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Halloween Q&A for Parents of Young Kids! |
Round-Ups
Today’s Halloween originated about 2,000 years ago. The Celtic people who lived in Europe at the time dressed up with masks and costumes to scare off ghosts they believed visited on the night of October 31st. Over time, it changed into the holiday we know today, with costumes, candy, and a cast of ghouls and monsters!
Halloween is filled with fun – and plenty of great questions! Use these read-aloud Q&A with your little ones to get ready for all the entertaining spooks and haunts!
1. Why do we trick-or-treat on Halloween?
Trick-or-treating has several possible origins. One possibility is that it goes back to the original Celtic Halloween (“Samhein”), when it’s believed that Celts left food offerings on their doorsteps to prevent the spirits they believed were visiting from entering the house.
Another possibility is that trick-or-treating developed from a British tradition for All Souls’ Day, a holiday that remembers people who have passed away. The poor or hungry would go door to door asking for food in exchange for saying a prayer and would be given “soul cakes.” Later, this turned into children going door to door to ask for food and treats!
Some also say trick-or-treating comes from people who began imitating bad spirits a little too much and started pulling naughty pranks on the night of Halloween. Families started offering treats in exchange for not being tricked!
2. Why do we carve jack o' lanterns on Halloween?
Carving a funny face into a pumpkin is one of the oldest traditions of Halloween in the United States, but where does this custom come from??
Folklore traces the origin of the jack o' lantern to Ireland, where people would tell the story of Stingy Jack. Stingy Jack was a mean and greedy man who liked to steal and play tricks on everyone. He was eventually punished, and stuck in a great darkness! In order to see, Jack had to use a hallowed-out turnip as a lantern. The Irish carved turnips to retell Jack’s story. In America, the pumpkin (a native plant) replaced the turnip because it was easier to carve!
Boo! On Halloween, you probably hear a lot about ghosts, or maybe you’ve even dressed up like one! Because Halloween is all about spooks and spirits, the ghost is a popular very character.
A ghost is said to be a person's spirit that shows up on Earth after that person dies. There isn’t scientific proof that ghosts exist, so some people believe that ghosts are real anyway, while others don’t believe in them at all.
People who believe in ghosts believe that even though a person's body has stopped living, a part of that person – their spirit or soul – still exists and can appear on Earth. A person's body is a physical thing. You can touch it. The soul or spirit is a person's thoughts and energy—things that can't be touched.
Someone’s ghost may look just like that person. It may look like a floating sheet! People have imagined all sorts of types of ghosts—both friendly and scary. They may not be real, but they do make for good stories!
Around Halloween, you might see a lot of decorations or costumes portraying witches. You’ve probably also come across them in stories from books, movies, or TV. The witches of these tales are usually people who practice magic and cast spells. They’re often portrayed as women who wear tall, pointy, black hats and bend over bubbling cauldrons or ride on a broomstick! In some stories, a male witch might be called a warlock. These kinds of witches can make great subjects in stories and have been fabled in lots of different cultures for hundreds and hundreds of years!
Of course, it’s also important to know that sometimes the term Witch is also used to describe people who practice a religion often known as Witchcraft or Wicca. These religious beliefs are very earth-based and spiritual, and focus a lot on nature! Witches who are members of the modern-day religion are not the same as the witches and warlocks in fictional stories.
From black cats to broken mirrors – a superstition is a belief or a practice that is not based on facts or events that can be proven. For example, the idea that a broken mirror brings bad luck is a superstition because no one can prove that any “bad luck” actually came from the mirror breaking! Plus, what is “bad luck” anyway? Everyone has their own definition!
The use of superstitions is very old, particularly because there wasn’t always science to explain cause and effect. Instead, unlucky events were often associated with other things that happened (like a mirror that breaks!) which actually had nothing to do with why someone got the chicken-pox or had rain on their birthday!
Even though we now have better knowledge of why things happen, lots of people still believe in superstitions, both new and old. Do you have any you believe in, either for Halloween or otherwise??
For more on these topics and endless others, just browse or search! Don’t forget to also check out our Halloween Safety Tips for tips on how to prevent your trick-or-treaters from encountering any problems.
The above answers from whyzz.com were written by Mya Kagan, Brian Griffin, and Alli Rodenhauser. If you wish to reprint this Roundup please contact Constanze@whyzz.com.