Halloween has its origin in the Celtic festival of Hallowmas, a celebration of the beginning of a new cycle of the Wheel of the Year. Lore has it that the veil between the world of the living and the dead is at its most transparent during Halloween night, and therefore the spirits of the dead, fairies, witches and goblins roam about. At City of Lakes Waldorf School, we seek to rekindle the light of Halloween through our in-school celebrations. Early childhood classes have a separate celebration from the Grades. For students in grades 1-8, the celebration includes the carving of pumpkins, wearing costumes, and hearing an eerie story in the darkened and pumpkin-lit gym. Additionally, individual classes may celebrate with special treats in their respective classrooms.
Important Information on Pumpkins and Costumes
On Wednesday, October 28th, students in grades 1-4 will be paired off with students in grades 5-8 to carve pumpkins. Students do not need to bring carving tools. In the afternoon the pumpkins will light the darkened gym for a Halloween story. Pumpkins should be taken home at the end of the day to light your home or stoop.
Students in grades 1-8 may also bring costumes to school. Students will come to school dressed normally, and they will be allowed to change into their costumes at lunchtime. Students will not have subject classes in the afternoon. They will have their own Halloween celebrations in their classrooms, and during the last period they will assemble in the gym for a story. The teachers hope this will be a fun and celebratory day for the students; we do not want to create more work for parents. Something simple from the dress-up trunk is perfect. There follow some simple guidelines for school costumes, but as always, your judgment in helping create a fun and appropriate atmosphere for the younger children is appreciated. In keeping with the school’s emphasis on the development of imagination, children (and adults) are asked not to wear costumes depicting media images, cartoons or gruesome images. A character like Snow White would not be considered a media image. Although she had her own movie, she was a fairy tale first. Masks are not allowed. As a general rule, if the children have heard a story from their teacher at school, a costume depicting a character from that story is appropriate. Please refer to the following, developed by the teachers, as a general guideline to costumes. If you have any questions, please consult your class teacher.
Acceptable Costumes:
Witches and warlocks, gnomes, fairies, trolls, storybook characters, characters from classic literature, characters from the Waldorf curriculum, characters from mythology, occupations, animals, homemade, (mostly) natural materials, costumes of a modest length and appropriateness.
Unacceptable Costumes:
Scary, gruesome monsters, cartoon characters, superheroes, blood, images of death, characters from TV and movies, characters taken from current events, unclean or soiled clothing items, items resembling guns or weapons, store-bought, plastic, unnatural materials, revealing costumes, masks, extreme face paint, or items that obscure the face.