Inside: Countdown to Halloween and focus on kindness at the same time by using this Kindness Countdown to Halloween Paper Chain.
October to December for any school year is especially crazy as we all try to teach all the things and celebrate all the holidays. Halloween to Winter Break can often feel like a blur as we sneak in Pilgrims and bats and witches and learning how others celebrate December holidays.
And fall can oftentimes get pushed past to get to the excitement of the winter holidays which are right around the corner.
To lean into fall, we love connecting fall with kindness and social emotional learning with our Kindness Pumpkins Kind or Unkind Sort, our Kindness Leaves Kind or Unkind Sort, and our Fall Kindness Bucket List.
We can also use our Fall Kindness Challenge, our Fall Kindness Bucket List, our October Volunteer Challenge, and our November Volunteer Challenge.
But since kids are super excited about Halloween, costumes, and trick or treating, we can focus on Halloween and kindness together.
So to help countdown to our first big holiday of the school year and spread acts of kindness at the same time, we use our Halloween Kindness Paper Chain Countdown Calendar.
How to Focus on Kindness During Halloween
Fall is the perfect time to focus on kindness and giving to others so we can also start focusing on social-emotional learning and kindness with our students.
Leading up to Halloween, we can spread kindness on Halloween with our Halloween Kindness Notes and practice being kind with our Halloween Kindness Role Playing Cards and play games with our Pumpkin Kind or Unkind Sort.
We also use this Halloween Kindness Emergent Reader to focus on all the ways we can be kind on Halloween.
But we can also spread kindness every day as we countdown to Halloween.
Each day as we speak and act with kindness and freely giveaway our kindness to others, we’ll focus a little less on ourselves and more on others.
Daily kindness reminders like this make kindness more of a habit and less of a one-time, big grand gesture.
And it sets them up to want to be kind more often, setting the new fall season on the right foot…on a kinder foot.
Supplies Needed for the Countdown to Halloween Paper Chain
- 1 ½-inch by 11-inch construction paper strips (the number of strips you need will be dependent on the number of days your kids have left until Thanksgiving break) We used orange and black paper.
- Stapler
- Glue stick
- Printable countdown activities (download it below).
How to Use the Kindness Paper Chain Countdown to Halloween
1. Download and print the paper chain countdown printables (download it below).
2. Cut each of the activities. Choose the best ones for you and the number you need depending on when you start and how many days are left until Halloween.
3. Glue each of the activities on one strip of the construction paper.
4. Loop the strip into a circle, with the activity facing in, and carefully staple the ends together.
5. Make another kindness activity strip. Put it through the first circle, loop it into its own circle, and then staple the ends together.
6. Continue with each construction paper strip, gluing the kindness activities down, and linking them all together.
The last strip in the link will be their last day before Halloween and trick or treating!!
7. Hang up the countdown to Halloween calendar where it can be easily seen so it’s a visual representation of how many days left until the holiday.
8. Each day, rip off the top loop, do the kindness activity, and celebrate them for focusing on kindness.
As the strip gets shorter and shorter, so will the days until the candy and costumes!
So when your kids ask, “How many days until Halloween?” you can point to the paper chain and count the links left on your countdown chain.
And after focusing on spreading kindness, you’ll know you’re almost there!
Related: Get ready for the next holiday! Countdown to Thanksgiving Break here with our Kindness Paper Chain
Download the Countdown to Halloween Kindness Paper Chain here.
Susie says
Unable to get the Halloween kindness links.