Ten Timid Ghosts has always been one of my favorite Halloween stories to read during our math block! It is perfect for building number sense, subitizing and decomposing ten. Here are three quick Ten Timid Ghosts math activities!

You could even read this story during your Halloween party, to help keep things low key and learning-filled!

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Ten Timid Ghosts Felt Storyboard

While reading Ten Timid Ghosts for the first time, we use felt ghost pieces to help us act out the story. I will choose volunteers to remove, or take away, a ghost as I am reading.

During this time, the students hold up their fingers to represent the number of ghosts in the story.

We use the language… 10 take away 1 equals 9, 9 take away 1 equals 8, and so on.

Great for practicing the skill of taking one away!

I used my Silhouette Cameo to create the ghosts, but you could easily cut ghost shapes from white felt. Find the directions for the DIY ghosts and felt board here.

Ten Timid Ghosts Decomposing Ten Activity

To practice decomposing ten, we start with all ten ghosts inside the house. As I read the story, we move one down to the “woods” (ten frame).

This story lends itself well to number talks… How many ghosts are left inside the house? How many are in the woods? 4 and 6 make 10.

Sooooo good!

Oh, and they loved coloring these haunted houses!

These little ghosts are Lima beans. I just used a Sharpie marker to draw the ghost faces.

Grab the FREE haunted houses below!

Ten Timid Ghosts Subitizing Activity

For this activity, the students will begin with ten ghosts on their ten frame. They will spin the spinner and use tweezers to add that many ghosts to the haunted house.

This simple activity is great for decomposing ten, as well as subitizing with ten frames.

The tweezers sneak in a little fine motor practice during our morning work time!

Grab these FREE Ten Timid Ghosts math mats below!

More Halloween Activities

Check out these 22 Room on the Broom literacy and math activities!

Find our favorite Halloween crafts here!

Head here for simple Halloween party games, crafts and activities!

You’ll love these DIY Halloween party ideas!

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