The History of Halloween | The traditions and symbols associated with Halloween | Links | Just for kids | Suggested reading list

The History of Halloween As with many holidays and festivals celebrated today, the roots of Halloween comes together from many different religions and countries. Halloween is celebrated in many countries around the world on October the 31st. Beginning long, long ago, many people believe that Halloween had it's beginnings from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain and with the druids, who were priests of ancient Gaul and Britain, and they believed that the spirits of the dead, along with demons and witches would roam the earth on the eve of November the 1st. They believed that if they offered the evil spirits good things to eat that these spirits wouldn't play mean tricks on them, and that by extinguishing the fires in their homes and lighting bonfires they could protect themselves. They also thought that if they disguised themselves by dressing up, the evil spirits would think that the druids were spirits as well! Many centuries later, the Roman Church begun the tradition of honouring those saints, who didn't have their own special day for celebration on the Ist day of November. In those days the Saints were known as the "hallowed" or the "holy ones". This day was called "All Saints" or "All Hallows Day". And the night before was known as "All Hallows Even". This was eventually shortened to be known as Halloween. Halloween is mainly celebrated in Britain, Canada and the United States, it is not a traditional celebration here in Australia. The traditions and symbols associated with Halloween Scary things are associated with Halloween, such as witches, demons, werewolves, bats, black cats, spiders, ghosts, zombies and other awful creatures. The colours associated with Halloween are orange and black of course. As Halloween is celebrated in autumn in Europe symbols such as scarecrows are also used in the celebration. Jack O'Lantern: In Ireland it was the turnip that was used in Halloween celebrations, but when halloween was brought to America in the mid 1800s, the pumpkin was adopted. The pumpkin is carved to resemble a hideous face, and a candle is lit and put inside, so that the effect is scary. The pumpkins are then placed on the doorstep of homes to scare away evil spirits. Dressing up: The ancient druids would dress up in costumes and masks in order to trick the evil spirits, so the tradition of dressing up in costumes is still carried on to this day. Today children dress up as witches, demons, skeletons and other scary figures when they go "trick or treating". Trick or treat: Thousands of children will go out on Halloween night and "trick or treat". Traditionally this was a time when they would go out to help other children who were less fortunate than themselves, a practice that is still carried out in many parts of the United States today. But for many children it is a day when they go door knocking, and receive treats such as apples and lollies. Links For more information and Halloween fun visit these sites: Teacher reference sites: Ancient Roots Modern Holidays: Halloween Provides a brief history about Halloween with links to lesson plans and activities from Prep-6. Halloween worksheets From edhelper.com this pages contains Math worksheets; Word finds; Crossword puzzles; Halloween scrambled words; Halloween Vocabulary worksheets and more. Divided into categories there's something for everyone. Halloween activities for children Another fantastic page from DLTK'S Crafts for kids, this page contains art and craft activities for the lower grades. Contains colouring pages, costumes ideas, riddles, party ideas, games, recipes plus loads more. Halloween activities and crafts for preschool and kindergarten Enjoy these free Halloween educational activities and crafts for preschool and kindergarten. You will find free printable crafts and activities with easy to follow instructions, lesson plans and related resources. Bats Bat colouring and fact sheets - these sheets have simple facts suitable for Preschool thru Grade 2 students. Contains colouring pages, jigsaw puzzles, printables, links and more. Halloween bookmarks This page contains five printable coloured bookmarks, great for using with your Halloween theme. Monster art Monster Art is a lesson plan that is based on the book titled Where The Wild Things Are , by Maurice Sendak. The children can create monsters using chalk and black construction paper, but they do not have to draw the blood and guts! This lesson could be used around Halloween or any time. Elementary themes : Halloween This page contains a comprehensive set of links related to Halloween. Including: Teacher resources; crafts; history; games; clipart and more. Elementary themes : Bats This page contains a comprehensive set of links related to bats. Including: Teacher resources; crafts; history; games; clipart and more. Haunted house maze Print out this haunted house maze for your students to enjoy. Just for kids l've put together some frightful fun, with spooky games and puzzles for you to play, enter if you dare! Halloween quiz So you think you know all about the history of Halloween hey, then try this quiz. Bats This page contains an online jigsaw puzzle about bats for you to enjoy. Candy Contains an online jigsaw puzzle about candy for you to enjoy, l found this one a little more difficult, see how you go. Halloween Winnie the pooh This page contains an online jigsaw puzzle about Winnie the Pooh for you to enjoy. Welcome to Winnie the Pooh's Halloween Haunted House Join Winnie and all his friends for some spooky Halloween fun. Trick or treats.com This site contains heaps of Halloween stuff for kids, parents and teachers. Halloween concentration game This game can be played by one or two players, it took me 39 tries! Halloween riddles Some really goofy riddles. Trick tac toe Welcome to Trick Tac Toe! Try to get your three creatures in a row (either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) before Nightmare Ned does with his three green bats. Begin playing by clicking on a box. Now it's Nightmare Ned's turn. Continue playing until one of you gets three in a row. Monster match Welcome to Monster Match! Click on the crypts to unearth Ned's Nightmare monsters. Turn over two at a time and try to match the monsters. Attack of the Tweety Zombies From the Looney Tunes site, Tweety's Zombies are everywhere and Sylvester can't get out! Punch the bats From the WarnerBros. site, you have just 60 seconds to punch as many bats as you can, how will you go? HIH Coloring pages Here are some printable halloween coloring pages just for you. Halloween crafts Easy Halloween crafts for you to make and enjoy. Fun and games What's Halloween without some things to do! This page contains loads of games, table of contents includes: Mission Mars; 3 foot Ninja; The little wizard; Whack a gopher; Concentration; TicTacToe; the HIH Haunted house; The HIH Ghoul school; Simpsons Halloween; Frankenstein bride; Halloween Owl; Toon kids and more. Welcome to Scary.com Venture into the Slapstick Swamp or Magigoria Mansion, and find Halloween songs, costumes, jokes, and cartoons. Rainbow magic page full of frightful fun Contains stories, poems, book reviews, games, and more to help you celebrate this spooky day. PBS kids: Happy Halloween Get ready for trick-or-treating with some of you favorite PBS shows and characters like Arthur or Cyberchase. Suggested reading list Teacher reference: My tricks & treats : Halloween stories, songs, poems, recipes, crafts, and fun for kids. Dewhirst, Carin; Dewhirst, Joan Non-fiction: Let's find out about Halloween. Cooper, Paulette. Hallowe'en. May, Robin. It's Halloween. Jack, Prelutsky. Fiction: Spooked. Woodeson, Philip; Cope, Jane. Spell me a witch. Willard, Barbara Corey and the spooky pony. Bryant, Bonnie. Winter's Eve. Belting, Natasha. Picture Story: Two little witches: a counting story. Ziefert, Harriet: Taback, Simms. Where do the wicked witches live? Snape, Juliet; Snape, Charles. Teeny-tiny and the witch woman. Walker, Barbara K; Foreman, Michael. Guess what? Fox, Mem The Nullabor witch. Buckle, Mariette; Elks-Melki, Wendy.