Halloween: A Holiday for Young and Old
There is a long tradition of celebrating holidays at All Seasons Preschool. It emerged from years of sharing holiday activities as a way to connect the children with the seniors. Celebrating the holidays that were important to the grandmas and grandpas feels natural and authentic because it evolves within the context of a community.
Halloween is one of those special long-standing holidays. Though many schools downplay Halloween, we celebrate it BIG. We count down the days and everyone talks about what we want to “be” for Halloween. Dressing up as an animal or a character from a favorite TV show or book allows us all, young and old, to pretend – a natural shared pleasure that makes us happy.
On Halloween, children (and the staff) dress up in costumes and parade through the hallways as the grandmas and grandpas smile, cheer, wave, and give high-fives. Some seniors also dress up, wearing cat ears or a pirate hat as they line the hallways. We end our parade in the community room, where each child is introduced by name and by the costume they are wearing. “Here’s Sarah dressed as a furry bunny!” “And here comes Liam. He’s Woody, the cowboy from ‘Toy Story.’” Each child walks down the aisle between an audience of seniors who clap and admire them. Afterwards, there are handshakes all around as the children greet the grandmas and grandpas without hesitation. They know their “neighbors” quite well by now.
This year for the first time at the Eagan preschool, families were invited to come back after school to trick-or-treat at the senior apartments. Excitement was in the air as families went from door to door, not only accepting treats but also pausing to chat. Grandmas and grandpas sat in their doorways with enormous bowls of candy in their laps. They asked children about their costumes, and met the parents and brothers and sisters of the preschoolers. After touring the four floors of the senior building, children had heaping bags of treats and tired smiles on their faces. So did the grandmas and grandpas. And they immediately began asking whether we could please do it all again next year!
This is how communities build traditions and how traditions build communities.
