Last Updated on July 25, 2023 by
Halloween is a holiday celebrated in China mainly by the expatriate community and students studying in various higher learning institutions in China. This means that most cities and towns with universities celebrate this holiday more than other parts of China. An expat teaching in China will get an opportunity to teach English words about Halloween during the festival to their students. Some cities, including Shanghai and Beijing, celebrate this holiday by decorating their stores and shops with pumpkin patches, corn husks and other decorations to recognise the Halloween event.
English words to teach about Halloween
Halloween is gaining popularity among younger Chinese students who learn about this holiday from American movies or foreign English teachers in China. Teachers tutoring in the IB schools in Shanghai and other cities in China have embraced the culture of teaching their students about Halloween history, traditions, customs, and some of the activities performed during these celebrations. Some of the English words to teach about Halloween include:
- Trick or treating
The trick is whereby groups of children pass door to door looking and seeking treats from their neighbours. Treats are usually candy or sweets.
- Pumpkin
This type of vegetable eaten at Halloween is usually used for making decorations. One way of knowing whether your neighbour or a particular household is participating in Halloween is to look for pumpkins lit in their driveway. These orange vegetables have a grotesque, shocking and frightening appearance from the face curved into them and candles shining through their noses, eyes and teeth.
- Horror
Horror represents something scary or frightening that mainly exist in films and movies about Halloween. You will view horror and horrible acts when you watch a series or movie with evil creatures associated with Halloween.
- Vampire
Another English word about Halloween is vampire, typically a monster or bogey that comes out at night to suck people’s blood using their large incisors to bite a victim’s neck. However, vampires are allergic to garlic and sunlight and cannot live in the daytime.
- Zombies
Zombies are monsters with the dead body often associated with Halloween. Participants in the Halloween festival usually where zombie costumes to scare and frighten other individuals in the event.
Halloween activities and games
- Pumpkin carving
Teachers can organise a pumpkin carving contest while teaching English words about Halloween to their students. This fun game exercise and activity will keep the students engaged while teaching them about Halloween. They are more likely to perform in the class learning activities while enjoying the lesson. You can engage the learners in pumpkin carving by instructing them to decorate and paint a pumpkin in the most mysterious way. After pumpkin carving, you can view and show the best carving in the contest.
- Bobbing for apples
This Halloween tradition and activity was invented years ago and still provides lots of fun, humour and laughter. All you need is a large bowl with water and some apples during this activity. Bobbing for apples is both an outdoor and indoor activity. If you decide to perform the activity indoors, ensure that you insert towels underneath the bowl to catch any liquid water that might spill over. Every member should try to grab an apple using the mouth in this activity. This is quite a challenging exercise with lots of fun. Afterwards, you can make caramel-covered apples or candy to add to this festive fun.
Young learners are more likely to stay engaged when teaching English words about Halloween while participating in fun activities like bobbing apples, trick or treat and pumpkin carving. Teachers can let the young children participate in the Halloween worksheet activity. This worksheet involves various activities, including picture maze, matching, sequencing, what’s missing, and word maze. These activities will give students a memorable experience and help them quickly learn the English words about Halloween.
Apart from that, if you are interested to know about 5 Activities For Online English Classes then visit our Education category.
