Home School News Blog

Posts Tagged ‘halloween’

Just because you’ve decided to forego participation in the Halloween festivities doesn’t mean you can’t make fun on your own. Furthermore, there are ways to use the Halloween season as a way to spread Christ’s love and the redeeming power of the gospel message. Here are just five ways to have some fun without risking the safety of your Christian children.

1. Have a Game Night

So your kids are longingly looking at the kids outside with tear-filled eyes. What is a homeschool parent to do? Why not create your own fun? Have a family game night complete with a variety of board games and fun activities. Go wild with candy prizes and autumn-themed goodies. If your homeschoolers want, you can even dress up. You can still pass out candy to the neighbor children if you stay home. I know parents who pass out candy accompanied with small tracts or Bible verses. This is a great way to expose kids to God’s word. Whatever you do, don’t shut yourself in and ignore knocks on the door. That only sends the message that you are strange and even unfriendly.

2. Go to a Harvest Party

Each year, my church throws a Harvest Party on October 31st. There is a leaf pile surrounded by bales of hay that kids can dive into for a period of time to search for candy. There are competitions of all kinds, including target shooting, jousting, pillow fights, wrestling, and more. Each room of the church is devoted to a specific Bible-themed game. The cafeteria cooks pizza, popcorn, and nachos that come free with admission. My homeschoolers usually come home from the harvest party marveling as to how the harvest party has to be so much more fun than trick-or-treating. If your church doesn’t have one, why not look into starting one of your own? You could even host one with your homeschool co-op.

3. Go Bowling

On Halloween night, bowling alleys are usually pretty empty. You can take your family and to a bowling alley and have an all-night bowling party. Don’t just limit your fun to bowling. Laser tag, goofy golf, and other fun activities can be easily substituted. You could even get together with other homeschooling families for some friendly competition. You can make it especially fun by turning your family into a team. Each Christian homeschooling family can have its own colors or even uniforms. Be creative!

4. Throw a Costume Party

So your kids really want to dress up. Well, what’s wrong with that? As long as they don’t dress up as anything evil, a costume party can be a great activity for a church or homeschool co-op. Award prizes for the best costumes. One Christian homeschool friend of mine threw a Noah’s Ark party. Each homeschooler dressed up as a different animal and they put on a short play about Noah’s Ark.

5. Pumpkin Party

Carving Pumpkins was always my favorite element of Halloween. I can’t think of a good reason to not carve a pumpkin. Why not have a pumpkin party with your homeschoolers and other Christian friends? You can go to a pumpkin patch, pick out your favorite pumpkins, and then carve them into silly faces. I heard of one ambitious family carving Bible verses and inspirational messages like “Jesus is Lord” into a series of pumpkins. Just don’t throw away those seeds. Dry them out and add some salt for a fun snack!

If you’ve decided to keep your homeschool family from participating in Halloween, there are many alternatives that your homeschoolers will love. Not only will they have a great time, they will have a chance to spread His love. Here are five ways to have a blast without compromising the security of your little ones.

1. Family Game Night

If your homeschoolers are staring out the window at trick-or-treaters with tears in their eyes, it’s time to take action. It’s important to focus on fun during Halloween so your homeschool children don’t resent being kept away from Halloween festivities. A family game night is a great way to have some safe uplifting fun. Candy prizes and autumn-themed snacks like candy apples will up the fun factor. Get together with other homeschooling families for some extra competition. Be sure to have one family member pass out candy. If you want, you can also pass out tracts or Bible verses with inspirational messages. It’s wrong to shut yourselves in from people knocking on your door. This will just tell your neighbors that you are strange and unfriendly. If you pass out candy with a “God bless you” or “Jesus loves you,” they will think you are strange and friendly!

2. Attend a Fall Festival

Our church holds an annual fall fest on October 31st. This provides a safe environment for our homeschoolers to go wild. There is a leaf pile with hidden candy treats, a corn maze, and games and activities of all kinds. There are candy prizes galore as well as grand prizes like bicycles, basketballs and Bibles. Jousting, pillow fights, and dunk tanks are just some of the fun carnival-themed games to enjoy. I’ve heard more than once from my homeschoolers that the Fall Festival just has to be more fun than trick-or-treating. If your church doesn’t have a Halloween alternative, think about how you could start one. Get together with other homeschool parents to brainstorm.

3. Have a Bowling Tournament

Bowling tournaments (and goofy golf or laser tag for that matter) are a great way to have fun with the homeschoolers. Bowling alleys are understandably vacant on October 31st. This is a great opportunity for a family-friendly bowling competition. Ambitious homeschooling families will get together with other Christian families for some friendly competition. You can even make up team names complete with family colors or uniforms! Creativity is key!

4. Costume Party

One thing about Halloween that I always enjoyed was dressing up in outlandish costumes. There’s no reason to rob your children of this fun practice with a costume party. As long as the costumes don’t tend towards the macabre side, a costume party can be a great outreach event for a church. One homeschool friend of mine threw a Noah’s Ark theme party. Each child dressed up as a different animal. They put on a short impromptu play based on the story of Noah’s Ark.

