Living Montessori Now

Montessori Inspiration for Parents and Teachers

Homeschool Halloween {Non-Scary Halloween Traditions}

By 22 Comments

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.

Homeschool Halloween

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

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

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.
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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.

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

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 BitsofPositivity.

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?

Halloween Post Update:

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Michelle says

    Looks fun! I agree, I love keeping Halloween a simple fun Holiday. We do lots of pumpkin, apple, moon and leaf crafts. I think we’re going to make a spider web and spider craft today. We do lots of learning about the Holiday and season. We trick or treat in our neighborhood. We’re not out to get lots of candy, the less the better. I LOVE houses that hand out simple toys like glow in the dark bracelets or little yoyos instead of candy. I hope that trend catches on. I encourage non-scary costumes last year Jimmie Johnson and Tinkerbell, the year before a fireman and a ladybug and this year, Woody and Jessie from Toy Story. We do address scary things though because some neighbors go overboard on the scare factor but I tie that into learning the History of Halloween because those elements are certainly part of the history of this Holiday and contrast those with our beliefs and choices. We head to some fall festivals and a pumpkin patch or farmers market to get some pumpkins and of course make lots of yummy fall treats together!

    Reply

    • Deb Chitwood says

      Thanks so much for your comment, Michelle! Awesome Halloween ideas! There are some good Halloween books for discussing the history of Halloween. That’s what I always used to stimulate discussion – and I imagine is what you, the book queen, do! My kids never found houses that handed out simple toys. That would be a great trend to have catch on!

      Reply

    • Deb Chitwood says

      Thanks, Dorie! I always love looking back at the old Halloween photos – reminds me that I should make a scrapbook with Halloween costumes and activities over the years!

      Reply

    • Deb Chitwood says

      Thanks, Jennifer! I was always amazed at how many ways there were to have fun without Halloween being scary. We didn’t have enough years to use all our fun costume ideas before my kids were grown up!

      Reply

  6. bluecottonmemory says

    Halloween has evolved in our house – 24 years of children and more to go. We have a costume chest. Yesterday, I sent a mime to school with face paint et al. He loved it. We’re going pumpkin hunting today – and will paint so they will be around for Thanksgiving!

    BTW – my oldest son went to a Montessori pre-school – I am a huge fan. It was my most favorite educational program:)

    Reply

    • Deb Chitwood says

      Thanks, Snowcatcher! It really was fun watching my children’s changes in costumes over the years. I was lucky that they cared about the candy less as they got older. I think as they got older, my children enjoyed the Halloween activities with friends the most.

      Reply

    • Deb says

      I just found this! My kids used to spend a lot of time sorting their candy, too … one of the educational benefits of Halloween! 😉

      Reply

  11. Beth says

    How sweet to see flashback pictures of your kids! I love your halloween traditions – much like ours =)

    Thanks for linking up to TGIF! I hope to see you linked up again later today.

    Have a GREAT weekend,
    Beth =)

    Reply

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