Wee Itsy-Bitsy Halloween

Participating or throwing a Halloween party that include the wee ones? If you want everyone to have fun – you will need to think about your littlest members of your family. Though kids as young as 2 can enjoy dressing up, many a child gets freaked out at Halloween. Grasping what is “pretend” is a much older developmental skill. Here are a few ideas to get ready for the party, see more ideas at my blog-memorablegatherings.blogspot.com

Halloween Prep:
** Take some night-time walks in your neighborhood.
** Light a few candles the week before Halloween.
** Play games with turning lights on and off.
** Try costumes on and play in them.
** Try dressing up Fiddo in a fun costume- these always reveal the pet's face and can help kids start to understand fantasy and costumes... kids so identify with their beloved pets in powerful ways!
** Dress up a teddy bear for the holiday together, so that they can see a costume coming on and off beloved teddy.
** Read some books...non-scary books include:
- Dappled Apples, Froggy’s Halloween, Halloween Cats, Halloween Hats, It’s Pumpkin Time, Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin

Watch some non-scary holiday movies together:
- Monsters Inc., Incredibles, Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Monster Squad, House of Mouse Halloween, Veggie Tales

Throwing the party?
Learn from the experts! You can attend or borrow ideas from hosted kid-friendly Halloween activities. They are good role models about what works well. These can be found at:
** Public Libraries
** Zoos
** Nature Centers
** Botanical Gardens
** Nature Hiking areas
** Pumpkin Patches
** Farms

Other ways to get in the “spirit”? Choose for the first couple years to Trick-or-Treat only at friends and family's houses or attend Harvest Festivals at local churches, where they will know you and adjust for your wee ones.

Party image from: Carolyne Roehm