Halloween Fun

For most little children, Halloween is one of their favorite holidays! What could be more fun than dressing up as your favorite character and getting lots of candy? For teachers and parents, there are legitimate concerns about how to make this a fun and happy day.

As a kindergarten teacher, I always started out with some rules to make the day go well. I always loved to have the children come to school in their costumes (dressing an entire class before the all school parade was not my idea of a good time!). However, I always had the rule of no masks, no play weapons, and no sharp or pointed objects. This helped keep the children safe. My other rule was no sweets for the party snacks. I knew the children would be getting lots of candy when they went trick or treating, so I asked the room parents to provide healthy snacks. They had very creative ideas such as vegetable skeletons and steaming apple cider. We also enjoyed cheese and crackers or muffins.

There are so many fun Halloween books! One of my all time favorites is HUMBUG WITCH by Lorna Balin. This is a great story for children who may be afraid of seeing their classmates show up with wings, fangs, tails, and scary faces!

A DARK, DARK, TALE by Ruth Brown is a great book with repetition. It has a surprise ending! There are other versions of this book that are fun to read and then discuss the similarities and differences.

CAN YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?: ON A SCARY, SCARY NIGHT by Walter Wick has lots of details in the pictures for children (and adults!) to look for.

THE HALLO-WEINER by Dav Pilkey is a wonderful story about Oscar, a weiner dog. In spite of his silly costume, he is able to help his friends.