29 Oct Grace, Courtesy, & Safety During Halloween

Just like so many other events and activities, Halloween is going to look a bit different this year. While we may not be able to celebrate the spooky fall holiday the same way, this time of year can still be a great opportunity for you and your family to have fun together.

Despite its scary and fantastical connotations, Halloween offers endless possibilities for kids to learn and practice concrete, real-life skills while enjoying the season. At Meadow Montessori School, we’re here to help you explore ways to keep your kids grounded, safe, and stimulated this Halloween. For more information or to inquire about enrollment in our school, contact Meadow Montessori today!

What About Trick-or-Treating?

Trick or treating is a staple of Halloween, but many families may be wondering if it is safe for kids to participate in the time-honored tradition this year. The CDC recently released guidelines for Halloween activities, and unfortunately, traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating is considered a high risk activity. Indoor parties, haunted houses, and similar group events are also discouraged as they are labeled high risk.

While it is ultimately your choice whether you’re comfortable letting your children go trick-or-treating or not, there are still plenty of fun activities that your family can partake in to celebrate the season.

Creative Costumes

Even if you’re not going trick-or-treating, your children can still take the opportunity to dress up in their own unique costumes. This can be a great way for younger kids to learn the difference between supernatural characters and real-life occupations and people.

Instead of dressing up as witches, wizards, or ghosts, consider costumes that help your child relate to the real world, such as a mailman, doctor, veterinarian, or a historical figure. These real-life costumes can encourage children to learn more about important professions and leaders who impact our world. Alternatively, you could have your child dress up as a character from their favorite book, which would highlight their reading skills and creativity.

Pumpkin Decorating

Kids can delve into their artistic side with pumpkin decorating. From painting and gluing on gems to carving (for those who are old enough), pumpkin decorating allows children to think creatively and come up with their own unique designs. Alternatively, kids can draw designs on paper, cut out the shapes, and paste them onto the pumpkin’s surface.

Cooking Pumpkin Seeds

If your family loves cooking or just wants to make a fun, Halloween-themed snack, try cooking pumpkin seeds. Seasoned with ginger, salt, and cinnamon, they’re an easy, healthy snack. Encourage your child to stay involved in preparing the seeds for roasting and then enjoy when they’re ready to eat!

Halloween Stories

Engage your child by telling or reading a light-hearted Halloween story. Whether they involve pumpkins, spiders, or bats, stories can be a great opportunity to keep your child involved and excited about this time of year. You can also invite your child to illustrate or even act out their own Halloween tale, allowing them to change and adapt it as they see fit.

Halloween Necklaces

A fun, seasonal craft with your child is making Halloween-themed necklaces. Stringing is an excellent activity that works fine motor skills and allows children to be creative. Materials to use can include orange -dyed pasta, or black and orange beads. Prep by cutting strings ahead of time and supplying bowls of items for your child to string.

Exploring Halloween Creatures & Objects

With so many creatures and objects associated with Halloween, you may want to engage your child’s curiosity by discussing and having them identify various parts of spiders, skeletons, black cats, bats, and more. This is a great way for children to learn more about the world around them. By identifying parts of a spider, for example, you can integrate both zoology and language learning.

Staying Safe This Halloween

This Halloween may be different from past years, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities to keep your children engaged in the spirit of the season. With numerous safe, alternative ways to celebrate Halloween this year, there’s no end to how much your children can learn, grow, and have fun, even just at home.

At Meadow Montessori School, we strive to provide new and exciting activities for children and parents to explore year-round. For more information or to get in touch, contact us today.