Ten Timid Ghosts Activities: Free Halloween Counting Craft
Looking for a fun way to practice counting during October? This Ten Timid Ghosts counting activity is a simple Halloween craft that combines early math skills with a spooky read-aloud! Preschool and kindergarten students will love coloring their haunted houses, cutting out the little ghosts, and matching them to the correct numbers. Even better, you can grab the printable for free.
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Ten Timid Ghosts Read-Aloud and Counting Activity
If you haven’t read 10 Timid Ghosts by Jennifer O’Connell, it’s such a fun book to share with your students during Halloween! The story follows ten timid ghosts living in a haunted house. When a witch decides she wants the house for herself, she tries to scare the ghosts away one by one. But the ghosts have a surprise waiting for her!
I love pairing this story with a hands-on counting activity because students can practice counting backward as the ghosts disappear from the story and counting forward as they complete their haunted houses. It’s a fun way to connect literacy and math, especially for younger students who benefit from seeing and touching objects as they count.
Free Haunted House Counting Craft for Halloween
This haunted house counting craft is a great addition to your October math centers or Halloween activities. Students begin by coloring their haunted houses and then cut out the little ghost pictures at the bottom of the page. Each picture shows a different quantity. Students count the ghosts and glue the picture onto the matching number on their haunted house.
The free printable includes one-page options for numbers 1–5 and 1–10, so it’s easy to differentiate for preschool and kindergarten learners without lots of extra preparation.
How to Make the Haunted House Counting Craft
All you need are the free haunted house printables, crayons, scissors, and glue. After reading the book together, give each student a haunted house worksheet. Let them color the house before cutting out the ghost pictures along the bottom.
Next, students count the ghosts in each picture and find the matching number on their haunted house. Once they’ve found the correct number, they glue the picture in place. I like having students say each number aloud as they count. It’s an easy way to check understanding and encourage one-to-one correspondence.
Halloween Counting Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten
Halloween is the perfect time to make math a little more exciting! This ghost counting activity gives students practice with number recognition, counting sets of objects, one-to-one correspondence, and matching quantities to numerals. They also get fine motor practice as they color, cut, and glue.
For preschool students, I recommend starting with the numbers 1–5 version. You can even have students use counters to help them count each group before gluing. Kindergarten students can use the numbers 1–10 version independently or with a partner. After finishing, challenge them to count backward from ten, just like the ghosts disappearing in the story!
An Easy Halloween Math Center
This activity works especially well during October math centers because students can complete it with very little preparation. You can also use it during small groups, as a whole-class activity after your Halloween read-aloud, or as a quiet activity during a classroom Halloween party.
If you’re working with students who need extra support, complete the first few numbers together before letting them finish independently. You can also have students retell what happened to the ghosts in the story before beginning their counting craft.
Download Your Free Ghost Counting Printable
Ready to try this Halloween counting activity with your students? Grab the free haunted house counting printables and choose the version that works best for your preschool or kindergarten learners.
Just print, grab some crayons, scissors, and glue, and you’re ready for a spooky-fun counting activity! Pair it with the 10 Timid Ghosts book for an easy Halloween read-aloud and math lesson your students will love.
