Does anybodys school do a Halloween party?
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion Archive: Archive October 2005:
Does anybodys school do a Halloween party?
Does any of your kids school actually do a "Halloween" Party anymore. Growing up , we always had a halloween party at school(I did go to public school)we wore our costumes, had our games and goodies.
Now a days, they are not "allowed" to have Halloween parties. Now, they must call them Fall festival, or Harvest type parties. I understand that some people do not like Halloween or do not celebrate it, saying its the devil's holiday. I guess I never quite understood this. Its just kids dressing up, going trick or treating for a couple of hrs, and just them having fun. Anyways, me and a friend were talking.
It seems because a couple of kids in each classroom doesnt celebrate Halloween, then there is no more Halloween parties? We were both talking that a couple of kids here and there overide the majority. Yes, those few kids who do not celebrate it should be just as important. But, when cant the majority win, and have an "option" for the kids who dont celebrate.
My daughter is in Brownies, there are 12 girls in her troop. A few weeks ago, the troop leader asked if everybody celebrated Halloween(She was going to let them have a Halloween party)2 girls said they did not. SO, no Halloween party. She instead is making a Juliet Gordon Low(founder of girlscouts)party. They are not allowed to dress up because 2 of the girls do not celebrate Halloween. I know we should be fair to all people, and take other peoples belief into consideration. Why is this the case when Majority doesnt win?
It's SAD isn't it!!!! I don't know what this world is coming to. If I didn't celebrate (which we do) Halloween then I would simply take my child home during the party and not infringe on anyone elses good time. I think it's time these people who don't do this and that take some responsibility for themselves and remove them/their children from the events. I agree with you, it's simply just kids having some fun!! My 7 yr DS goes to a Catholic School and they have and call it a Halloween party, there are some requirements on costumes like no scary or devilish ones which is no problem, there are plenty of super heroes, public service, and princess costumes out there. They begin their party with a parade through our little town and when they get back they have their cider and donuts then it's time to go home. Simple!!! Maybe it's time WE start causing an uproar as a majority and see what would happen!!! By the way I passed the public middle school yesterday and right out on the billboard it said HALLOWEEN DANCE Friday Oct. 28th, good for them!!!!!!!
Growing up we always had Halloween parties in school with costumes and all.
But our school does not have them for my kiddos. Well they have a party on Halloween, but no costumes . They just stopped dressing up maybe 2 years ago at our school.
I miss not dresssing them up for school and letting them parade around the gym.
But I guess its all apart of the times changing.
Our school district still has Halloween parties and parades. Those who don't celebrate are welcome to stay home. Our intermediate school (Gr. 4-6) has an annual "Boo Bash" which is a huge fundraiser.
I'm DD's Room Parent and will be dressing up and going in to help. I always have. The kids always ask what I'll be but I like to keep it a surprise. 
We have halloween parties at school until grade 2. At the other school they have a special "halloween snack" and they play games like halloween bingo but don't call it a party. The only ones that dress in halloween costumes are the preschoolers but dd's third grade teacher is scheduling a "book tea" on Halloween where the kids come dressed up as a character from a book they read. The PTO also does a fall fundraiser on 10/28 with a haunted house. The teachers dress up for it. Both the middle school and the high school have a halloween dance.
We have one Jehovah witness in my kindergarten class. The teacher is sending a note home to his mother telling him we are having a Halloween party and she has the option of keeping him home, having him dismissed early or letting him participate and we'll attempt to make his stuff non-halloweeny.
The preschool part of our school has a Halloween party during class. For the older kids, they have a Halloween party on a Saturday night. The 8th grade does a big Haunted House and it is really fun. Everyone dresses up and they have lots of games and activities.
I loved our Halloween parties as a kid...it was so much fun! Unfortunately now "someone might get offended" so we can't do them either. I taught for 7 years and we were never allowed to dress up. You're sent home if you dress up. It's so sad, too.
Colette - That's what used to happen when I was in elem. and someone didn't celebrate Halloween (like J. Witness). Can't exclude anyone now though (at least here) even for the majority.
