Halloween Vocabulary in Spanish: 10 Spooky Words for Kids

Pumpkins on every porch, costumes in the hallway, and tomorrow night the doorbell won't stop. Halloween is the perfect excuse for a bit of Halloween Spanish vocabulary. No quiz, just for fun, and that's exactly why it sticks.

Halloween Vocabulary in Spanish: the 10 Words to Know

la calabaza, pumpkin. el fantasma, ghost. la bruja, witch. el murciélago, bat. la araña, spider. el disfraz, costume. el esqueleto, skeleton. la escoba, broom. la casa embrujada, haunted house. And of course ¿truco o trato?, trick or treat.

Making Them Stick

Quiz while carving. While the pumpkin gets its face, everyone asks one question: "How do you say witch in Spanish?" Get it right and you cut the next eye.

Introduce the costume in Spanish. "Soy una bruja. Tengo una escoba." Two sentences before heading out, and your kid practices full sentences without noticing.

Candy, Spanish only. At one door, try "¿truco o trato?" instead of "trick or treat". Giggles guaranteed, and a phrase nobody forgets.

Start small. 10 words is already a lot. Better two days with five each, like any unit. Why that works better: how to memorize vocabulary.

Four Halloween Words at a Glance

The kids' favorites:

Halloween Vocabulary With an App

With VocaScan, an iOS app for the iPhone, your child photographs the vocabulary page and the app turns it into a quiz in both directions. Any textbook, any language. Weak words get their own quiz, which your kid starts alone, and if you enter the quiz date, reminders arrive 7, 3 and 1 day before. If Halloween is in the Spanish textbook, your kid photographs the page and the spooky quiz is ready.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you say "trick or treat" in Spanish?

¿Truco o trato?

Which Halloween words do kids learn first?

Usually calabaza, fantasma, bruja, murciélago and araña. Later disfraz, esqueleto and casa embrujada.

How many new words at once?

5 to 10, even on Halloween. Two short rounds beat one long one.