5. Have a Pumpkin-Carving Party

Some people think that jack-o-lanterns represent undead souls. I don’t think they have to if you just want to have some creative fun. You can take your kids to a pumpkin patch and then spend the night carving silly faces, animals, or designs into pumpkins. Small pumpkins and gourds will add a nice autumnal feel to any homeschool. A friend of mine carves inspirational Bible verses and messages like “Jesus is Lord” into a series of pumpkins for her front lawn. Be creative! Don’t throw away those mushy pumpkin seeds. Add some salt and throw them in the oven for a fun fall snack.

If you’ve decided to keep your homeschool family from participating in Halloween, there are many alternatives that your homeschoolers will love. Not only will they have a great time, they will have a chance to spread His love. Here are five ways to have a blast without compromising the security of your little ones.

1. Family Game Night

If your homeschoolers are staring out the window at trick-or-treaters with tears in their eyes, it’s time to take action. It’s important to focus on fun during Halloween so your homeschool children don’t resent being kept away from Halloween festivities. A family game night is a great way to have some safe uplifting fun. Candy prizes and autumn-themed snacks like candy apples will up the fun factor. Get together with other homeschooling families for some extra competition. Be sure to have one family member pass out candy. If you want, you can also pass out tracts or Bible verses with inspirational messages. It’s wrong to shut yourselves in from people knocking on your door. This will just tell your neighbors that you are strange and unfriendly. If you pass out candy with a “God bless you” or “Jesus loves you,” they will think you are strange and friendly!

2. Attend a Fall Festival

Our church holds an annual fall fest on October 31st. This provides a safe environment for our homeschoolers to go wild. There is a leaf pile with hidden candy treats, a corn maze, and games and activities of all kinds. There are candy prizes galore as well as grand prizes like bicycles, basketballs and Bibles. Jousting, pillow fights, and dunk tanks are just some of the fun carnival-themed games to enjoy. I’ve heard more than once from my homeschoolers that the Fall Festival just has to be more fun than trick-or-treating. If your church doesn’t have a Halloween alternative, think about how you could start one. Get together with other homeschool parents to brainstorm.

3. Have a Bowling Tournament

Bowling tournaments (and goofy golf or laser tag for that matter) are a great way to have fun with the homeschoolers. Bowling alleys are understandably vacant on October 31st. This is a great opportunity for a family-friendly bowling competition. Ambitious homeschooling families will get together with other Christian families for some friendly competition. You can even make up team names complete with family colors or uniforms! Creativity is key!

4. Costume Party

One thing about Halloween that I always enjoyed was dressing up in outlandish costumes. There’s no reason to rob your children of this fun practice with a costume party. As long as the costumes don’t tend towards the macabre side, a costume party can be a great outreach event for a church. One homeschool friend of mine threw a Noah’s Ark theme party. Each child dressed up as a different animal. They put on a short impromptu play based on the story of Noah’s Ark.

5. Have a Pumpkin-Carving Party

Some people think that jack-o-lanterns represent undead souls. I don’t think they have to if you just want to have some creative fun. You can take your kids to a pumpkin patch and then spend the night carving silly faces, animals, or designs into pumpkins. Small pumpkins and gourds will add a nice autumnal feel to any homeschool. A friend of mine carves inspirational Bible verses and messages like “Jesus is Lord” into a series of pumpkins for her front lawn. Be creative! Don’t throw away those mushy pumpkin seeds. Add some salt and throw them in the oven for a fun fall snack.

Today we went to the park to meet the home school group for the first time and to celebrate Valentines Day with them. It was a lot of fun! I really like the group, everyone seems super nice and friendly! The kids decorated sugar cookies, ran amok, and even made some crafts (paper bag puppets and some crowns). They had a lot of fun! Decorating cookies and making a puppet Couple new pics of the baby — he enjoyed the sunshine!

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Park Day/ Valentines Day Party

Our 7 year old son is obsessed with fish, sea creatures, and the ocean right now. We’ve been using the fish theme in our homeschooling curriculum for over 2 months now so I thought something new and interactive would be a great gift idea. When the folks at Smith Micro asked us if we would

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Stocking Stuffer Idea: Aquazone Open Water For Kids

Hi, friends! I’m trying to be gentle with myself about my lack of posting around here, but of course I’m feeling guilty about being so absent. I’m still having more yucky days than not, but when I feel well, we’re busy trying to take advantage of autumn — my favorite season — by: ~Making multiple batches of popcorn balls. ~Visiting a pumpkin patch. ~Costume making. ~Baking some apples. (Recipe here.) ~Basking in the autumn sunshine.

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Autumn Is:

Here are two cheap and easy last minute ghost crafts to use as a Halloween decoration, party favor, or for a Halloween home school arts & craft lesson. Most of you probably have all the items already in your homes which makes this a very frugal craft to make with the kids. Cheap Halloween Ghost Craft

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Cheap N Easy Halloween Ghost Crafts

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Carnival of Homeschooling: 148 – The Halloween Version

This Halloween you can opt out of the ghosts and goblins, but still use the gory spirit of the season to your advantage in your homeschool. You can learn about the human body. Create a lapbook or a small book reporting on the different systems or just on a particular system. 1. Study the skeletal system

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Homeschool Halloween Biology

A reader writes: I grew up celebrating Halloween, and my kids love it, too. But our Catholic homeschooling group is discouraging members from celebrating it and having an All Saints’ Day…

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Reader Question: Is Halloween Anti-Christian?