How to Celebrate Halloween with Purpose and Peace: Christian Alternatives for Families
Parenting
Audio By Carbonatix
4:30 AM on Thursday, October 16
By Carrie Lowrance, Parenting
Halloween is a day to celebrate dark things and is very popular. But what if you’re a family that doesn’t celebrate Halloween? Are you looking for alternatives for celebrating Halloween this year? Here are some great ideas for family fun this Halloween.
Understanding the Origin of Halloween: A Christian Perspective
The Celts of Ireland and other parts of Europe celebrated the festival of Samhain, the origin of Halloween. This festival marked the end of the harvest season and the start of winter, which was often associated with death and darkness. They thought that on the night of October 31st, the boundary between the living and the dead blurred, permitting spirits to wander the earth. In response, people lit bonfires and dressed in costumes to ward off the roaming spirits.
To Christianize this pagan holiday, the church established the first of November as All Saints' Day or All Hallows Day. On this day, Christians honor the saints and martyrs of the Christian faith. The day before All Saints' Day, All Hallows Eve eventually morphed into Halloween.
The transformation shows how Christianity sought to replace pagan customs with religious significance.
Exploring Harvest Festivals: Celebrating God’s Bounty
One great alternative to celebrating Halloween is going to a harvest festival. Many churches have these in the fall, including special worship services, baptisms, family activities, and food trucks, among other things.
This is also a great way to visit different churches in a more relaxed atmosphere. Check out the church fall festivals in your area and attend a few to get a feel for each church. If you think it would be a good fit, if you don’t have a church home, or if you have a church home, getting involved with a fall festival is just as much fun as attending.
Engaging in Community Service: Giving Back During Fall
Engaging in community service as a family is a great way to grow closer while helping others. Some great ways to do this include;
- Volunteering at your church's fall festival.
- Raking leaves for seniors: Ask around your neighborhood if any seniors need their leaves raked or other minor things done.
- Homeless Outreach Programs: Volunteer at your local homeless shelter or outreach programs. Your contributions will be appreciated, whether preparing food, organizing a clothing or food drive, or serving at the shelter.
- Community Garden: Autumn is harvesting season in the garden, and extra hands will be helpful. You may also want to volunteer to help with beautification projects, so if you have a green thumb, why not teach an educational workshop?
- Environmental Cleanup: Volunteer to help clean up your local parks, nature trails, and streets.
Creating a Family Game Night: Fun Alternatives for All Ages
Game nights are always fun with the family. Playing games together encourages communication, patience, and even some friendly competition. You can also play many games, from board games to card games to video games. Here are some ideas for all ages.
- Candy Land
- Chutes n Ladders
- Hi-Ho Cherry-O!
- Scrabble
- Life
- Sorry
- Trouble
- Go Fish
- Apples to Apples (There is a Bible edition of this game.)
- Bible Trivia & Card Games
- Video games rated ‘E’ for Everyone
Themed Costume Parties: Focusing on Biblical Characters
Bible-themed costume parties are a great alternative to celebrating Halloween. Add some games, contemporary or worship music, and fantastic food, and start the party. The Bible has unique characters, but here are some ideas.
- Moses (Carry two tablets with you.)
- David
- Queen Esther
- Jonah (add a stuffed whale.)
- Mary (Jesus’s mom, this is a great idea for pregnant women.)
- Daniel (Add a stuffed lion.)
- Star of Bethlehem (Include illuminated jewelry to make you 'shine'.)
- Bible Animals
- One apostle (choose your favorite).
- Joseph (Jesus’ dad)
- Goliath
- Jesus
Fall Nature Walks: Connecting with Creation
Take a nature walk in your neighborhood, a nearby park, or on a hiking trail in your area. Notice everything as you walk, like the leaves on the ground, creatures that come into your path, the sound of a light breeze, and the crackling of leaves. Thank God for creating these things for you to enjoy.
Hosting a Pumpkin Carving Evening: A Lighthearted Activity
Pumpkin carving is a Halloween tradition, but Christians don’t have to be left out. Instead of carving faces like a Jack-o'-lantern, carve Christian symbols into your pumpkin and add an LED candle. Then set it out on your porch to show the light to the world.
Little ones can decorate their pumpkins with paint for a safer option.
You could even have a family contest with several categories for people to vote on.
Crafting and Baking: Celebrating with Seasonal Treats
Spend Halloween evening baking and doing some fall-themed crafting. The cooler temperatures are perfect for baking warm goodies for friends and family.
Fall Craft Ideas:
- Collect and press leaves.
- Fingerpaint in autumn colors.
- Potato stamping
- Apple prints
Baking Ideas:
At this time of year, pumpkin spice is the only flavor available, but there are plenty of other flavors of fall treats like apple, caramel, cinnamon, etc. Here are desserts featuring an array of fall flavors.
- Apple pie
- Pumpkin bread
- Caramel cinnamon rolls
- Apple dumplings
- Cinnamon bread
- Pumpkin coffee cake
- Regular cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing
- Apple cake
- Apple crisp
- Apple cider donut muffins or cake
- White chocolate and cranberry cookies
- Pear Bundt Cake (found on Taste of Home)
Share some of your goodies with your friends and neighbors when you're done baking.
Storytelling Nights: Sharing Faith-Based Stories and Parables
Share some of your favorite Bible stories and parables and explain why you like them so much. You can even take it a little deeper and talk about the characters, what you learned personally from the story, and how you can apply what you’ve learned in your life. Gather some simple props and act out your favorite stories together.
Intentional Fellowship: Building Relationships with Other Families
Spend the evening with other families that you know. You could have a fun night in or go out and do something fun. Here are some ideas.
A night in:
- Movies and pizza
- Playing video games together
- Crafting together
- Have a potluck dinner or dessert buffet
- Crank up the tunes and have a dance party
- Read together
- Board game marathon
- Play Charades with a theme
- Karaoke
- Puzzle night
A night out:
- Go to the movies (check pricing at your local independently owned movie theater).
- Bowling
- Go to an arcade
- Go rollerskating
- Attend a live performance (even if it’s at your local community theater)
- Go out for dessert
- Go out for dinner
- Mini golf
- Go to an independently owned bookstore (used bookstore)
- Go swimming (if you have an indoor pool near you)
These are great ways to spend time with other families you know and have fun together.
There are many alternative ways to spend Halloween than getting caught up in the darkness. Start planning today to have a happy, peaceful, and faith-filled Halloween this year.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/hobo_018
Carrie Lowrance is a freelance writer and author. She has had her work featured on Crosswalk, iBelieve, Huffington Post, and the Penny Hoarder. She is also the author of three children’s books, three clean romance books, one romance novella, three books of poetry, and one non-fiction book. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and baking, reading, and hanging out with her husband, and sweet cat, Cupcake. You can find out more about Carrie and her writing at www.carrielowrance.com.
