Spooky STEM, Math, and Science Ideas That Actually Engage

Spooky STEM, Math, and Science Ideas That Actually Engage

20th Oct 2025

October is the perfect time to mix learning with a bit of spooky fun. Whether you’re teaching coding, physics, or fractions, Halloween provides the perfect hook to engage students in hands-on, high-energy projects. Here’s an expanded roundup of ideas that actually work — from bubbling cauldrons and coding creatures to eerie experiments and math mysteries.

STEM: Engineering With a Twist of Fright

1. Haunted House Engineering Challenge

Students build haunted houses that light up, move, or make spooky sounds.
Use LEDs, sensors, and creative cardboard construction.

  • Add-on: Program Dash or Hummingbird robots to activate motion when someone “enters” the house.

  • STEM Link: Circuits, design thinking, and cause-and-effect.

2. Pumpkin Catapult Challenge

Engineer a catapult that launches candy pumpkins across the room!

  • Add-on: Track flight distances, record angle data, and calculate the best launch design.

  • STEM Link: Force, motion, trajectory, and iteration.

3. Monster Coding Maze

Create monsters that move through a digital or physical maze.

4. Jump Scare Robotics

Use the Hummingbird Jump Scares Project — https://learn.birdbraintechnologies.com/hummingbirdduo/projects/jump-scares/
Students can build skeletons or ghosts that “pop up” when triggered by a sensor.

  • STEM Link: Robotics, feedback loops, and mechanical design.

5. Strawbees Haunted Architecture

Inspired by BirdBrain’s Haunted Halloween Webinar with Strawbees — https://www.birdbraintechnologies.com/blog/happy-haunted-halloween-free-webinar-with-strawbees-2/
Have students construct haunted bridges, swinging chandeliers, or Frankenstein’s tower.

  • STEM Link: Structural integrity, creativity, and coding light/motion components.

6. Creepy Coding Challenges with Wonder Workshop

Explore Wonder Workshop’s Spooky STEM Activity Roundup — https://www.makewonder.com/en/blog/spooky-stem-activity-roundup/
Use Dash or Cue robots for:

  • Trick-or-treat obstacle courses

  • “Ghost chase” tag

  • “Pumpkin pickup” using a gripper attachment
    These encourage problem-solving through sequential coding and sensor use.

7. Mummy Wrap Machine

Challenge students to engineer a device that can “wrap a mummy” (a toilet paper roll or doll) using limited materials.

  • STEM Link: Simple machines, teamwork, and problem-solving.

  • Add-on: Use robotics to automate the process!

Math: Creepy Calculations and Eerie Estimations

1. Pumpkin Patch Data

Collect, measure, and graph pumpkin data.
Compare volume, circumference, and seed counts — then predict patterns using regression lines.

2. Candy Corn Fractions & Probability

Turn Halloween candy into a math lab!
Students calculate ratios, percentages, and probabilities using candy assortments.

3. Zombie Survival Statistics

Create a probability game or spreadsheet simulation that tracks infection spread.
Students calculate survival rates, compound probability, and exponential functions.

4. Haunted Geometry

Use glow sticks, pipe cleaners, or string to construct geometric figures in dim light.

  • Extension: Have students measure perimeter, area, and angles under “black light.”

  • Cross-Curricular Link: Art + Math.

5. The Witch’s Brew Recipe Ratios

Turn potion-making into a lesson on proportions and scaling.
If one potion uses 3 parts frog slime to 2 parts ghost dust, how much is needed to scale up for 10 witches?

  • Math Link: Ratios, unit rates, and scaling.

6. Trick-or-Treating on a Coordinate Plane

Draw a neighborhood map on graph paper.
Have students plot “houses” and create equations for shortest paths or total distance traveled.

  • Add-on: Hide “haunted” houses that cause students to lose a turn or recalculate paths.

Science: Creepy Chemistry and Frightening Physics

1. Bubbling Potions Lab

Mix vinegar, baking soda, food coloring, and dish soap to create a bubbling cauldron.

  • Extension: Measure gas production by trapping CO₂ in a balloon and comparing volumes.

2. Slime Science

Compare different slime recipes (borax, saline, or cornstarch) to study viscosity and polymerization.

  • Add-on: Create “monster goo” that glows under UV light.

3. Flying Ghosts Experiment

Use static electricity to make tissue ghosts hover!

  • Science Link: Electrical charge, attraction/repulsion, and electron movement.

4. Pumpkin Decomposition Study

Observe how pumpkins rot over time and track the process scientifically.

  • Cross-Curricular: Biology + Environmental Science.

  • Add-on: Measure temperature, weight loss, and mold growth to create data charts.

5. Magnetic Monster Maze

Build a maze with paper and tape, then move a paper monster using a magnet underneath the board.

  • Science Link: Magnetism and force.

  • Extension: Use Ozobot or Sphero robots for digital versions.

6. Ectoplasm Density Lab

Layer colored sugar-water solutions of different densities in a clear cup to create “ghost goo.”

  • Science Link: Density, solubility, and solution concentration.

7. Haunted Pendulum Painting

Create a swinging “ghost” pendulum that releases glow-in-the-dark paint to make patterns.

  • Science Link: Motion, gravity, and periodic motion.

  • Bonus: Great art/science crossover.

Bonus Cross-Curricular “Spooky Challenges”

  • Monster Math Escape Room: Students solve themed puzzles and equations to “escape the haunted classroom.”

  • STEM Costume Parade: Students dress up as a scientist, robot, or math concept (like Pi or the Pythagorean Theorem).

  • Blacklight Science Fair: Use black lights to display glowing chemical reactions, slime, and geometry shapes.

  • Haunted Data Storytelling: Collect “spooky” statistics (e.g., average trick-or-treat haul) and visualize the data using graphs or spreadsheets.

  • Frightening Forensics Lab: Simulate a “mystery at the monster mansion” with fingerprint analysis, chromatography, and deduction skills.

Quick Plug-In Resources

Here are ready-to-go resources you can use right now:

Why These Lessons Work

Students are hooked by the theme, but what keeps them engaged is the structure — hands-on experimentation, coding, and open-ended design. The best spooky lessons:

  • Encourage iteration (try, fail, rebuild)

  • Combine creativity with analysis

  • Work across multiple disciplines

  • Make students forget they’re learning

Halloween fun is more than decorations — it’s a chance to connect science, math, and engineering through curiosity and play.

!