Halloween is a holiday with a long history and can have different meanings for different people. The name Halloween is a shorter version of All Hallows’ Eve or the night before All Saints Day. It can be thought of as a celebration of the night before All Saints Day.
The main tradition of Halloween is to dress up in a costume. People dress up in all sorts of costumes. Some people like scary costumes such as ghosts, witches, or skeletons, but a lot of people dress up in fun costumes like superheroes, movie stars, or cartoon characters.
Children celebrate the day by going trick-or-treating at night. They go from door to door saying “Trick or treat”. The person at the door usually gives them some candy.
Other Halloween activities include costume parties, parades, bonfires, haunted houses, and carving jack-o-lanterns from pumpkins.
Halloween is said to have its roots in an ancient Celtic celebration in Ireland and Scotland called Samhain. Samhain marked the end of summer. People at the time were frightened of evil spirits. They would dress up in costumes and make noise in the streets in order to make the spirits go away.
When the Catholic Church came to the Celtic land, it brought with it the celebration of All Saints Day on November 1st. This day was also called All Hallows Day and the night before was called All Hallows Eve. Many of the traditions from the two holidays became merged together. Over time, All Hollows Eve was shortened to Halloween and additional traditions like trick-or-treating and carving Jack-o-lanterns became a part of the holiday.
Celebrating Halloween with kids is an absolute blast, but can also be a bit of a challenge. The little ones are hopped up on candy, filled with adrenaline from kid-friendly scary movies, and have so much energy to burn. Fortunately, there are tons of fun Halloween games that kids can play after they’ve done the classic Halloween activities like paint pumpkins, put on their favorite costumes, and sort their Halloween treats.
Some of these Halloween activities are games of skill, like cornhole, checkers, or golf with a festive twist, while others challenge kids’ memories and creative-thinking skills. Whichever Halloween party game you and the little ones decide on, it’s guaranteed to be a blast for the whole family — especially if you’ve decided to celebrate Halloween a little bit closer to home this year.
While you play these games, don’t forget to blast some of the best Halloween songs and eat your favorite festive candies. All that’s sure to get the party started in no time
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