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24 Oct 2026
Halloween is celebrated annually on October 31 (Credit: Publicdomainvectors.org)
Halloween: Where Do Our Spooky Traditions Come From?
Warm-up → Read & Listen → Check Understanding → Language → Use It
WARM UP
Section: Warm Up
Think Ahead: Which detail do you think appears in this story?
a) Children eat ice cream on the beach.
b) People cut faces into vegetables.
c) Dogs sing songs at the door.
Ask:
(1) What do you wear for Halloween?
(2) Do you like pumpkins? Why?
VOCABULARY
costume (/ˈkɒstjuːm/, noun)
Meaning: Special clothes you wear to look like someone or something else.
Example: I am wearing a black cat costume today.
pumpkin (/ˈpʌmpkɪn/, noun)
Meaning: A big, round, orange vegetable.
Example: My pumpkin has a big, happy face.
fire (/ˈfaɪə/, noun)
Meaning: Hot, bright flames that burn.
Example: We sit near the fire and feel warm.
sweets (/swiːts/, noun)
Meaning: Small sugary foods, like lollipops and chocolates.
Example: I put my sweets in an orange bag.
ghost (/ɡəʊst/, noun)
Meaning: A spooky white shape in stories.
Example: My brother is a ghost with a white sheet.
spooky (/ˈspuːki/, adjective)
Meaning: A little bit scary.
Example: The dark house looks spooky at night.
knock (/nɒk/, verb)
Meaning: To hit a door with your hand to make a sound.
Example: I knock on the door of my friend's house.
Halloween is on 31 October. It is a spooky night! Children wear costumes. Some children are ghosts. Some children are black cats. Houses have orange pumpkins with funny faces.
Halloween is very, very old. It comes from a festival called Samhain. The Celts have this festival in Ireland, the UK and France. It is the end of summer. People make big fires. They wear animal skins on their heads. They think ghosts come back on this night.
Halloween has many fun traditions. Children knock on doors. They say, 'Trick or treat!' People give them sweets. The children are very happy.
Pumpkins have a story too. In Ireland, people cut faces into turnips and potatoes. Then Irish families go to America. Pumpkins in America are very big. They are easy to cut. Now people use pumpkins.
Today, Halloween is popular in many countries. People are carving pumpkins and buying sweets. Is your costume ready?
Image from an old Halloween book showing several Halloween activities, such as nut roasting (Credit: Ruth Edna Kelley/ Public Domain/ Wikimedia Commons)
Trick-or-Treating is a popular Halloween tradition (Credit: Silar/ CC BY-SA 4.0/ Wikimedia Commons)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Section 8: Discussion Questions
1. What costume do you like?
2. Do you like spooky stories? Why or why not?
3. What face do you want on your pumpkin?
4. What sweets do you like?
5. Is Halloween popular in your country?
FILL IN THE GAPS
FILL THE GAPS
Section 1: Fill in the Gaps
Use the words in the Word Bank to fill in the gaps.
Word Bank: sweets, fires, costumes, pumpkins
Halloween is on 31 October. It is a spooky night! Children wear _______(1). Some children are ghosts. Some children are black cats. Houses have orange _______(2) with funny faces.
Halloween is very, very old. It comes from a festival called Samhain. The Celts have this festival in Ireland, the UK and France. It is the end of summer. People make big _______(3). They wear animal skins on their heads. They think ghosts come back on this night.
Halloween has many fun traditions. Children knock on doors. They say, 'Trick or treat!' People give them _______(4). The children are very happy.
Pumpkins have a story too. In Ireland, people cut faces into turnips and potatoes. Then Irish families go to America. Pumpkins in America are very big. They are easy to cut. Now people use pumpkins.
Today, Halloween is popular in many countries. People are carving pumpkins and buying sweets. Is your costume ready?
Section 2: Main Idea
What is this story mostly about?
a) How to make pumpkin soup.
b) Why ghosts are real.
c) Where Halloween and its traditions come from.
UNDERSTANDING
Section 3: True or False
Read each sentence. Circle T (true) or F (false).
1. Halloween is on 31 October. T/F
2. The Celts make small fires. T/F
3. In Ireland, people cut faces into turnips and potatoes. T/F
Section 4: Put the Events in Order
Write 1, 2 or 3 to show the order of the events.
a) _____ Irish families go to America.
b) _____ People use big pumpkins for faces.
c) _____ In Ireland, people cut faces into turnips.
LANGUAGE
Section 5: Vocab Match
1. costume
2. pumpkin
3. ghost
4. sweets
5. knock
a) a big, round, orange vegetable
b) to hit a door with your hand
c) special clothes to look like someone or something else
d) small sugary foods, like lollipops
e) a spooky white shape in stories
USE IT
Section 6: Discussion Builder
Choose the best answer to complete each sentence.
1. Children knock on doors and say ______.
a) 'Good night!'
b) 'Happy birthday!'
c) 'Trick or treat!'
2. I think pumpkins are good for faces because they are ______.
a) big and easy to cut
b) small and very hard
c) blue and cold
Section 7: Sentence Unscramble
Put the parts in the correct order to make a sentence.
1.
A) costumes
B) Children
C) on Halloween
D) wear
E) spooky
2.
A) sweets
B) at the door
C) People
D) children
E) give
ANSWER KEY
A1 Answer Key
Warm Up
b) People cut faces into vegetables.
Section 1: Fill in the Gaps
(1) costumes
(2) pumpkins
(3) fires
(4) sweets
Section 2: Main Idea
c) Where Halloween and its traditions come from.
Section 3: True or False
1. True
2. False
3. True
Section 4: Put the Events in Order
Correct order: c, a, b
Section 5: Vocab Match
1 – c
2 – a
3 – e
4 – d
5 – b
Section 6: Discussion Builder
1. c) 'Trick or treat!'
2. a) big and easy to cut
Section 7: Sentence Unscramble
1. B, D, E, A, C – Children wear spooky costumes on Halloween.
2. C, E, D, A, B – People give children sweets at the door.
Section 8: Discussion Questions
Open answers. Accept any reasonable response that uses ideas from the article.
Thank you for your feedback!