Halloween ECON/PFL Resources

This post is just focusing on Halloween - lesson plans, activities, and a variety of ECON/PFL-themed articles related to money issues around the holiday...

Lesson Plans/Activities for Halloween:

“Beware the Finance Monsters”, NGPF, Oct 2025, https://www.ngpf.org/blog/curriculum-announcements/new-halloween-activity-beware-the-finance-monsters/

“Economic Marvels #9: The Economics of Spirit Halloween”, Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), Oct 2024, https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19-EurrdcNo4ESvtK6XIRUr62He2UCSi9R0Arso_yJLA/edit?slide=id.g38c37fc5925_0_90#slide=id.g38c37fc5925_0_90

“Escape from the Haunted Mansion: A Halloween PFL Escape Room Activity”, NGPF, Oct 2023, https://www.ngpf.org/blog/activities/escape-from-the-haunted-mansion-a-new-halloween-activity/

“FinCap Friday: Tricks on Treats”, NGPF, Oct 2022, https://www.ngpf.org/blog/fincap-friday/fincap-friday-tricks-on-treats/ (blog article) or https://youtu.be/ffWHavPlbek (just the video)

“Halloween Fun Facts 2025 (handout and teaching guide)”, U.S. Census, https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/sis/resources/fun-facts/halloween.html “PLAY: Guess How Much Is In The Jar”, NGPF, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kr_z8QnLVobQgJbn6SITiXsfCOjZKQylWVxEY6DbFvA/edit

“Scary Finance Stats Posters (themed for Halloween), NGPF, Oct 2025, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SLoLyxjBVHCcKATKyadrvTCvmOxTI4tE/view

“The Spooky Shutdown Strategy of Spirit Halloween”, Monday Morning Economist and Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), Oct 2024, https://www.mondayeconomist.com/p/spirit-halloween (article) and https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gy6N2GxD3kWqhevXmyV1IwgoShgO2eN1gS72YNYCA14/edit?tab=t.0 (lesson)

NGPF – “Questions of the Day” related to Halloween:

Budgeting QoD #69: Which Halloween item do consumers expect to spend the most on in 2022: Decorations, Candy or Costumes?” - https://www.ngpf.org/blog/question-of-the-day/question-of-the-day-updated-which-halloween-item-do-consumers-expect-to-spend-the-most-on-in-2020-decorations-candy-or-costumes/

Question of the Day: How much money do Americans waste on uneaten candy for Halloween? - https://www.ngpf.org/blog/question-of-the-day/question-of-the-day-how-much-money-do-americans-waste-on-uneaten-candy-for-halloween/

Question of the Day: What are the top 3 most popular Halloween candies? - https://www.ngpf.org/blog/question-of-the-day/question-of-the-day-what-are-the-top-3-most-popular-halloween-candies/

Question of the Day: What is the #1 way consumers plan to celebrate Halloween? - https://www.ngpf.org/blog/question-of-the-day/question-of-the-day-what-is-the-1-way-consumers-plan-to-celebrate-halloween/

Question of the Day: What percent of Americans say Halloween is worth going into debt for? - https://www.ngpf.org/blog/question-of-the-day/question-of-the-day-what-percent-of-americans-say-halloween-is-worth-going-into-debt-for/

Articles on Halloween economic trends:

“All We Need To Know About Pumpkin Slingshots and Fall Farm Festivals”, Oct 2022, https://econlife.com/2022/10/farm-festival-prices/

“All We Need to Know About Halloween Candy”, Econlife, Oct 2025, https://econlife.com/2025/10/halloween-candy-states/

“All You Could Ever Want to Know About a Pumpkin Slingshot”, Nov 2021, https://econlife.com/2021/11/pumpkin-purchases-and-pumpkin-slingshot/

“The business behind Halloween scares”, Marketplace, Oct 2024, https://www.marketplace.org/story/2024/10/31/halloween-haunted-house-festival-scare-economy

