Halloween Words That Start With B
14 Halloween words start with the letter B: Bat, Boo, Bones, Broom, Black Cat, Bonfire, Boogeyman, Beast, Bucket, Bag, Bandage, Bow, Basket and Butterfly. Halloween falls on October 31, and these are the words a preschooler actually meets on the night. Each one below has a short meaning, how many syllables it has, how to say it and a sentence to use it in, plus two free printables.
All 14 Halloween words that start with B
Spooky B words
- Bat
- Boo
- Bones
- Broom
- Black Cat
- Bonfire
- Boogeyman
- Beast
Other B words you will hear at Halloween
These are not spooky words, but a child hears every one of them on Halloween night.
- Bucket
- Bag
- Bandage
- Bow
- Basket
- Butterfly
| Word | What it means | Syllables | Say it like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bat | A small animal with wings that flies at night. | 1 | bat |
| Boo | The sound you make to surprise someone. | 1 | boo |
| Bones | The hard parts inside a body that hold it up. | 1 | bohnz |
| Broom | A brush with a long handle for sweeping. | 1 | broom |
| Black Cat | A cat with all black fur. | 2 | blak kat |
| Bonfire | A large fire built outside. | 2 | BON-fyre |
| Boogeyman | A make-believe figure some children think hides in the dark. | 3 | BOO-gee-man |
| Beast | A large wild animal in a story. | 1 | beest |
| Bucket | A container with a handle for carrying things. | 2 | BUK-it |
| Bag | A soft container you carry things in. | 1 | bag |
| Bandage | A strip of cloth wrapped around a cut. | 2 | BAN-dij |
| Bow | A knot with two loops, worn as decoration. | 1 | boh |
| Basket | A container woven from strips. | 2 | BAS-kit |
| Butterfly | An insect with large colored wings. | 3 | BUT-er-fly |
What each word means
Bat
A real animal rather than a made-up one, so this is a good word to follow with a picture of the real thing. In a sentence: “A bat flew past the streetlight without making a sound.”
Boo
Usually the first Halloween word a child says on purpose, because it gets a reaction every time. In a sentence: “He jumped out from behind the door and shouted boo.”
Bones
Every child has these, so it is one of the few spooky words you can point to on their own arm. In a sentence: “The skeleton was made of paper bones taped together.”
Broom
Ordinary in the kitchen and magic in a story, which makes it a nice one to talk about both ways. In a sentence: “The witch left her broom by the door.”
Black Cat
Old stories tied them to bad luck, which is not true and is worth saying plainly to a child who has a black cat at home. In a sentence: “A black cat sat on the wall and watched us walk past.”
Bonfire
The word comes from an old phrase meaning a fire of bones, which is a fact most adults do not know either. In a sentence: “We stood around the bonfire to keep warm.”
Boogeyman
Worth naming out loud, because a fear with a name is easier for a child to argue with than a shapeless one. In a sentence: “There is no boogeyman under the bed, only slippers.”
Beast
Vague on purpose in most stories, which lets a child picture whatever they find scary and no more. In a sentence: “A beast growled somewhere in the trees.”
Bucket
The orange pumpkin-shaped one is the thing most children picture first when Halloween is mentioned. In a sentence: “My bucket was full of candy before we reached the corner.”
Bag
A pillowcase works just as well and holds more, which children work out quickly. In a sentence: “He used a paper bag instead of a bucket.”
Bandage
Wrapped end to end, this is how a mummy costume is made at home for almost nothing. In a sentence: “We wrapped him in bandages to make a mummy costume.”
Bow
Say it out loud next to the bow you bend, because they are spelled the same and sound different. In a sentence: “Her cat costume had a red bow at the neck.”
Basket
An alternative to the bucket, and easier for small hands because the handle sits higher. In a sentence: “She carried a small basket for her candy.”
Butterfly
One of the most-chosen costumes for children who want wings and nothing frightening. In a sentence: “Her butterfly wings were bigger than she was.”
Which B words are hardest for a preschooler to say?
Bat, Boo, Bones, Bonfire, Boogeyman, Beast, Bucket, Bag, Bandage, Bow, Basket and Butterfly each start with a single /b/ sound, so a three year old can usually copy them straight back. Broom opens with an “br” blend, and Black Cat opens with an “bl” blend. A blend is two consonants run together with no vowel between them, and speech development guides such as the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association put clusters like these later than single sounds. If your child is at the copying-back stage, start with Bat.
How to use these B words with preschoolers
Say it, then find it
Say the word out loud and stretch the first sound: bat. Then ask your child to find something in the room that starts the same way. Hearing the sound and then finding it on something real ties the letter to something your child can already picture.
Sort the scary from the silly
Read the list together and let your child put each word in one of two piles: silly or spooky. There is no right answer, and the sorting is what makes them think about what the word actually means. It also gives you a gentle way to talk about being a little bit scared on purpose.
Trace it, then draw it
Use the tracing sheet below to write the eight spooky words, then ask your child to draw one of them on the back. Writing the word and picturing it at the same time is what makes it stick.
Free printables: the Halloween B word list and tracing sheet
Two pages, A4, free to print with no sign-up. The word list has all 14 words in large type with a tick box beside each one, so a child can mark off the words they can read. The tracing sheet has the eight spooky words, Bat, Boo, Bones, Broom, Black Cat, Bonfire, Boogeyman and Beast, on handwriting rules to write over.
Word list
Tracing sheet
More on the letter B
This page is one letter of Halloween words A to Z. For letter formation and tracing practice, see letter B activities for preschoolers. For animal names beginning with the same letter, see animals that start with B, and for the winter equivalent see Christmas words that start with B.
Halloween words A to Z: A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · J · K · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V · W · X · Y · Z
← Halloween words that start with A | Halloween words that start with C →
Frequently asked questions
What Halloween words start with B?
Bat, Boo, Bones, Broom, Black Cat, Bonfire, Boogeyman, Beast, Bucket, Bag, Bandage, Bow, Basket and Butterfly. All 14 are listed above with a short meaning for each.
Which Halloween B word is easiest for a preschooler?
Bat. It is one syllable, the first sound is easy to stretch out, and most children have already seen one, which fixes the word far faster than a definition does.
How many syllables are in these B words?
They run from one to three. Bat, Boo, Bones, Broom, Beast, Bag and Bow are single syllables, which is where to start.
How do I teach Halloween words without frightening my child?
Start with the silly ones and leave the spooky ones until they ask. A costume, a pumpkin and a bucket of candy are Halloween to a four year old. If a word does worry them, let them draw it and give it a friendly face, which takes the fear out of it faster than telling them not to worry.
What age are these words for?
Three to six. Younger children will recognize the words when you say them long before they can read them, which is the point of tracing rather than copying.
