabet in order, then reading and spelling the decoded words
These puzzles support spelling, vocabulary and decoding: Common Core L.1.2 and L.2.2 (spelling), L.1.4, L.2.4 and L.1.5 (word meanings) and RF.1.3 and RF.2.3 (decoding), plus the Year 1 and Year 2 spelling and word-meaning aims in England. Good to know: the grids use big squares and clear letters, and the Starter and Medium word searches show a picture beside each word, so they’re friendlier for children who find scanning hard. Use the puzzles as early-finisher work, a calm Friday activity or a quick spelling check. The Starter and Medium crosswords give a word bank, and the Challenge crosswords take it away (the Challenge picture crossword drops the letter counts too). The secret code jokes are classic groaners, and some answers are spelled in a silly way on purpose.
Story Time Packs: Gentle Witch Stories and a Cosy Autumn Read
Three of my Story Time with Karyn read-alongs fit this hub beautifully: two gentle witch stories for Halloween season and a cosy five senses story for the whole of autumn. Every story is animated with the author’s permission, and I chat with the characters afterwards about its big ideas, so the video does some of the SEL for you. For the full write-up of each one, with reading comprehension and SEL questions, words to know, curriculum links and author interviews, see our fall reading comprehension and SEL worksheets.
Grandma Gets an Upgrade by Janice Hostetter
Grandma Witch is tired of being overtaken on her trusty broom, so she and her granddaughter Wren try jetpacks, a submarine, a hot-air balloon and even a fire-breathing dragon. It’s a funny, not-scary story about being thankful for what you have.
SEL focus: responsible decision-making and gratitude.
Free worksheet: 8 questions and a drawing activity.
Try this: an “old but gold” show-and-tell, where each child brings (or draws) something old that they love.
The Fairytale Witch and the Quest for Her Sparkle by Leanne Weston
Bon is a little witch whose Coven sparkles, but Bon doesn’t. So she sets off on a rhyming quest to find her own sparkle, the thing that helps her feel safe, happy and truly herself. Bon is autistic and is based on Leanne’s own daughter, which makes this a warm, not-scary story about empathy, inclusion and being yourself.
SEL focus: social awareness and self-awareness.
Free worksheet: 11 questions and an art challenge.
Try this: a class “sparkle wall”, where children draw or write what helps them feel most like themselves.
Levi wants to bottle everything he loves about autumn, so he notices the season with all five senses and brews the perfect fall potion. The story celebrates the season rather than any one holiday, so it works in every classroom, any time this autumn.
SEL focus: self-awareness and self-management, through mindfulness and gratitude.
Free worksheet: 10 questions and a “Draw Your Potion” page.
Try this: a short noticing walk, then fill a jar (or draw one) with something for each sense.
Next stop: around the world! Our Halloween Around the World for Kids guide takes children aged 4 to 8 on a passport trip to nine countries, from guising in Scotland to giant kites in Guatemala. The free printable passport (nine pages, A4 or US Letter, no sign-up) has a stamp to colour for every stop. It works without costumes or trick-or-treating, so it suits families who don’t mark Halloween, too.
Not-Scary, Inclusive Halloween: Tips for Sensitive Kids and Non-Celebrating Families
Halloween can feel like a lot for some children, and it’s absolutely fine to keep it gentle or to skip it altogether. Everything in this hub is friendly, and every worksheet has an autumn (fall) version, so nobody has to join in with the spooky bits.
Two children’s health organisations offer calm, practical advice for families:
The Child Mind Institute (writer Faith Wilkins, with psychologist Kathryn L. Keough, PhD; last updated October 2025) says to follow the child’s lead: it’s fine to decide that something is too scary right now and find another way to enjoy the season. It also suggests previewing spooky things in daylight and building up gradually, for example by listening to Halloween songs at home.
CHOC Children’s (Baleska Alfaro, licensed marriage and family therapist; published October 2022) suggests preparing early, naming and acknowledging a child’s fears, choosing neutral costumes and decorations, and not pushing too far. If a child is struggling, it’s fine to head home early and try again next year.
Those ideas work at the worksheet table too:
Start with the story and puzzle packs, which are the calmest, and let children choose which sheet to try.
Talk about the difference between pretend and real. “Is Pip a real ghost, or a character in a story?” is a gentle way in.
Offer the autumn (fall) version of any sheet, or use Thank Fall, which celebrates the season rather than any holiday.
Keep it short, and stop if a child has had enough.
If a child’s worries seem to be getting in the way of everyday life, it’s worth talking to their family doctor or a school counsellor.
How to Use These Worksheets: Differentiation, Accessibility and Printing
Start with the level that feels comfortable, then step up. Here’s how teachers and parents can get the most from each pack. Choose a level. In Pack 1, the โ texts are short with picture clues, the โ โ texts are medium, and the โ โ โ texts add inference and find-the-evidence questions. Packs 2 to 4 work the same way, with a Starter (โ ), Medium (โ โ ) and Challenge (โ โ โ ) version of every worksheet. Children can move up a level as soon as the easier one starts to feel easy.
Fit them into your day.
Quick starters: number bonds, odd or even black cats, a word scramble.
Independent work: reading passages, place value, add and subtract.
Early finishers and calm Fridays: crosswords, word searches and the skip-count maze.
Homeschool: pick one pack a week and watch a Story Time read-along together on the same day.