Our school still has Halloween parades and parties for grades 1 - 5 and the middle school holds a dance. Kindergarten has a Fall Festival where the kids put on a show for parents then have snacks and such afterward.
It bothered me when kindergarten changed from the 'traditional' Halloween celebration to a festival, my kids still get a chance to experience the parade and party in the other grades, so I don't mind it.
Our school does Fall Festival parties because of a strong religious movement in our town. But, our Lions Club still holds a Halloween parade and my Girl Scout troop and my kids' church group (different church than the one who doesn't like it) still do Halloween Parties. And our one and only daycare lets the kids dress up and they go trick-or-treating through town one day.
If Halloween falls on a Sunday in our town, they have to trick or treat on Saturday.
We love Halloween. We decorate our house and make all sorts of goodies. On Halloween night, we hitch up the trailer to the truck and a bunch of kids pile on and away we go to trick or treat. We tell ghost stories, drink hot chocolate and eat candy.
We have halloween parties in all the classes through 6th grand every year and a pumpkin parade through town for the little ghosts k-2 Love it, happy it is still here.
We still sing about Jesus at the christmas pagent too. And it is a public school. SHHH dont tell anyone lol.
Kris, you are describing our school! Every year, I think we are on borrowed time, but so far, no one has complained (very small town with little diversity). We parade the K-4 through town, and this year my dd is in 5th grade...WAAAH! I was always a room mom for the Halloween party, and I'm gonna miss it after these many years!
We have alot of parties... At ds christian preschool it is called a 'Fall Party'. They do dress up (this yr as something off the farm). I am helping with the party and guess I will just wear my overall's as my costume. lol
Middle school has a Fall Bash- dance, food, etc...
I know a big concern around here (for us Moms anyway) was the kids wearing their costumes to school and damaging them or getting them dirty before Halloween night. I spent $30 on Blakes costume not to mention the gas down to Target 25 min away... I dont want him to wear his costume at recess and ruin it before we go trick or treat at Grandma's house, get pics taken, go to dh's work, etc... lol I would be livid if he ruins his costume at school- I only want him to wear at the party (for 1 hour at the end of his school day) -- no fun am I??!!
Our town has a Halloween Parade (Goblin parade or something where the kid's parade downtown in their costumes, trick or treat the businesses etc...). Sonic offers free dinner to all kids in costume- we go there every yr on our way to trick or treat.
Our church has a big Fall Carnival and the kids dress up, play games, have food, fun and get alot of treats- this is a SAFE way for the kids to trick or treat.
My husbands work does a HUGE HAlloween party for the kids. We trick or treat thru the diff dept's and some of them go way out decorating, dressing up for the kids, etc... In the cafeteria they have games set up and food, take pic's, and then they have a truck outside with a small haunted house set up for the older kids to go thru.
When it isnt freezing outside we pull our trailer around the neighborhood with our tractor and have our own *hayride* and let the kids trick or treat the neighborhood that way. Its slow and fun and we usually end up with alot of extra kids on board before we are done.
We dress up and have pics taken at local photographer in our town for Toys For Tots... Awesome pic's! Well worth donating a toy.
A family from our church lives on a Farm and every yr they do a HUGE Fall party for the families complete with a hay ride...Thats this weekend and its a blast for the kids! (they get to play all kinds of games including target shooting with B-B gun's. They love it.
I *really* dont feel sad for my kids *at all*. No matter what you call it (Fall Party, Halloween Party, ) they still get to party, dress up, get a ton of candy and prizes and have an absolute BLAST!!!
My middle schooler and I go to a haunted house every yr now that he is older. Its *our* tradition. lol We love them...
My son's former public school had a "dress up as your favorite book character" on Halloween, so kids could dress up, but it had to be a character out of a book. I don't remember if they had a party, too. I can't remember if I had parties when I was in grade school 1969-75. I don't remember dressing up. I don't think we did or I would have remembered it. Maybe. The school holds a fall festival on Saturday though.
