"Hundreds of years ago in what is now Great Britain and Northern France,
lived the Celtics. The Celtics worshipped nature and had many gods, with the sun god as
their favorite. It was he who commanded their work and their rest times, and who made the
earth beautiful and the crops grow.
The Celtics celebrated their New Year on November 1st. It was celebrated every year
with a festival and marked the end of the "season of the sun" and the beginning
of "the season of darkness and cold."
Read The Story of
Halloween to see what happened the day before New Year's Day on October 31st,
Halloween.
In recent years Halloween has become truly scary again.
Not evil spirits but evil humans, plus just careless ones, are the concern. When
your children go trick or treating, there's a real chance that the "trick" will
be played on them, with possible tragic consequences.
According to the news media, Halloween is fast becoming one of our
most celebrated holidays after Christmas. If you're still allowing your kids to go
out trick or treating, you may wish to consider putting a stop to it. Not only is it
dangerous; all that cheap candy isn't good for them anyway. But just because things have changed, you don't have
to stop celebrating. Here's some ways to safely do so:
Follow the usual safety instructions; avoid flammable costumes, use make-up instead of
masks, don't have hems so long that children trip, use flashlights instead of candles.
See more tips at the Halloween
Safety Tips page. Make sure you won't be liable for greater
losses when children visit your home; visit the Consumer Insurance Guide's How to Have a Scary Halloween.
The internet can be your Personal Research Center for Halloween
fun. Visit Halloween Online
for decorating and costume hints. The Dollar Stretcher has
Halloween ideas for teens. Goodwill Industries says you should create your own
costumes at Goodwill; a great idea that benefits others less fortunate as
well as your own pocketbook. A link for children is at Child
Fun.com - Halloween. Parenting.com has another, Happy
Halloween.
Decorate your house. Inexpensive decorations are available
everywhere, and can be used again next year. Make a ghost out of a weighted sheet on
a pulley; drop it in front of unsuspecting tricksters. Buy a tape of really
scary music and dim the lights on Halloween.
Make your costumes yourselves. It's fun, creative, educational
and gives you an opportunity for quality family time.
Giving out treats? Forget homemade unless you live in a very
small community where everybody knows everyone else. Give only
commercially-wrapped
treats. Buy a scary witch's hand glove or use makeup and purple or green nail polish
artistically on one hand. Dim your lights, don a mask, put the door on a chain and
reach out the crack to dispense the candy. Home invasions are an increasing problem
and Halloween is perfect cover for that activity. Play it safe.
To trick or treat in your own neighborhood, make a list of neighbors
you know and trust. Check ahead of time that they will be giving out treats.
Accompany your children at least to the front sidewalk of only those on the
list. Make sure your children take the time to show their
costumes and to thank the benefactors; no
grabbing and running off!
Visit a fun house or carnival with your children. Drive
carefully; there's lots of little ghosts and goblins out there that may dash unheedingly
in front of your vehicle.
Have a Halloween party for your children and their friends. Run a
contest for best costume, ugliest costume, scariest, prettiest, etc. Play "Pin
the broom on the goblin". Forget bobbing for apples; it's unsanitary. Try
a race while balancing an apple or tiny plastic pumpkin party favors on a spoon. Many
other party games can be altered to reflect a Halloween theme. Rent a video,
schedule a television movie or read them a story. You don't have to spend a lot of
money.
Make your own Haunted House with your children; involve another
parent or two. Great hints on gross and grisly effects at Halloween Party.
Have a Scavenger Hunt; this works best when the guests live in
the same block and can safely visit and raid each other's houses for the things they
need to find. (For pity's sake, check this out with your invitees' parents
first.)
Have a traveling party. Get a group of parents together and
have each sponsor one meal course, one game, a treat for later or an
entertainment. Spread around four or five hours of fun. Be careful;
you don't want to be driving around much (or having teenagers drive themselves) on
Halloween.
Brave? Have a sleep-over. Be prepared for double the
normal trouble and excitement this causes. Watch it; no candles
allowed.
If you rent a movie, make sure it's not too scary for the age range, and that it's
something the other parents will not be upset about.
Keep your kids safe at home (or in another adult's safe home) on
Halloween; you'll be glad you did.
