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Home » Lifestyle Parenting » Seasonal Fun » What is Halloween? A Spooktacular Guide for Kids

What is Halloween? A Spooktacular Guide for Kids

October 13, 2014 | 4 Comments

What is Halloween? – Easily Explain to Children

My Son Recently asked me – What is Halloween? At First I was Baffled I know we go trick or treating on the 31st October every year but I did not know the history behind Halloween, So after learning I decided to put together this guide to explain to children what is Halloween.

teach your kids the history of halloween

Where did Halloween Begin?

Halloween started around 150 years ago in Rome which is in Italy. Festivals were held in honour “Pomona” who was their goddess of fruitful abundance in Ancient Roman religion and myth. Honouring Promo was believed to bring healthy crops and fruit to harvest.

what is halloween - Pomona of fruitful abundance

Many cultures also celebrated the Festival of the Dead (Scary Stuff) which honoured their deceased (This word that means – People who have died). The Festivals of the dead occurred once the large harvest of foods (Generally between the months of August & November). Believe it or not these festivals lavish affairs with lots of food and drink for everyone who attended, they could also last up to 3 days at a time.

Christians although only some religions an “All Soul’s Day” which is  also known as “Feast of All Souls”. This day is a celebration and honours the deceased who committed to their religion throughout their lifetimes.

what is halloween - festival of the dead

As We Learn What Halloween is, you can already see that this has always been a very serious celebration, which is believed to honour the dead and worship for food.

Where did the word Halloween come from?

The Word we know as Halloween today actually comes from the term “All-Hallows-Evening”. The word Hallow means honour something whilst saying the object or person is Holy or Sacred. In other words for the purpose of Halloween we must remember and honour the dead.

So why do we carve pumpkins, pumpkins are very much like Jack-0’-lanterns and the lanterns where and are used as a way of worshipping and remembering dead souls who may well be in trouble.

what is halloween - original jack o lantern

What is Halloween – Read a little Further

Dating back to the middle ages the good children of Europe generally the poorest of children used to go from door to door singing their hearts out and giving a prayer for the dearly departed (oh that’s another way of saying a person who has died) – You may see in the image below the little girl was also wearing a mask.

What is Halloween - Souling

Each time they arrived at a door they were handed cake to eat from the owners and the term for this was called “Souling”.

Transformed to Trick or Treat

Over the years, the Halloween tradition has become a little more about getting sweeties and in some cases money handed out from neighbours (Although Personally I prefer the Sweets).  Halloween is a fun, but scary celebration that allows you to say “TRICK OR TREAT”. If you do not get the treat it is time to play a trick, I am sure your little ones will not be too mischievous!

what is halloween - trick or treating 2014

So, when your kids put on there scary costume and set off through the streets looking for their victims to scare you could tell them what Halloween is if they ever ask!

I would love to hear what tricks you are going to be playing this year, if that unfortunate neighbour does not give you a sweet treat.

What is Halloween – Well Hopefully you now know a little more about this fantastic time of year.

Think you have got it, then great! If you would like even more information regarding the History behind Halloween then visit this Halloween WIKI page.

Psssst.. Before you go, why not take a look at some more Halloween Ideas or simply start looking at some of the below Halloween Post’s we have already created.

  • DIY Halloween Scary Treats
  • DIY Halloween Party
  • DIY Adult Halloween Costume – Mrs Dracula
  • What is Halloween? A Spooktacular Guide for Kids

If you would like to know a little more About me

Love Pinterest, then why not contact me and be invited to pin to this Halloween Creatively Crafty Board..

 

Rachel at Umeandthekids

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Summary

Related posts:

DIY Adult Halloween Costume – Mrs Dracula Top 10 Spooky Family Halloween Movies Default Thumbnail(Giveaway) Halloween Treats & Goodies Pom-Bear Bundle diy-halloween-costumes-for-kids10 Creative DIY Halloween Costumes for Kids 21 Halloween Party Ideas for kids21 Spooktacular Halloween Party Ideas for Kids

Filed Under: Lifestyle Parenting, Seasonal Fun Tagged With: Halloween, Halloween History, what is halloween

About Rachel Marsden

A parent to 3 children ranging from 6 to 27! I love to write about parenting topics, Interior design, beauty and Money Saving Tips.

Comments

  1. Jennifer Howze says

    October 14, 2014 at 8:11 am

    Thanks for the recap. It’s good to teach kids where these type of festivals come from and why we celebrate them.

    Reply
  2. Hazel Hulson says

    October 23, 2014 at 3:22 pm

    Interesting blog about halloween traditions and where celebrations come from past history though my older teenager said not scary enough halloween and things you can buy forgets about the little ones and the sweeties, Love to see the young kids dressed up as pumkins so sweet and shy with their parents, Always try to get soft sweets jellies for them. My younger son enjoys the fun.

    Reply
  3. Hannah Mums' Days says

    October 30, 2014 at 10:47 pm

    Gosh, I really didn’t know any of this! My dad was a vicar so it was always sort of banned – no trick or treating for us. He’s relaxed a bit now, so we’ll be doing a wee tour of the tiny village we’re in tomorrow 🙂 Fascinating to hear about the origins and thank you so much for linking up the #TheList! xx

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 21 Spooktacular Halloween Party Ideas for Kids says:
    September 28, 2015 at 9:18 am

    […] Teach your kids the History of Halloween […]

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