Homeschool Halloween

Will (2 1/2) performing pumpkin surgery, 1987.

Halloween was always a fun time in our family. We didn’t focus on anything scary or evil – just the fun of dressing up, creating jack-o’-lanterns, and participating in community Halloween events.

Fun with Halloween Books

We read lots of holiday-related books around every holiday, but Halloween books were especially fun. We didn’t focus on scary books – just good, clean Halloween fun. (Note: For great seasonal book ideas, check out A-Tisket A-Tasket.)

Pumpkin Fun

During Will’s and Christina’s preschool years, I put out lots of Montessori-inspired Halloween activities, like the ones in my link post on pumpkin activities. During their elementary and high-school years, we focused more on our regular unit studies in our homeschool, but we always read some Halloween books.

And we ALWAYS created jack-o’-lanterns. Sometimes we painted on the faces and other times we carved them. We usually roasted the pumpkin seeds as well.

Christina (1 1/2) and Will (6 1/2) ready for a community Halloween carnival, 1991.

Costume Fun

Costumes were an important part of Halloween each year. Will and Christina didn’t wear scary costumes, so it was a great dress-up event.

During Will’s early years, he wore a different career costume most years, and Halloween included reading and role play about the career. Will was a surgeon, firefighter, police officer, and astronaut. Christina’s preschool costumes also included role play but in her favorite girly dress-up costumes, such as ballerina, princess, or angel.

When Will and Christina were a bit older, they started choosing themed costumes together. One year they were aliens. Another year they were the Grinch and Cindy Lou Who. Another year they were Rocky and Bullwinkle.

Christina (8) and Will (13) ready for a Halloween party for skaters, 1998

Halloween Fun in the Community

We always participated in at least one community event each Halloween. The event varied according to what events were available and our children’s ages. We attended harvest festivals with homeschool groups, community Halloween parties/carnivals, Halloween parties at the public library, trick-or-treating at a university dormitory with university students providing games and treats, Halloween parties and trick-or-treating with groups of friends, and trick-or-treating at the mall.

Whether they went trick-or-treating or attended a harvest carnival, Will and Christina always ended up with lots of candy at Halloween. This is what we did: I typically let Will and Christina choose their favorite candy to keep, and I bought the rest from them. That worked well for us. They were able to have some candy as a treat and then were able to buy something with the money they earned by selling the rest of their candy. Recently, I’ve read about a great activity for donating Halloween candy. I wrote about it in a post at Raising Figure Skaters.

We kept Halloween a light, fun holiday by placing the emphasis on harvest themes, positive costumes, and community togetherness. What is your autumn celebration like?

Linked to Halloween Traditions Link-Up at JDaniel4′s Mom.

Related posts:

1. Homeschool Freedom from Uniforms and Uniformity