A Halloween spelling game for Beginner through grade 5
Wormly’s first Halloween edition turns spelling practice into a spooky treasure hunt. Children steer Wormly through the dirt to collect glowing letters, then drag the letters into boxes to spell a Halloween word. Four levels, from Beginner to grade 5, each have their own spooky word list. A printable receipt at the end shows families and teachers how the round went.
Preview
How this Halloween spelling game works
Each word starts with empty boxes at the top of the screen. The boxes are shaped like the letters they will hold: tall letters get tall boxes, and letters that drop below the line get boxes that hang lower. Children move Wormly with a finger, a mouse or the arrow keys to find the glowing letters and drag each one to the right box. A wrong letter makes the box shake. When the word is done, Wormly returns to the start and the next word begins.
Four levels from Beginner to grade 5
Each level uses spooky words that match the skills students are ready for:
- Beginner: short, regularly spelled words such as bat, web and wig, for the earliest readers.
- Grades K-1: blends, digraphs, vowel teams and silent e, in words such as broom, witch, ghost and cave.
- Grades 2-3: compound and longer words such as cobweb, broomstick and pumpkin, plus words with prefixes and endings such as unmask and spooky.
- Grades 4-5: word parts, including Greek and Latin roots and suffixes, in words such as telescope, nocturnal and supernatural.
Spooky words with a purpose
The Halloween theme makes the words fun, but the skills come first. The lower levels use words that children can sound out and spell by pattern, and the upper levels bring in word parts. Every word is tagged with the skill it practices, and teachers can see the tags on the start page.
Standards and learning goals
Teachers can match this Halloween spelling game to their standards, which are listed on the game’s start page for Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan. The skills include decoding and spelling regular words, blends and digraphs, prefixes and suffixes, and Greek and Latin word parts. In the upper levels the word list also supports vocabulary growth, and a quick chat about what each word means helps make it stick. You can read more in the Georgia Standards of Excellence for English Language Arts.
Read-aloud help for the youngest players
At the Beginner and K-1 levels, Wormly says each finished word out loud, so children hear the word they just built. The voice comes from the device, so it sounds a little different on each computer or tablet.
A printable receipt for families and teachers
When a round ends, children can type a first name, or skip that step, and then print a two-part receipt. The top strip is for the child, with a cheer and the words they spelled. The bottom strip is for the teacher, with accuracy, average time, the skills practiced, a space for notes and a QR code that opens a summary page. Teachers can also download a full activity record with the standards for the words played.
Tips for playing at home or in class
A teacher or family member can say each word aloud first, or children can use the box shapes and the letters they find as clues. Older students can explain what a word means or how its parts fit together, such as tele and scope in telescope. Try replaying a level to see how many words come out right on the first try.
How to play
To try the Halloween spelling game, choose Play Full Screen to open it in its own tab. It works on Chromebooks, tablets, phones and computers, and there is nothing to install. The music button turns the music off, and the game works with no sound at all.
More Wormly games to try
Want more word play? Try the Wormly Moon Exploration Edition or the Wormly’s World Back to School Crossword Puzzle. After this Halloween spelling game, families can keep the spelling talk going at home.