“Candy makers, spooked by cocoa prices, go gummy for Halloween”, Marketplace, Oct 2024, https://www.marketplace.org/story/2024/10/25/halloween-candy-trends-gummy-sour-chocolate-cocoa-prices-consumer-trends

“Costume Clownery” (talking about historic costumes in Colorado), History Colorado, Oct 2023, https://www.historycolorado.org/story/2023/10/12/costume-clownery

“CPSC Offers Safety Tips to Keep Hazards from Haunting Your Halloween”, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Oct 2022, https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/2023/CPSC-Offers-Safety-Tips-to-Keep-Hazards-from-Haunting-Your-Halloween NOTE the infographic link at the bottom

“Economic expert explains why Halloween has already invaded retail stores”, Virginia Tech News, Aug 2023, https://news.vt.edu/articles/2023/08/Early_Halloween_expert.html

“Forget tainted candy: The scariest thing on Halloween is parked in your driveway”, VOX.com, Oct 2022, https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/10/31/23427256/halloween-children-car-deaths-pedestrian-safety

“Halloween costume spillover: The shutdown that went ‘Boo!’”, CNBC, Oct 2023, https://www.cnbc.com/2013/10/11/halloween-costume-spillover-the-shutdown-that-went-boo.html

“Halloween Dilemma: To Be (or Not to Be) a Big Candy Car Home”, Wall Street Journal, Oct 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/halloween-dilemma-to-be-or-not-to-be-a-big-candy-bar-house-11666359711

“Halloween Retail Holiday and Seasonal Trends”, National Retail Federation, Oct 2025, https://nrf.com/research-insights/holiday-data-and-trends/halloween

“Halloween Shopping Statistics”, Capital One Shopping Research, Sep 2024, https://capitaloneshopping.com/research/halloween-sales-spending-statistics/

“Haunted House Economics”, Econlife, Oct 2025, https://econlife.com/2023/10/haunted-house-economics/

“How Spirit Halloween Became a Titan of the $10 Billion Halloween Industry | WSJ The Economics”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW_bQJAucbE&list=PLqQNt9DP_BNBKa8ss5ROk2wLYl9JUdeYS&index=21

“How You’d Survive (or not) in a Horror Movie, Based On Your Myers-Briggs® Personality Type”, Psychology Junkie, Oct 2023, https://www.psychologyjunkie.com/how-youd-survive-or-not-in-a-horror-movie-based-on-your-myers-briggs-personality-type/

“In Search of a 12-Foot Home Depot Skeleton: A Halloween Shopping Spree Gone Wrong”, Wall Street Journal, Oct 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/halloween-decoration-home-depot-skeleton-shopping-spree-gone-wrong-11666809294

“Reese’s Pumpkin Problem”, Econlife, Sep 2025, https://econlife.com/2025/09/halloween-candy-3/

“The Scary Truth: Inflation Impacting Halloween Plans”, The Food Institute, Sep 2023, https://foodinstitute.com/focus/the-scary-truth-inflation-impacting-halloween-plans/

“The scariest part of Halloween: supply chains” (article or podcast episode), Marketplace, Oct 2023, https://www.marketplace.org/2023/10/02/the-scariest-part-of-halloween-supply-chains/

“The spookiest thing about Halloween? The waste” (article or podcast episode), Marketplace, Oct 2021, https://www.marketplace.org/2021/10/29/the-spookiest-thing-about-halloween-the-waste/

“'Summerween' creeps into retail stores four months early”, Marketplace, Jun 2025, https://www.marketplace.org/story/2025/06/16/summerween-halloween-holidays-shopping-retail-creep-spending

“Vacant real estate: Spirit Halloween’s favorite haunt” (article or podcast episode), Marketplace, Oct 2021, https://www.marketplace.org/2021/10/29/vacant-real-estate-spirit-halloweens-favorite-haunt/