Written by: Nora Abd Hamid
Come October the scary props of the season begin appearing everywhere in the centre.
The witches, spiderwebs and pumpkin galore can all too easily take a younger child by surprise. Nevertheless, these young children get used to the spooky pumpkins and ghosts in a safe, encouraging environment.
Mostly all the children are dressed up in their best outfits for the celebrations. We love to see how the older children and supporting teachers usually dress up as witches, vampires, ghosts etc. However, the young toddlers’ are too young to “get it” about Halloween costumes—and besides, every day is costume day for them!
It’s such fun to see—especially the Halloween parades in Appleland Montessori.
We had our Halloween activities like dancing in the dark, Halloween Spider Hunt game! During this engaging activity, the children took turns pretending to fly on a broomstick and deliver spiders to their spider webs. The children filled the centre with excitement as they hopped, jumped and soared on their “broomsticks.” They grasped the game rules quickly and took multiple turns, thoroughly enjoying themselves as they caught spiders and placed them in their webs. This engaging activity encouraged their imaginative play while enhancing their gross motor skills and fine motor skills.
Next, our Toddlers had a fantastic time with the Halloween Hidden Adventure activity. They were presented with sheets of paper featuring hidden symbols like spiders, pumpkins, bats, witches, and spider webs, all drawn using a white crayon. With great enthusiasm, they enjoyed interacting and playing with each other’s to this activity.
Celebrating Halloween promotes intercultural understanding and respect for cultural diversity amongst children in a care setting.
Dressing up and engaging in themed learning experiences is a fun filled way for children to explore and gain further understanding of the various cultural events and traditions celebrated throughout the world.
