I am on a committee that is meeting this week to discuss Halloween. I am curious as to what all of you do to celebrate Halloween in your building. Currently, it is an absolutely crazy day and it seems to get worse every year! The committee that was formed wants to still have Halloween and have it be a fun day for the kids, but less stress (if possible) for the teachers and office staff. We need to definitely make some changes. -Do you have a building wide school event or does each teacher/grade level do their own thing? -Do your kids wear costumes to school or do they bring them to school to change into later? -Do your kids bring treats to pass out? If not, does the school provide a treat for that day? -Do you have some sort of costume parade? -Do all the grade levels participate or only the younger grades? -Do you have specials that day? (thats a biggie in my building because everyone wants to schedule the party around their special so they still get their prep!) I realize that many schools have eliminated Halloween, but in my area all the schools still celebrate the day. I would love to get some neat ideas to take to the committee. Thanks.
We can't have a party in the classroom (only 2 allowed for the year Christmas and end-of-the-year), but our kids are allowed to dress up-they wear their costumes but we ask that especially the younger kids bring a change of clothes-just in case their costume makes restroom, etc. difficult. The staff is also very much encouraged to dress up. At the end of the day the all the kids have a parade around the campus and I think last year our admin was handing out bags of candy to them. We still have specials because that's also our teacher planning time. This year I'm having my kids dress as literary characters and do a little skit for parents in the morning-thought it might incorporate a little more educational activity into the day. I've also seen classes where the older elementary kids dressed up as vocabulary words which I also thought was really cool.
The school where I teach does a "Who am I?" presentation. Children get to dress up as a literary or historical figure (limits the costumes kids can wear that day) and they have to put together 3 facts about their character. Then, in the afternoon we gather together and the kids get up, read their facts, and the other kids get to guess who they are. I love it. It's a way to incorporate some learning with dressing up. We do not allow weapons of any kind at school, so if a kid comes in with a sword or something else as part of their costume, the teachers keep it until it's time for them to get up for Who am I?. We have a little celebration where the parents bring in popcorn and apple juice (no sugar at our school) and the kids have popcorn and juice before going home.
Absolutely nothing. We have a large population of evangelical Christian (mostly Pentecostal) Russians who majorly freak out over anything Halloween related.
The older kids in our school are not allowed to be in costumes, but our preschool is somewhat separate from the rest of the school, so we let them wear costumes if they like. We don't really have a party, we just follow our normal routine with Halloween themed activities.
I teach in an international, missionary-founded school, so instead of Halloween we have Multicultural Day. Children dress in traditional clothing that represents their home country (as the school has over 2 dozen nationalities represented). It's really great. We have an assembly so we all get a look at each other. After that, children can change into playclothes if they want. If you have families who are troubled by Halloween, you could have multicultural day or some other theme (i.e. the storybook character one described by tracykaliski) which would give kids the fun of costumes and candy without the creepy aspect. (I know that even then, some families will opt out of participation but at least you tried.)
My kids schools have always done book characters for Halloween. It's cute, gives the kids a chance to play dress up, and has some academic value. Everybody wins
Our kids are allowed to wear costumes to school. Storybook characters are recommended, but it's not a rule At around 11:00 the whole school meets in the gym and we file outside for a parade around the block. Parents and grandparents line the streets with their cameras. We walk down the sreeet and back, then each classroom "celebrates" how they want. We generally have a light snack sinces it's before lunch.... BTW, we are a pk-3 school if that makes a difference.
This year we have a HALF DAY!! It is awesome!! So the kids come in costume, and then we have a parade at 10 Am for the whole school (preK - 6) and then individual class parties in our rooms. dismissal at 12:35. It is a completely chaotic day - and we usually need a nap when it is over. Most teachers dress up, but I never do.
We are not allowed to celebrate Halloween. Do you have a building wide school event or does each teacher/grade level do their own thing? We have an "Autumn Celebration" on October 22nd. (Teachers have off for state convention the last Thursday and Friday in October, so the party is always 2 Fridays before Halloween.) The parties are for the last hour of the school day, and are planned by room parents. Even though we aren't allowed to celebrate Halloween (for religious reasons), many of the party games and activities are Halloween-related. Do your kids wear costumes to school or do they bring them to school to change into later? They are not allowed to bring or wear costumes to school. Do your kids bring treats to pass out? If not, does the school provide a treat for that day? No, they do not bring treats. The room parents plan snacks and treats to bring for the party (usually cupcakes and some other small treat). Do you have some sort of costume parade? Nope, no costumes at school. Do all the grade levels participate or only the younger grades? Every classroom participates in the Autumn Celebration. Do you have specials that day? (thats a biggie in my building because everyone wants to schedule the party around their special so they still get their prep!) If the celebration happens to fall during prep time (the last hour of the day), teachers may have prep while the special teacher supervises their party.
