Halloween Words That Start With H
10 Halloween words start with the letter H: Halloween, Haunted, Haunt, Howl, Hide, Hocus Pocus, Headstone, Hat, Hayride and Haystack. 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 10 Halloween words that start with H
Spooky H words
- Halloween
- Haunted
- Haunt
- Howl
- Hide
- Hocus Pocus
- Headstone
Other H words you will hear at Halloween
These are not spooky words, but a child hears every one of them on Halloween night.
- Hat
- Hayride
- Haystack
| Word | What it means | Syllables | Say it like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halloween | The night of October 31, when children dress up and go trick or treating. | 3 | hal-oh-WEEN |
| Haunted | A place a ghost is said to visit. | 2 | HAWN-tid |
| Haunt | To keep coming back to the same place. | 1 | hawnt |
| Howl | The long loud sound a wolf or dog makes. | 1 | howl |
| Hide | To go somewhere nobody can see you. | 1 | hyde |
| Hocus Pocus | Words said in a story when doing magic. | 4 | HOH-kus POH-kus |
| Headstone | The stone that marks a grave. | 2 | HED-stohn |
| Hat | Something you wear on your head. | 1 | hat |
| Hayride | A ride on a wagon full of hay. | 2 | HAY-ryde |
| Haystack | A big pile of dried grass. | 2 | HAY-stak |
What each word means
Halloween
It falls on the same date every year, which makes it one of the first dates on the calendar a preschooler can learn to expect. Every other word on this page belongs to that one night. In a sentence: “Halloween is my favorite night of the year.”
Haunted
Always said about a place rather than a person, which is a useful distinction for a child. In a sentence: “They said the old mill was haunted.”
Haunt
The verb behind haunted, and seeing them side by side helps the longer one make sense. In a sentence: “A ghost was said to haunt the stairs.”
Howl
Another one a child can do themselves, which is the fastest way to fix a sound word. In a sentence: “We heard a howl somewhere in the woods.”
Hide
Children already know this from hide and seek, so the Halloween version needs no explaining. In a sentence: “He hid behind the door to surprise us.”
Hocus Pocus
The two halves rhyme, which is why children remember it after hearing it once. In a sentence: “She waved the wand and said hocus pocus.”
Headstone
The proper name for the thing children draw as a grey curved shape. In a sentence: “Names were carved into every headstone.”
Hat
The pointed one turns any outfit into a witch costume, which is the cheapest costume there is. In a sentence: “Her witch hat was too big and kept slipping.”
Hayride
A daytime October outing, and for many children their first time on a trailer. In a sentence: “We went on a hayride around the farm.”
Haystack
Turns up as decoration on porches all through October, usually with a pumpkin on top. In a sentence: “Pumpkins were stacked against the haystack.”
Which H words are hardest for a preschooler to say?
Halloween, Haunted, Haunt, Howl, Hide, Hocus Pocus, Headstone, Hat, Hayride and Haystack each start with a single /h/ sound, so a three year old can usually copy them straight back. If your child is at the copying-back stage, start with Halloween.
How to use these H words with preschoolers
Say it, then find it
Say the word out loud and stretch the first sound: halloween. 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 seven 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 H word list and tracing sheet
Two pages, A4, free to print with no sign-up. The word list has all 10 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 seven spooky words, Halloween, Haunted, Haunt, Howl, Hide, Hocus Pocus and Headstone, on handwriting rules to write over.
Word list
Tracing sheet
More on the letter H
This page is one letter of Halloween words A to Z. For letter formation and tracing practice, see letter H activities for preschoolers. For animal names beginning with the same letter, see animals that start with H, and for the winter equivalent see Christmas words that start with H.
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 G | Halloween words that start with I →
Frequently asked questions
What Halloween words start with H?
Halloween, Haunted, Haunt, Howl, Hide, Hocus Pocus, Headstone, Hat, Hayride and Haystack. All 10 are listed above with a short meaning for each.
Which Halloween H word is easiest for a preschooler?
Halloween. 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 H words?
They run from one to four. Haunt, Howl, Hide and Hat 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.
