I'll Take My Halloween Without Gruesome, Thanks!

Hi, Teaching Friends!

Okay. Without being a total Scrooge about it, I'd like to say I'm not a big fan of Halloween. Or maybe I should say, I'm not a big fan of what Halloween has become, especially in school. I'm all for little guys having fun dressing up, ringing doorbells, and even "OD-ing" a bit on candy (especially when Halloween falls on a Friday!). I can even tolerate a cute little ghostie, as long as it's very obviously a cartoon.

What I don't like is the creepy stuff.  I think you know what I mean - masks with blood dripping from them,  spider web-draped shop displays, etc.  I like to be able to walk through  a store without seeing ghoulish figures and hearing moans and screams. The devils with glowing red eyes are nasty.  And even though some of the sayings may be clever, where's the fun in tombstones on front lawns?


That being said, I absolutely love every shape and size of pumpkin!! I love sweater days, apple picking, hayrides in farmers' fields, and a walk in crunchy colorful leaves. The aroma of an apple pie baking is unbeatable! I've taught and learned from lots of fall science units like bats and spiders, and read and reread many autumn classics like Stellaluna and Pumpkin,Pumpkin.


But I just don't care for the scary stuff, and the fact that in some schools, so many little ones are routinely exposed to the creepiness. Isn't there enough real scariness in their world right now? Can't we just keep this holiday full of happy fun??

Here's a resource for your K-5 classroom if you love fall but not Halloween. It's a set of review cards for any subject. There are 16 October themes, but not one spooky thing at all.

You can program them to fit your own needs, like these...

I like to stick them up around the inside of the classroom door, or around the frame of it. Then take the card in each set that has no white box and tape it to the end of a pointer or yardstick. Whenever the class lines up to leave the room, the line leader gets to point to a few cards and the class responds. Quick and easy review! The preview download has lots and lots of ideas for programming and using the cards at all levels.

Click here to see it at my TPT store.

If you've hung in there through my whole Halloween rant, you certainly deserve a free sample from this product!! Click here to get yours from Google Docs.

I'd love to hear how you feel about Halloween celebrations. :) 

Happy Teaching!