Halloween Words That Start With G
14 Halloween words start with the letter G: Ghost, Goblin, Graveyard, Grave, Ghoul, Goosebumps, Glow, Growl, Gargoyle, Gourd, Gate, Glitter, Gummy Worms and Glow Stick. 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 G
Spooky G words
- Ghost
- Goblin
- Graveyard
- Grave
- Ghoul
- Goosebumps
- Glow
- Growl
- Gargoyle
Other G words you will hear at Halloween
These are not spooky words, but a child hears every one of them on Halloween night.
- Gourd
- Gate
- Glitter
- Gummy Worms
- Glow Stick
| Word | What it means | Syllables | Say it like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ghost | A make-believe figure of someone who has died. | 1 | gohst |
| Goblin | A small ugly creature from old stories. | 2 | GOB-lin |
| Graveyard | A place where people are buried. | 2 | GRAYV-yard |
| Grave | The place in the ground where someone is buried. | 1 | grayv |
| Ghoul | A creature from old stories that haunts graveyards. | 1 | gool |
| Goosebumps | The small bumps on your skin when you are cold or scared. | 2 | GOOSS-bumps |
| Glow | To give off a soft steady light. | 1 | gloh |
| Growl | The low rumbling sound an animal makes. | 1 | growl |
| Gargoyle | A stone creature carved on the side of an old building. | 2 | GAR-goyl |
| Gourd | A hard-skinned vegetable like a small pumpkin. | 1 | gord |
| Gate | A door in a fence or wall. | 1 | gayt |
| Glitter | Tiny shiny pieces used to decorate things. | 2 | GLIT-er |
| Gummy Worms | Soft chewy candy shaped like worms. | 3 | GUM-ee wurmz |
| Glow Stick | A plastic tube that lights up when you bend it. | 2 | gloh stik |
What each word means
Ghost
The h in the middle does nothing, which is why children who spell it by sound write gost. In a sentence: “A ghost floated past the upstairs window.”
Goblin
Mischievous rather than dangerous in most stories, which is worth saying to a worried child. In a sentence: “A goblin hid the farmer's boots.”
Graveyard
Real places children may walk past, so this is one to answer plainly rather than dress up. In a sentence: “The graveyard had a low stone wall around it.”
Grave
The single version of graveyard, and usually the word a child asks about first. In a sentence: “Flowers had been left on the grave.”
Ghoul
Spelled nothing like it sounds, which makes it a good one to see written down. In a sentence: “A ghoul was said to walk there at night.”
Goosebumps
A real thing happening on their own arm, so a child can check the word against their own body. In a sentence: “The story gave me goosebumps.”
Glow
Different from a flash or a beam: a glow is soft and does not move. In a sentence: “The pumpkin began to glow from the inside.”
Growl
Children can make this sound, and making it is what fixes the word. In a sentence: “Something let out a low growl.”
Gargoyle
They were built to carry rainwater off roofs, which is a real job and not a spooky one at all. In a sentence: “A stone gargoyle sat above the door.”
Gourd
Pumpkins are gourds, so this is the family name for the whole shelf at the market. In a sentence: “We picked a bumpy orange gourd.”
Gate
The thing between the sidewalk and the doorstep, and the point where a shy child stops. In a sentence: “The gate creaked when we pushed it open.”
Glitter
It gets everywhere and stays for months, which every parent learns exactly once. In a sentence: “Her wings were covered in silver glitter.”
Gummy Worms
Pushed into chocolate pudding they look like soil, which is a party trick children remember. In a sentence: “There were gummy worms in the cupcake.”
Glow Stick
Worth clipping to a dark costume so drivers can see a small child at dusk. In a sentence: “He carried a green glow stick all evening.”
Which G words are hardest for a preschooler to say?
Ghost, Goblin, Ghoul, Goosebumps, Gargoyle, Gourd, Gate and Gummy Worms each start with a single /g/ sound, so a three year old can usually copy them straight back. Graveyard, Grave and Growl open with an “gr” blend, and Glow, Glitter and Glow Stick open with an “gl” 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 Ghost.
How to use these G words with preschoolers
Say it, then find it
Say the word out loud and stretch the first sound: ghost. 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 nine 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 G 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 nine spooky words, Ghost, Goblin, Graveyard, Grave, Ghoul, Goosebumps, Glow, Growl and Gargoyle, on handwriting rules to write over.
Word list
Tracing sheet
More on the letter G
This page is one letter of Halloween words A to Z. For letter formation and tracing practice, see letter G activities for preschoolers. For animal names beginning with the same letter, see animals that start with G, and for the winter equivalent see Christmas words that start with G.
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 F | Halloween words that start with H →
Frequently asked questions
What Halloween words start with G?
Ghost, Goblin, Graveyard, Grave, Ghoul, Goosebumps, Glow, Growl, Gargoyle, Gourd, Gate, Glitter, Gummy Worms and Glow Stick. All 14 are listed above with a short meaning for each.
Which Halloween G word is easiest for a preschooler?
Ghost. 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 G words?
They run from one to three. Ghost, Grave, Ghoul, Glow, Growl, Gourd and Gate 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.