Design for every learner. We set the sheets in a clear sans-serif font with generous spacing, left-aligned text and plenty of white space, following the British Dyslexia Association’s style guide. Where we can, we add picture word banks and sentence frames for children learning English, and true-or-false and matching questions for children who find writing tiring. Print without fuss. Every pack is a PDF made for US Letter paper, and the line art is black and white to save ink. Print at 100% (actual size) so the margins stay safe. Printing on A4? Pack 1 also comes in A4, and the other packs print on A4 too if you choose “Fit to page” (they come out about 3% smaller). Answer keys are at the back of each pack.
Sharing. The worksheets are free for classroom and home use. Please share the link to this page so other people get the latest versions, and please don’t resell the worksheets or upload them elsewhere.
Why These Worksheets Work: What the Research Says
Worksheets work best as practice after a child has seen the skill modelled, and the research backs that up. Here’s what we drew on, and what it doesn’t tell us.
Reading comprehension. The US Institute of Education Sciences practice guide Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade (Shanahan et al., 2010) gives its strongest evidence rating to explicitly teaching comprehension strategies, and also recommends talking about texts and choosing texts purposefully. The Education Endowment Foundation’s Improving Literacy in Key Stage 1 names the strategies as predicting, questioning, clarifying, summarising and activating prior knowledge, and stresses modelling them before children practise. It also points out that comprehension is more than answering questions, which is why our teacher tips start with modelling and talking.
Maths fluency. The What Works Clearinghouse practice guide Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Intervention in the Elementary Grades (Fuchs et al., 2021) rates brief, regular fluency activities as a strong-evidence way to build quick, accurate recall of number facts. Such activities usually last one to five minutes and can use worksheets. The guide is written for children who find maths tricky, so treat it as support for short, regular practice rather than for any one worksheet.
Accessible design. The British Dyslexia Association’s style guide sets out layout basics such as a clear sans-serif font, generous spacing and left-aligned text, which we follow.
What the research doesn’t tell us: none of these sources tests Halloween themes. We use Halloween as a fun wrapper, not as a proven way to boost learning. Sources
Yes. Every pack is a free PDF to download and print for your classroom or home, with no sign-up. Please share the link to this page rather than uploading the files elsewhere, and please don’t resell them.
What ages and grades are they for?
They’re made for ages 6-8, which is 1st to 2nd grade in the US and Years 2-3 in the UK. The Pack 1 reading passages and every worksheet in Packs 2 to 4 come at three levels, so they stretch a little younger or older. The Story Time packs suit ages 3-8.
Are the worksheets scary?
No. Everything is friendly: smiling pumpkins, sleepy bats and shy little ghosts, with no gore and no graveyards. If your child is nervous about Halloween, start with the story and puzzle packs and take a look at the tips above.
Can we use them if our school or family doesn’t celebrate Halloween?
Yes. Every worksheet has an autumn (fall) version, and Thank Fall celebrates the season rather than any holiday.
Do the worksheets include answer keys?
Yes, at the back of every pack.
Can I print them on A4 or US Letter paper?
The packs are made for US Letter paper (8.5 x 11 inches), so print at 100% (actual size). In the UK or elsewhere? Pack 1 also comes in A4, and the other packs print on A4 too if you choose “Fit to page”, which makes them about 3% smaller. The line art is black and white to save ink.
Are they dyslexia-friendly?
We design them with the British Dyslexia Association’s style guidance in mind: a clear sans-serif font, generous spacing, left-aligned text and plenty of white space. Every child is different, so please preview a sheet and let us know what would help.
How long does each worksheet take?
Most take roughly 10 to 20 minutes. The reading passages work best with a little talk time before and after, and the puzzles make good early-finisher activities.
Join the Free Online Kids Book Club
If you love these worksheets, the best way to keep them coming is to join our free online kids book club. Watch the read-alongs on Story Time with Karyn, download each story’s free worksheet at changetheworldwithkaryn.com, and explore Learn with Karyn for interactive lessons with Bobbie the robot dog. Share your children’s artwork. Every Story Time worksheet ends with a drawing or art activity. If your class makes sparkle drawings, autumn potions or friendly bats, ask a grown-up to send them in through our Connect page with the child’s name and age. We’d love to feature them in our artwork slideshow. About Story Time with Karyn: I’m Karyn, an actress turned creative director and children’s book author. On Story Time with Karyn, I bring picture books by independent authors to life with calm, low-stimulation animation, always with the author’s permission, and pair each one with a free worksheet. On our sister channel, Learn with Karyn, Bobbie the robot dog and I bring curriculum-style topics to life with a modern twist, through interactive videos and worksheets. If you love a story, please support its author by buying the book. Happy Halloween and happy autumn reading! With magic, Karyn
If you love these worksheets, the best way to keep them coming is to join our free online kids book club. Watch the read-alongs on Story Time with Karyn, download each story’s free worksheet at changetheworldwithkaryn.com, and explore Learn with Karyn for interactive lessons with Bobbie the robot dog. Share your children’s artwork. Every Story Time worksheet ends with a drawing or art activity. If your class makes sparkle drawings, autumn potions or friendly bats, ask a grown-up to send them in through our Connect page with the child’s name and age. We’d love to feature them in our artwork slideshow. About Story Time with Karyn: I’m Karyn, an actress turned creative director and children’s book author. On Story Time with Karyn, I bring picture books by independent authors to life with calm, low-stimulation animation, always with the author’s permission, and pair each one with a free worksheet. On our sister channel, Learn with Karyn, Bobbie the robot dog and I bring curriculum-style topics to life with a modern twist, through interactive videos and worksheets. If you love a story, please support its author by buying the book. Happy Halloween and happy autumn reading! With magic, Karyn
