Ideas for non-celebrating Halloween?

[ShwarmaQueen]

DD is already bugging me about what she's going to be for Halloween and we don't 'do' Halloween (for multiple reasons, incl. religious). In the past we've gone to Chuck E Cheeses and that distracted her from all the hoopla. However, now that she's in KG I'm afraid she might feel excluded, so I want to do something really neat with her instead of TOTing on that night.

Ideas?

[ramama]

Perhaps she just wants the fun of dressing up and discussing costumes with classmates? Is it possible to incorporate dressing up into your normal routine? Like a fairy tea party, a "fancy" dinner (perhaps with her dressing up in your clothes, painting each others nails, etc.)? Maybe do a performance of her favorite story with costumes and such?

[momto4plus4]

We've also struggled with this. We've done a variety of things. When dd1 was little we simply ignored it. We had the same struggle as she got older as she really wanted to participate. Our church held a party every year for a while. The years we didn't go we would hand out candy (nice bags of it with tracts or verses) and do trick-or-treating just with the neighbors and grandpa. Jot sure what we'll do this year.

Maybe you could dress up and do a special movie/popcorn/candy night as a family?

We also buy costumes on clearance afterwards for the kid to do dress-up the rest of the year. I think that helps them.

[new2texas]

When I was a kid our family didn't celebrate Halloween. My mom would always try and do something else fun that night instead. Some of the things we did were make candied apples, popcorn balls, homemade french fries and onion rings, homemade ice cream. We also went to church sponsered events, hayrides, bonfires, that sort of thing. We also handed out candy to the neighborhood kids.

[WTHamI?]

Are there any churches in your area doing a Harvest Party? Or you could do something fall/harvest related with your family like baking pumpkin bread and having cider, or maybe visiting a farm and doing a corn maze?

[ShwarmaQueen]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to look at events around the area so we can be out of the house that night. I'm afraid she will be sadly looking out the window, watching the other kids go door to door. And of course, every year (before she knew what was going on) kids would ring our doorbell even though its pitch black and there's no decorations in our yard.

[OGirlieMama]

This isn't so much a suggestion for what to do on October 31st, but if the costume thing is part of what's really getting to her, maybe you can suggest she have her next birthday party as a costume party? (OK, I'm assuming you do birthday parties. If not, I'm sorry, just ignore me.)

[ollyoxenfree]

I was going to suggest a fall harvest celebration too. Is it possible to have a bonfire, maybe roast some marshmallows and sip hot cider? She can enjoy the thrill of being out at night, without the trick-or-treat etc.

[mattemma04]

We have taken the kids to the mall where the stores pass out candy.Kids got to dress up and get a decent amount of candy.Some years we have just stayed home.I would get bags of candy and we would eat all we wanted while watching movies.Not sure what we will do this year.If it rains I know I will want to stay home!

[ChetMC]

Apples

Could you go apple picking and then for a hayride or something at a local farm? Maybe make apple crisip or apple sauce when you get home?

Or visit a corn maze. We always have fun at corn mazes.

[MAMom]

If you have a children's hospital nearby they may have volunteer opportunities on Halloween (i.e. to help with a party for kids who are in the hospital).

[PatienceAndLove]

Do you have friends with the same religious convictions? If so, perhaps you all can get together and have a party.

I am Catholic, and we used to attend an All Hallow's Eve party at various friends' homes, dressed up as our favorite saints. We all got to learn about the different saints, play some games, and just have fun together.

Perhaps you can host a similar party with everyone coming dressed as Biblical characters?

All Saints Day Party Ideas
Christian Halloween
Halloween Alternatives
Halloween Alternatives google search

[MacKinnon]

As a former pre-K teacher with some kids in class that didn't participate in Halloween, school parties were really, really hard on the kids that weren't allowed to dress up but still sent to school. I suspect the actual day, being a Sunday, will be relatively easy to distract her from, but I would think hard about the day of the school party. At least at our school this is by far the most "done" holiday at school. The kids dress up all day, have a parade and a party. Anyway, I just wanted to make a note, that if your DD is at school, to be sure to consider what to do about the big day there.

[phathui5]

You may want to "let" her stay home from school that day, as I'm guessing it'll be all the kids are talking about.

[lyterae]

We don't celebrate either and we have opted for her not to go to school that day... It's confusing for her, and it's basically a big treat fest and she has food allergies on top of everything else.

This is the first year that it's really been hard for her.

[PatienceAndLove]

I concur that letting her have a mental health day might be the best idea.

If she is going to go to school, maybe let her dress however she wants.
The McD commercial with the little girl in sweatpants, a tutu, two non-matching t-shirts, a big floppy hat and sunglasses comes to mind.

[Hopefulmama]

I didn't celebrate as a child and our family doesn't now. A few things come to mind: Does your daughter know why your family doesn't participate? That helped me when I was younger. Instead of hearing "We don't do this", I had a good reason why our family sat it out, so to speak. While I naturally wanted to fit it, I learned to take pride in my family and our beliefs and I learned that it was okay to be different. While I didn't/don't celebrate Halloween, we always did other fun things. Not to take the place of the holiday, but just because. If she loves to dress up, have a dress-up night at your house, or let her wear her costume to the store or grandma's house on another day. I agree with the other posters about "harvest festivals". They can be so much fun for families. If she is attending school the day of the party, can you make alternate arrangements for her to sit in the library while the festivities are going on? Then pack a special treat bag for her-notebook and stickers, etc. for while she is there to keep her occupied.