About Halloween
Halloween is celebrated on October 31st. It takes place
the day before All Saints' Day. In the 700's, the Roman
Catholic Church named November 1 as All Saints' Day.
The old pagan customs and the Christian feast day were
combined into the Halloween celebration.
Many superstitions
and symbols are associated with Halloween. Some of
these symbols are jack-o'-lanterns, black cats, witches,
ghosts, spirits, goblins, fairies and elves. The custom
of decorating with leaves, pumpkins, and cornstalks comes
from the Druids - an order of priests in ancient Gaul
and Britain.
Halloween is usually
celebrated by both adults and kids. Some families celebrate
by having costume parties and playing special games
like bobbing for apples and telling ghost stories.
Sometimes children go "trick or treating" -
knocking on doors in their trusted neighborhoods collecting
candy. Other times they may attend a community party
instead. Parents should use common sense when supervising
their child's Halloween activities.
In earlier
years, Halloween was a time for playing harmless pranks.
However, in more recent times, Halloween pranks have
sometimes gotten out of hand - causing damage and injury
to others.
Schools usually prefer to celebrate Halloween
by having children dress as storybook characters. In this
way, children are still allowed to "dress up, " and the
holiday becomes both fun and educational.
Halloween Activities
and Games |
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