Though Halloween, like most holidays, promises fun for all, your approach to this day of tricking and treating should vary depending on the ages of your children. For young children, Halloween might still be too scary. For older children, it may not be exciting enough. It’s important to remember the different needs of different age groups to ensure that everyone has a fun night.
It’s exciting as a parent to watch your child enjoy new experiences, especially when it comes to special occasions or holidays. Even though young children may not be going out trick-or-treating on Halloween, there are lots of ways for them to join in the fun.
Younger children should be taken trick-or-treating in the afternoon for several reasons. Firstly, there are less people out and therefore less of a chance of them being frightened by a scary costume. It allows you to keep a better eye on them since there is less of a crowd and it isn’t quite dark yet. Not only that, it allows other people and cars to see them better, thus avoiding an accident. Also, waiting too long to take young children trick-or-treating might make them cranky since they go to bed at an earlier hour than older children.
When your kids are too young to help you carve the pumpkin, there are still ways to let them participate in this tradition. Let them draw the outline of the face you are going to carve later. Then they can watch as the face they’ve made comes to life. You could avoid the carving altogether and let them paint whatever they want on the pumpkin. This way they create a piece of art that might be too big for the fridge, but fits just right on the front stoop.
Your child might not take too well to Halloween. It is, after all, the spookiest day of the year. He might not understand why his older sister looks like a scary witch or where all the regular kids have gone. If this is the case, you might want to save the trick-or-treating for next year and instead snuggle up with a good movie and a bag of homemade goodies to share.
Older kids take a different approach to the holiday. Halloween is the time of year for them to play practical jokes or tricks on their friends and family, from scaring the wits out of their moms to convincing their little brothers and sisters that they really did grow an extra eye overnight. While most of this is simply fun and games, sometimes the tricks of Halloween can get a little out of hand.
October 30, often known as “mischief night” is infamous for acts of vandalism meant as jokes. It’s important for your kids to know the difference between joking and vandalism, especially when it involves other people’s property. Egging someone’s house may seem like a fun idea to them when it is first proposed, but when an angry neighbor calls mom or dad the kids should be the ones paying the consequences. They need to learn responsibility for their actions, even if they weren’t meant to do anyone harm, and clean any mess they have made or damages they have caused.
There are plenty of other ways to have fun around Halloween. Try organizing an event like a haunted hayride for the night before Halloween to keep your kids out of trouble. If they feel like they have outgrown trick-or-treating, consider having a small Halloween party for them and their friends. Consider some activities like bobbing for apples or a costume contest. This way they are having fun and staying out of trouble.
Contributed by Solomon Brenner Author of Black Belt parenting and Master Instructor of Action Karate. For more info call 215.355.5003 scan the QR code