I can't remember what my son's current private school does for Halloween. It's his 3rd year there, but no parents are allowed at parties and the school provides everything needed for parties when they do have them so I don't even know when he has a party or not. I know they don't dress up because they wear uniforms everyday. I doubt they do anything for it is my guess. It's not a religious school.
Halloween is the holiday that never ends at our school! LOL.
On Saturday, October 29 we are having our annual Halloween Festival. All the kids dress up in their costumes and it's a fun night. On Halloween, we have a Halloween parade in the morning. All the kids dress in their costumes at school and we have a morning school event. At the end of the day, all the classes have a Halloween party.
We are a very small public school and our own school district. It makes it easier to keep these kinds of traditions going.
Yes, lucky for us, our schools do celebratae Halloween. They have their party during the last hour of the school day. They dress up, parade around the inside and outside of the school then have some games and snacks in the classrooms.
The preschool also has a Halloween party where they do pretty much the same thing as the elementary school.
Nope, my kids' elementary school did NOT do Halloween parties, but since the first quarter ends around Halloween, in 3rd grade, Emily got to go bowling and at the bowling alley were lots of Halloween treats, so was that sort of a party? Seemed like it to me! LOL! The bowling trip was a good behavior reward.
They never got to wear costumes to school, but I know one other year, they did a crazy hair day and pajama day near Halloween, too. So, while not costumes, they did get to come to school looking different.
Now, they don't have a student council and the pajama days happen more by classroom, than by the whole school doing something. I think it was better when my kids went there! LOL!
Our school has alot of things related to halloween. They take all the kids to the pumpkin patch for field trips. Make "halloween" treats. Last year our them was Day of the Dead (mexico) and we do a "haunted" house every year. I don't know what's going to happen this year, currently our teachers are all on strike and have been for 9 days now so our children aren't even in school It's sorta sad and all causing an uproar throughout our province.
I hope it's all "sorted" out soon.
Wow, Catherin, I hope all goes well with your teachers. I did a google search for british columbia "teachers strike" and came up with hopeful news! (I tried to post the link to the Reuters story but it was too long!)
Ds' school does a "Harvest Party" where the kids get all dressed up in their costumes and parade through the school just like when I was a kid, except we called it a "Halloween Party". His school also has a Pumpkin and Poem contest where they give out prizes for the most creativity.
My son's Lutheran pre-school also has Halloween celebrations. When I taught in NYC we also had no problem with Halloween.
Interestingly enough,. last year I invited my Born again Christian father in law to come over on Halloween to see the kids in their costumes.
He said, "Well, we really don't celebrate Halloween" Isaid, "It's not about Halloween. It's about seeing your grandkids dressed up and having a good time."
Oh well ...
Ame
Ancient Origins (from the History Channel)
Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.
During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.
The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.
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I don't understand the controversy, honestly. How is this considered satanic? The school here lets the K kids dress up, everyone else has a Fall Festival or something like that. Same with Christmas. But when I send in treats or plates or anything for holiday parties, you can bet they say Happy Halloween or Merry Christmas. The kids shirts too. I feel like reverse discrimination is getting worse. We are so worried about including everyone else's beliefs that we exclude our own for their sake. That's not right either. Like the town that will not allow people to put a manger scene in their front yard but displays Jewish symbols and Kwanzaa symbols. I went to a k-8 Missouri Synod school and we even had Halloween parties!
Kim, I have to agree with you on your last paragraph.
Also, I was shocked my first year of teaching when I was told we weren't allowed to have a Halloween party. Not so much because we couldn't have a party, but more for the reason I was given. I was told that we could not do Halloween at school because there was a large Russian community in that particular area, and Halloween was offensive to them. Now, if anyone can explain that to me, I would be greatly enlightened, since no one explained anything to me at the time. But the thing I couldn't understand was that our particular school was mainly Hispanic, Hmong, and Cambodian. Very few Anglos. I guess it was just a blanket district thing. I don't know.
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