A spell is a special set of words that makes something happen
(but it only works in a story, not in real life)

A spell often has special movements, or objects or ingredients associated with it.

more kids' writing from Kids on the Net

Are you "Charmed"? Fancy yourself as Harry Potter?

Following in the footsteps of the Worst Witch or Gandalf?

As Halloween comes once again, you can send your spells, poems, stories and other Halloween writing to Kids on the Net

Read this year's kids' spells

Kids on the Net is written by kids for kids.
Read what other kids have written, and Send us your writing

Examples from books

(a spell to launch Meg the witch and her cat Mog to the moon)

from "Meg on the Moon"
by Helen Nicholl and Jan Pienkowsi

Eye of toad,
Ear of bat,
Leg of frog,
Tail of cat.
Drop them in,
Stir it up,
Pour it in a silver cup.

from "The Worst Witch Strikes Again"
by Jill Murphy
Allison and Busby 1980

Wingardium Leviosa
(makes something fly)

Petrificus Totalus
(the full Body-Bind)

from "Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone"
by J. K. Rowling
Bloomsbury, 1997

Flurr ecke ecke ecke ecke ben yan bjorn
Trucklecrag's spell: turns everything into a toaster!

from "Jim Jam YaHa, The Secret World of the Rottentrolls"
by Gordon Firth and Tim Firth, Madcap 1998
(The Children’s Company TV series The Rottentrolls)

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake:
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

from "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare

The best of the spells from previous years:

Hair bows and
goblins toes
make him grow a larger nose

By Phoenix

A time travel spell

Arabarius locaradette,
in past times we have met
Arabarius locaradee,
through sands of time travel with me.

By Thomas, aged 12

Stories

Trick! Not treat

By Samantha, age 10, Grade 5, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

It was a dark and stormy night. And the wind was howling. The shutters of a window next door was banging on the house.

It was Halloween night. The trick-or-treaters were ringing doorbells and knocking on doors of houses for candy.

A boy came to my house. He knocked on the door, "Trick-or-treat!" he shouted.

"Trick!" I laughed,"Here's your candy!"

As he walked away, he turned to me. He looked really upset. I just went on with what I was doing.

After a while an old lady with white hair came to my door. She went totally ballistic. She started screaming her head off saying that she was attacked by something. Something small and round like a cat. I tried to calm her down but she wouldn't listen.

"I'm telling you. Something attacked me. Its fangs sank into my hand," she showed me her bloody hand, "If your not going to believe me just look for yourself."

I looked outside and saw harmless trick-or-treaters doing their trick-or-treating stuff.

"Please believe me. Please."she said softly.

"Well," I paused thinking for a moment, " O.K.,"

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she said politely.

I went outside and looked around. Only to find that little boy with a ketchup bottle and the old lady behind me laughing hysterically.

I laughed, and gave the boy some extra candy for his trick.

The Halloween Dream

By Sean, age 10, Chattahoochee Elementary School, Cumming, GA, USA

The date is October 30th and it is the day before Halloween. I woke up and started to feel funny. I said to myself, I've had this feeling before. For the past week every morning when I first wake up I have an unusual feeling in the pit of my stomach, like I know something bad will happen like I will get chased by an evil bulldog or fall in a pit of vampire bats, or maybe have the meat surprise for lunch at the school cafeteria. Yuuuuuk!!!!

I got out of bed and got dressed. Then went downstairs for breakfast. After my funny feeling went away, I put on my shoes and got my backpack ready and walked out to the bus stop. It was a cold autumn day and the wind was nipping at my nose. The cold air was going right through my wool mittens. I had been standing out in the cold for about ten minutes when the bus finally came rolling around the corner. It stopped in front of my large apartment building. When the bus driver opened the door I stepped on and made my way to my seat in the back of the bus.

I saw my friend John sitting in the seat in front of me. He greeted me with a "Good Morning" and then turned around in his seat. He had a very snooty attitude so I decided to look over the seat to ask him what was up and he responded with a snort. I asked again and he snapped,"I don't want to talk about it! Alright!" I knew something was bothering him because of the pale look on his face. He didn't say another word. Finally we pulled into Wall Street Middle School.

It was the longest day ever. Finally lunchtime came and thank God it wasn't MEAT SURPRISE. Fuuue!!! I got my food and sat down next to John. I asked him what was with him this morning. "I had a bad dream, o.k." He responded. "Gee, what was it about?" I asked. "I saw some kind of an evil creature. It was chasing me through a graveyard and the second it caught me I woke up. It was so real!" He said. "Gee, that is kind of scary, I guess?" I said. "You Guess!!" He yelled back at me. "All right if it makes you feel better, it sounds terrifying!" I said with a smirk. "Your better watch it or else!" John said as he walked away.

The next morning when I woke up I had that funny feeling inside of me again. I was getting real tired of it, and I wished I could just make it go away. I got ready for school (without eating breakfast, which my mom didn't like very much) and went out to the bus stop. When I got on the bus and went to my seat, John was in a surprisingly good mood. He said "Good Morning and how are you today?" I asked why he was so perky, and he answered "When I went to bed last night I didn't have that awfully dream! Isn't that great?" "Yeah, really great." I said sarcastically. Well at least he's in a good mood I told myself.

When we got to school everything was great except the cafeteria food, which is always horrible. But when I got home that day it was a different story. It started when the bus dropped me off at my apartment. When I got off the bus I did not see my apartment, but an old broken down piece of junk. I walked inside. It was a mess! I hear a noise and said,"Who's there???" I heard no answer but I could smell an awful stench and it was coming from my bedroom. So, I walked down the hall and opened my bedroom door. But when I did something very strange happened to me. Suddenly, I was pulled into a hole, and fell through what seemed to be some kind of colorful tunnel. I stopped moving and fell to the ground with a thud. I had landed in a cemetery. I looked around and saw a figure behind a tombstone. It did not look human, but instead some kind of evil creature. It turned around and looked at me with it's gleaming red eyes. I was terrified! Then I realized this is what happened in John's dream. At the instant it saw me it started charging toward me. I ran through the graveyard jumping over the tombstones and when it caught me I did not wake up. This was not a dream!

But then suddenly my mom walked throught the door of my bedroom and the graveyard and the evil creature faded away. When my mom saw me, she said "Dillon Thomas, what are you doing on the bed in your underwear?" "I don't know Mom, I don't know!" I said. "Well put your clothes on and come down for dinner." She said.

I guess John's dream wasn't really a dream. I guess that is what he meant by "It was so real!!!"

The End!!!