Halloween Happenings...

This week we are taking a break from our usual planned studies to do some fun Halloween things...  I know lots of families choose not to celebrate Halloween, but our family choice and decision is, that to us, it's a fun time for us and the kidlets..So while we don’t celebrate with spooky witches, lots of superstition, black cats crossing your path, or ghosts, etc.,  we do love dressing up in costumes and going to our friend's and families' homes for treats...

Some of the books we'll be using this week are:

1. The Halloween Grab Bag: A book of tricks and treats (all kinds of fun crafts and activities)

2. Halloween Poems by Myra Livingston

3. Crafts for Halloween by Kathy Ross    

4. We Celebrate Halloween by Bobbie Kalman (which is a great book that discusses the history of Halloween)

Plus I was able to save a copy of "The Book of Halloween" by Ruth Edna Kelley published in 1919 from Homeschool Freebie of the Day... ( a fabulous resource)... You can get a free PDF  of it from Librivox by clicking on the above link...

We'll be using a FREE Halloween lapbook that I found here.

A cool video I found here...

An interpretation of  "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe done by William Shatner that can be found here... An excellent short clip on the origins of Halloween from National Geographic found here...

 

We'll be learning about the life cycle of the pumpkin and about creatures of the night like icky spiders and bats... Eeeewwww!!! 

and some incredible Halloween facts too....

Halloween Facts 

• Halloween is one of the oldest celebrations in the world-pre-dating Christ.


• Halloween in Welsh is 'Nos Calan Gaeaf.'


• Halloween is correctly spelled 'Hallowe'en.'


• When Christianity came to England and the rest of Europe, November 1 became All Saints Day--a day dedicated to all those saints who didn't have a special day of their own. They performed a mass called 'All Hallow Mass' and the night before became known as 'All Hallows E'en,' and eventually Hallowe'en and Halloween.


• When the Romans conquered England, they merged Samhain with their own festivals, a harvest festival called Poloma, and a celebration for the dead called Feralia.


• In Mexico, they celebrate El Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead) starting the evening of October 31.


• The very first jack-o-lanterns were made out of hollowed-out turnips.


• Growing big pumpkins is a big-time and serious hobby. Top prize money for the biggest giant pumpkin is as much as $25,000 dollars at fall festivals. The current world record for giant pumpkins is 1446 pounds (that's a lot of pumpkin pies!).


• With an estimated $1.93 billion in candy sales, Halloween is the sweetest holiday of the year (beating out Easter, Valentine's Day, and Christmas). In fact, one quarter of all the candy sold each year is purchased between September 15 and November 10. Now that's one of the sweetest Halloween facts around!

We're going to discuss the history of the Jack O'Lantern and use some resources found here...

Some great pumpkin worksheets found from worksheets 4 teachers.com here...

Family Education has a great maze (you have to register but it's free)   and a Squidoo lense with some free Halloween printables and coloring pages...

and then finish off our week using some printables on activities, spiders, and bats from Enchanted Learning...

and of course, Halloween wouldn't be complete without watching "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and then carving pumpkins!!

Now every year when we carve our pumpkins, we talk while the kidlets do it... It is such a sweet way to remind them what we are as Christians...

First, God picks you from the pumpkin patch and brings you in from the field. He selects each and every one of us. We are in the world, but of his family as his children...

He then washes all the “dirt” off the outside that we received from being around all the other pumpkins. All the old things are washed away and all things become new.

Then, He carefully removes all the “yucky stuff” called “sin” out from the inside. He changes us through removing all the "yucky stuff". That’s why it is important to go the church and learn about God’s Word.

He carefully removes all those seeds of doubt, hate, greed, and fear. He replaces them with the seeds of faith, hope and love. After Jesus is invited inside, you will experience the changing power of God’s love in your life.

Then He carves a new smiling face just like the smile we have after accepting Jesus!

Now we are going to light this candle inside. Look! This pumpkin now reflects the light from inside out. So when Jesus lives inside of us, He shines through our life for all to see. We can let His light reflect through us. “Let your light so shine before men that they may be able to see your good works and glorify the Father, who is in heaven.”

So you see, we Christians are really like this pumpkin! We will never be the same with Jesus inside of us. We can say like this jack-o-lantern, “Thy presence, my light!”