We visit a nearby assisted living/elderly housing facility. The children trick or treat and perform a few songs and poems. When we return to school we have a small celebration.
We also have a short day (2 hour early dismissal at 1:00). I am considering suggesting to the committee to have the kids come to school in costume. Up until now, we have always had the kids bring the costumes and we put them on after lunch. We are supposed to have a "normal" morning of academics (right!). There is nothing normal about the morning and it is plain torture! Maybe since we have a short day, the principal and the other teachers will go for wearing costumes to school. Our only problem might be the busing. All of our kids ride buses and some of the kids might be crazy on the bus if they are wearing costumes. Also, I don't know how the cafeteria people would feel about the kids eating breakfast and lunch in costumes. I am actually the one that went to the principal to see if we could form a committee about making changes to Halloween. It is just a horrible day for the teachers. Becasue the parents know that we have the parties in the afternoon, they drop off costumes, treats etc... all morning long. The secretaries go nuts dealing with parents explaining how the costumes are to be put on their child (as if their child is the only one that is wearing a costume!). The amount of treats that come into our building is ridiculous. Nobody needs that much candy. I would like to go to a school provided treat bag. I guess I will see how the meeting goes. Thanks everyone for explaining how you celebrate Halloween.
We have a school wide costume parade. And each classroom can have a party as long as it's healthy treats. No candy is allowed. I let all my students make owl masks, and that way whoever does not wear a costume can walk with their mask. We also have a fall festival the week before.
Students bring their costumes and they must fit over regular clothes and they must be able to put them on without help. All parties are at 2:15 in the afternoon. Each class gets several mothers to volunteer to make treat bags and snack and the individual kids do not bring items. The preschool has a little parade around the building (we are one building pre-K through 12th grade). The central office staff usually gives them a treat.
We have a parade and party. The parade is in the afternoon and the kids are not allowed to come to school in their costumes they have to bring them in their backbacks. Which means my assistant and I have to put 27 kindergarteners in costumes. Woohoo! After the parade is the party to which parents are invited and apparently they ususally get a big turn out (its my first year) hopefully the parents take their kids home with them early beacuse it's bound to be a crazy day. Good thing I love halloween.
We allow the kids to bring their costumes to school in their backpack, and I agree, getting them into the costumes is a chore! We have a Halloween parade around the school singing songs, then back to the classroom for some treats.
Our 5 kindergarten classes practice Halloween and fall songs and they dress up in costumes (brought, not worn to school) and we walk about 2 blocks to a large assisted living facility and sing for the residents. We come back and make a quick trek around the school if any classes want to come out and see-they usually do. Then back to class, take off costumes and continue our day as usual. None of the other classes are allowed to dress and our "parties" are very low key, healthy snacks only. Specials as usual and it is basically a regular day for 1-5. Not at all chaos!
We don't celebrate Halloween, but I have 2 student birthdays that week so I am sure that we will have some type of party that Friday.
It's Red Ribbon Week, and Friday is "Say Boo To Drugs" Day, which means wear black and orange. No costumes are allowed, and no candy. Anyone who brings treats has to take them back home, can't be passed out (This confused people last year, and the teachers had to go through all the treat bags and take out all the candy to send back with the kid who brought it). No face makeup, no colored hair. We can do a celebration, though. We'll hae a "normal" day with Halloween-themed activities. They will be a little more fun and slightly less academic that day... I'm doing pumpkins and "spooky fun" all week
We allow our K kids to wear costumes. We have a parade through the hallways and around campus before lunch and have a party after lunch. We will also do themed based activities and an art project.
Teachers dress up like farmers and the kids dress up like farm animals/farm hands. Then we harvest the corn that we planted in the schoolyard earlier in the year, have apple bobbing contests and the like.
We did 'no costumes' for many years but it was reinstituted last year by our new principal. Turned out ok last year- there are guidelines: no masks, no props, no gore. Each class/grade level is free to plan their own 'celebration' but we still deliver academic instruction that day and follow the 'specials' schedule as well. We're celebrating on Thursday this week as Friday will be a day off for the kids (teachers conduct parent conferences all day on Friday). I'm at a workshop on Thursday so my sub will have all the 'fun'. My class parents are planning an activity and donut/cider snack.
