A Fun Halloween Creative Writing Game for Tweens
This Halloween creative writing game is sure to be a hit with your middle schoolers.
This season, add some spooky fun to your language arts lessons with this roll and write game. It’s super easy to use and your tweens will enjoy showing their creativity while coming up with Halloween-themed stories of their own.
Best of all, it’s a great way to get them excited about writing!
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Creative Writing for Middle School
It’s important to give kids the opportunity to write more as they move into middle school. Not just number of assignments, but variety as well. One style that needs to be a part of every homeschooler’s language arts lesson plan is creative writing.
There are a lot of reasons why this matters. For one, it lets tweens use their imagination and expands their creativity. It’s also a fun way for them to express themselves in a less formal writing format. They may even find it an enjoyable break from their more rigorous studies. Finally, creative writing can help older kids develop their own unique voice and perspective, something that is essential as they move into high school.
How to Improve Creative Writing Skills
One thing middle schoolers should do to improve their creative writing skills is to read as much as possible. Immersing them in literature will improve their vocabulary and grammar and will let them see how stories are crafted.
To get kids comfortable putting their thoughts into words, you need to get them writing consistently.
Give them different types of writing exercises. Different styles. Varying lengths. All kinds of subjects. This will give kids the opportunity to try out new ideas and find a method they enjoy.
Ultimately, the best way to improve creative writing skills is to simply keep practicing, even if it’s just for fun.
That’s why I love games like this one. It takes a lot of the pressure off and shows kids that storytelling doesn’t have to be boring or complicated. It’s a fun way for kids to let their imaginations run wild.
Keep reading to grab your FREE Halloween-themed creative writing game!
Halloween Creative Writing Game
If your tween is all about the spooky season, use this as a way to get them to do some writing. They can use this printable game to compose a unique Halloween-themed story.
This exercise helps kids with the writing process by taking away the blank page fear that trips up lots of students. Instead of coming up with all of the story elements themselves, they’ll rely on the roll of a die to determine their character, setting, and plot.
With the main elements of storytelling already figured out, it will be easy for tweens to complete this creative writing activity.
I love using games like these as a part of language arts lessons because it gives nervous writers a framework to work with and gets others to think outside of the box. Use this printable activity in place of an essay for your tweens or add it to your day as a writing warm-up.
To get started, gather up:
- A printed copy of Halloween Write and Roll (one of the game page, and a copy of the other pages for each player)
- A standard six-sided die
- A pencil or pen
How to Play
Tweens will be rolling a standard die to determine the main points of their story – character, plot and setting. Each roll corresponds to a number on the game sheet.
- The first roll will give students their character. Whatever number comes up, they’ll match it to the character column on the printable. Let’s say they roll a 2. That means the main character in their story will be two friendly ghosts.
- The next roll of the die is for the story’s plot. Kids need to take the number that it lands on and see what that number shows in plot column. If they roll a 4, their story will involve decorating for Halloween.
- The final roll determines the setting for the story. The number that’s rolled will be matched to the setting column. If your tweens roll a 6, the story needs to take place at a haunted house.
- Once they have the key story elements, next they’ll start filling in the graphic organizer. This page is where they’ll work out the details of their story. Since this is a brainstorming session, encourage the to write down everything they can think of so they have plenty of ideas to draw from when they’re doing the actual writing.
- When they feel like they’ve written all they can, and have a better idea of their narrative, it’s time to put it all together. They can either use a notebook or the Write the Story page to compose a rough draft of their creative tale.
- After a bit, have your kids come back to reread what they’ve written and make any edits to improve the first draft. Then, print off another Write the Story sheet or give them a fresh notebook page and have them compose the final draft of their story. If they’re using the download, they can use the box at the top to draw a picture as well.
- What about the title? Well, tweens can add the title at any point. Some like to choose one before they start writing and other prefer using a working title. I always encouraged my girls to use a working title because it’s common for writers to come up with something better by the time they get to the finished version. Just let your kids know that it’s okay to change titles throughout the writing process.
Helpful Tips for Halloween Roll and Write
If you find your middle schooler staring at a blank page, even after figuring out their story elements, encourage them to use these ideas to push them over the hump and get their writing flowing.
Character
- Aside from the main character, who else will be in the story?
- Describe your character – physical and personality traits.
- List a couple of positive and negative things about your character. For example, maybe she’s empathetic, but always late.
Plot
- Is there a twist you can think of that will change the direction of the story and make it more interesting?
- Try having your character encounter a problem that he needs to solve.
Setting
While we know the story takes place during the Halloween season, there’s lots more your tween can add to round out the setting. Things like:
- Time of day
- Length of time the story takes to unfold
- Weather
- Specific location, like small town, downtown, rural road, etc.
Remind your kids to use descriptive language to make their story more interesting for the reader.
I hope that this game will get your kids excited about writing a Halloween-themed story. It should be an easy activity to add to your language arts lesson plans and quick way to get them writing this season.
Grab the FREE creative writing download below.
Writing Resources
These unique tools are perfect for middle school English lesson plans.
- Use Scary Tales Dice to build a spooky Halloween story.
- Storymatic Storyteller Cards will make it easy to teach creative writing to your tweens.
- If your kids are fans of the boy wizard, add these Harry Potter Story Cubes to your lesson plans.
- Storymatic Synapsis creative prompts will make writing fun.
Scary Tales Dice
Storymatic Classic Creative Writing PromptsHarry Potter Story CubesStorymatic Synapsis Creative Writing
More Creative Writing Ideas for Middle School
Here are some more activities you can use to get your tween writing more.
- One unique style of writing you can work on with your tween is product reviews.
- If your kids love this game, check out this Spring-themed roll and write.
- We used Storybuilders in our homeschool to work on creative storytelling.
- Rory’s Story Cubes are another fun tool you can use to teach creative writing in your homeschool.
- If your tween is struggling with writing, she may have dysgraphia.
Halloween Fun
Check out these Halloween activities you can do with your older kids to have some fun this season.
- Let the holiday take over your science class with these Halloween-themed science experiments.
- Use clay pots to create some adorable holiday decorations – you can make a candy corn and a Frankenstein.
- Have fun with your tweens in the kitchen, baking up some spooky treats. Try these creepy cookies or desserts with candy eyes.
Grab Your FREE Roll & Write
How are you going to use this creative writing game with your tweens this season?
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