Discover how Halloween started and its fascinating history, celebrating traditions from ancient times to modern celebrations, in a way that's easy for kids to understand.
Hi Victoria! Let’s take a fun journey back in time to explore how Halloween began!
1. Ancient Beginnings: Halloween traces its roots to an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain. This festival was celebrated by people in Ireland and other parts of Europe over 2,000 years ago. They believed that on the night of October 31st, the boundary between the living and the dead became blurry, and spirits could come back to earth!
2. Lighting the Fire: To protect themselves from these wandering spirits, people would light bonfires and wear costumes, often made from animal skins. They thought the costumes would help them blend in with the spirits or scare them away!
3. Christian Influence: As time went on, Christianity spread, and in the 8th century, the church designated November 1st as All Saints’ Day, a day to honor saints. The evening before that, on October 31st, started to be called All Hallows’ Eve, which eventually became Halloween.
4. Modern Traditions: When people moved to America, they brought their Halloween customs with them. Over time, Halloween transformed into what we now know today—trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving, and spooky decorations became popular traditions.
5. Fun Fact: Did you know that the tradition of carving pumpkins started with turnips? People would hollow out turnips to keep away evil spirits! When they came to America, they found pumpkins were larger and easier to carve.
So, Halloween has a long and exciting history, filled with fun customs and traditions that have changed over the years. Today, it’s a time for costumes, candy, and spooky fun!