Children's Halloween - How To Introduce Your Young Child To Halloween

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One of the joys of being around young children is to witness their sense of wonder when they experience something for the very first time. Their eyes widen and their faces glow.

As a parent, teacher, or grownup-in-charge, Halloween gives you an excellent opportunity to make a positive impact on a child's life.

I have many warm memories of Halloween as a child... dressing up in costume, fun parties, trick-or-treating, collecting for Unicef, and especially, the treats. We used to fill large bowls with our loot, but we were forbidden to touch it until Mom inspected it first.

On Halloween, the world is transformed into a magical landscape of haunted houses, creepy-crawly things, ghosts, pumpkins and the soft light emanating from jack-o-lanterns. Ghosts and tombstones magically appear on neighbor's lawns and lit pumpkins appear in windows.

So how do you introduce a very young child to the holiday?

Working with the child's strengths and limitations will enhance the experience. Small children are curious and inquisitive, but their attention spans are short. So keep activities short, plentiful and varied.

One way is to engage their senses.

Halloween excites the eye being a holiday full of color. It picks up on the autumn foliage, orange pumpkins, white ghosts and the blackness of spooky nights, bats, and other creepy-crawlies. These make great subjects for decorations and craft projects.

The fresh smell of crisp autumn air and the aroma of sweet apple cider and burning candles in jack-o-lanterns engage the sense of smell.

Ghostly wails and mysterious bumps in the night fill the soundtrack of scary Halloween music and sound effects. Or just play The Adam's Family theme if you want to keep it lighter. Singing songs also engages the sense of sound.

Games with a Halloween theme engages the mind and keeps kids moving. A Halloween treasure hunt anyone?

And, of course, Halloween isn't Halloween without treats! Candy corn and chocolate bars, cupcakes with orange icing... And pumpkin anything!

But it doesn't all have to be sugar. Cut up slices of autumn fruits and vegetables such as apples, nuts and pumpkin seeds will help get some nutritional content into their bellies.

Children's party fare such as hotdogs and hamburgers can be dressed up in a Halloween theme especially when served on Halloween themed paper plates, easily obtained from your local party store or online.

Creativity and imagination for a holiday that is all about creativity, imagination and magic will go far in creating precious Halloween memories for your young child.

About the Author:
Planning a Halloween party for the little ones? Visit halloweenpartymom.com for ideas on how to have a smashing Halloween party for pre-schoolers and other young children.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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