How to have fun this Hallowe’en

Hello Hallowe’en – how quickly does this ghoulish date come round. It seems like only yesterday we were scooping out pumpkins, perfecting our spider and bat window dressing and creating a witches’ wardrobe in readiness for a trick or treat trek or a dastardly demon disco.

So here is our factual guide with tips on having fun while keeping safe on this dark night of ghouls and ghosties.

What is the origin of Hallowe’en ?

In early Christian times November 1 and 2 were observed as dedicated days for families to remember the dead. In 5^th century Rome a festival was held in the Pantheon to celebrate the saints and eventually November 2 became All Soul’s Day, a day to focus on the dead. All Hallows Eve, October 31^st, the day before All Saints Day was a secular American spin-off from the ancients’ day of prayers for the dead, and gradually evolved to become focused on witches and goblins and creatures of the night.

Where did the custom of Jack O’Lanterns originate ?

In the Middle Ages the festivities included street parades with black clad town criers asking people to remember the dead. The “souling” tradition included home baked soul cakes marked with a cross which were handed out in exchange for prayers. The celebrants also carried turnips carved into lanterns representing the souls of the dead as they went from house to house. The burning lanterns were thought to keep demons at bay and help the dead should find their way back to their families. The heaviest jack-o’-lantern in the world was carved from a massive pumpkin weighing 2,684 lbs (1,217.5 kg) grown by Italian Stefano Cutrupi on 6 November 2021.

Where does the practice of trick or treating come from ?

It comes from the medieval practice of mumming where a group of actors performed on feast days throughout the year including Christmas Eve, Twelfth Night and Shrove Tuesday. The actual practice of trick or treating where children and adults go from house to house dressed in ghoulish attire collecting gifts in return for not playing a prank on the homeowner started in the States in the 1930’s and was eventually adopted by other European countries including the UK.

How to stay safe on Hallowe’en.

Take precautions to stay safe while trick-or-treating on Halloween night. Watch out for cars, use reflective gear, walk with a group, and carry a flash light.

Halloween Crafts

Loo roll holders are a cheap resource for creating bats, cats, and mummies. Paint the loo rolls black, cut out some wings, add some googly eyes and suspend on a large branch in a hallway or kitchen as a quick but effective decoration. Ring the changes with mummies, same idea but wrap the loo roll in toilet paper. What about creating a black cat from a paper plate with pipe cleaners for whiskers or turn it into a mask with shearing elastic tied through punched holes either side. Let your imagination run riot without breaking the bank. Make handprints in a vivid green or black and turn them into monsters with eyes drawn onto the fingers or the palm of the hand or turn into a spider sideways on. Great messy play.

Hallowe’en Games

Do the monster mash – when the music stops, freeze and create monster faces while the Hallowe’en host tries to make the participants laugh and move.

Wrap your friends up in loo roll and make the biggest mummy monster ever.

Paint paper with orange paint and cut out Hallowe’en pumpkin shapes to hide in the house or garden or count how many candy sweets there are in a jar spookily decorated for the purpose.

What about a Hallowe’en sensory game where children put their hands into a box and try and guess what is inside – jelly squares, grapes, baby carrots, peanut butter. You could always turn this into a blind tasting as well for a different sensory experience.

Halloween Costumes

From witches and cats, to Frankensteins and ghosts, there are numerous outlets from supermarkets to online retailers selling costumes. But you can create your own relatively inexpensively – all you need are good quality face paints – it’s very easy to turn a child green or paint whiskers on its face, the rest will follow! Black leggings and a T-shirt for a bat – make the wings from cardboard painted black or go for the mummy experience again – you just need lots of loo rolls which you never know you may be able to use again once you’ve unwrapped your little mummies and got them ready for bed !!

back to blog