Halloween Words That Start With N
seven Halloween words start with the letter N: Night, Noise, Nightmare, Nocturnal, Nervous, Neighbor and November. 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 seven Halloween words that start with N
Spooky N words
- Night
- Noise
- Nightmare
- Nocturnal
- Nervous
Other N words you will hear at Halloween
These are not spooky words, but a child hears every one of them on Halloween night.
- Neighbor
- November
| Word | What it means | Syllables | Say it like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Night | The dark part of the day. | 1 | nyte |
| Noise | A sound, usually an unwanted one. | 1 | noyz |
| Nightmare | A frightening dream. | 2 | NYTE-mair |
| Nocturnal | An animal that is awake at night. | 3 | nok-TUR-nul |
| Nervous | Feeling worried about something ahead. | 2 | NUR-vus |
| Neighbor | Someone who lives near you. | 2 | NAY-ber |
| November | The month that comes after October. | 3 | noh-VEM-ber |
What each word means
Night
Halloween is the one night of the year small children are out after dark on purpose. In a sentence: “We stayed out late on Halloween night.”
Noise
In the dark a noise is scarier than a sight, because there is nothing to look at and check. In a sentence: “A noise came from the empty room.”
Nightmare
Naming it helps. A child who can say nightmare can tell you what happened without acting it out. In a sentence: “He had a nightmare about the mask.”
Nocturnal
Bats, owls and moths are all nocturnal, which ties three other pages in this series together. In a sentence: “Bats are nocturnal, so they sleep all day.”
Nervous
Different from scared: nervous is about something that has not happened yet. In a sentence: “She felt nervous before knocking on the door.”
Neighbor
The people whose doors a child knocks on, which is worth naming before the night. In a sentence: “Our neighbor gave out full-size bars.”
November
Halloween is the last night of October, so November starts the morning after. In a sentence: “November begins the day after Halloween.”
Which N words are hardest for a preschooler to say?
Night, Noise, Nightmare, Nervous and Neighbor each start with a single /n/ sound, so a three year old can usually copy them straight back. If your child is at the copying-back stage, start with Night.
Nocturnal and November are hard for a different reason. There is no blend to trip over: at three syllables they are simply a mouthful, and most children shorten them long before they say them in full.
How to use these N words with preschoolers
Say it, then find it
Say the word out loud and stretch the first sound: night. 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 five 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 N word list and tracing sheet
Two pages, A4, free to print with no sign-up. The word list has all seven 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 five spooky words, Night, Noise, Nightmare, Nocturnal and Nervous, on handwriting rules to write over.
Word list
Tracing sheet
More on the letter N
This page is one letter of Halloween words A to Z. For letter formation and tracing practice, see letter N activities for preschoolers. For animal names beginning with the same letter, see animals that start with N, and for the winter equivalent see Christmas words that start with N.
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 M | Halloween words that start with O →
Frequently asked questions
What Halloween words start with N?
Night, Noise, Nightmare, Nocturnal, Nervous, Neighbor and November. All seven are listed above with a short meaning for each.
Which Halloween N word is easiest for a preschooler?
Night. 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 N words?
They run from one to three. Night and Noise 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.
