There's nothing better than spending time together and letting creativity soar. This special holiday is the perfect excuse for it. In this article, we invite you to discover the origins of Halloween, how it's celebrated around the world, and some easy Halloween crafts to do with kids.
Get ready for some fun moments: you'll create a festive atmosphere while learning more about other cultures. Moreover, these crafts and recipes will not only awaken the Halloween spirit but also strengthen family bonds.
The Origins of Halloween Celebration
Halloween, also known as All Hallows' Eve, is a festivity celebrated on October 31st. While more popular in English-speaking countries like the United States and Canada, its origins trace back over 2000 years to Celtic festivities. These ancient Celts celebrated Samhain, a festival marking the end of the harvest season.
This event symbolized the transition into winter, involving the gathering of the final harvest, food preparations, and divination practices. Through stories and legends shared around the fire, community bonds were strengthened, passing down a valuable cultural legacy from generation to generation.
During Samhain, it was believed that the boundary between the world of the living and the dead blurred. This allowed the spirits of ancestors to interact with the living. To honor them, bonfires were lit, and ritual ceremonies were performed.
Celebrations Related to Halloween Around the World
Today, Samhain has left a deep influence on later festivities like Halloween worldwide. Its essence can be found in these celebrations: celebrating a transition, remembering ancestors, and connecting with nature.
All Saints' Day and Halloween
All Saints' Day, on November 1st, is a Christian holiday. The Catholic Church established this day to honour its saints and martyrs. The night before, known as All Hallows' Eve, was adopted as Halloween.
While initially with a religious focus, All Saints' Day is also a day for families to gather and remember those who have passed away. It is a tradition to visit the cemetery on this day to leave flowers at the graves of ancestors.
All Saints' Day shares a close connection with Halloween, celebrated the day before. While Halloween is often associated with fun and fantasy, the solemnity of All Saints' provides a significant contrast.
La Castañada and Halloween
In Catalonia and other regions of Spain, Halloween coincides with a celebration known as La Castañada. This celebration also takes place on November 1st, the day of All Saints.
During La Castañada, as the name suggests, the star of the show is roasted chestnuts. Roasted sweet potatoes complement this delicacy, as well as panellets, small almond and pine nut sweets.
La Castañada goes beyond a gastronomic tradition. Like Magosto in Galicia, or Gaztainerra in the Basque Country and Navarra, it becomes a moment to remember deceased loved ones. Around the table, family members share anecdotes and memories, creating a space of emotional connection across generations.
This celebration imparts upon the younger generation the importance of valuing family heritage, cultivating a sense of belonging and continuity. La Castañada, with its blend of flavor and emotion, is a true forge of warm moments that will be cherished forever.
Day of the Dead and Halloween
We shift continents to arrive in Mexico, where Halloween coincides with the Día de Muertos. Both festivities have roots in Celtic tradition and share an essential element: the celebration of life and death.
The Day of the Dead is a colourful and emotional festivity to remember deceased loved ones. It takes place on November 1st and 2nd, coinciding with All Saints' Day and the Day of the Faithful Departed. Unlike mourning, this celebration is joyful and festive, celebrating life and the continuity of family ties.
Families gather to create altars in honour of their departed loved ones, adorned with symbolic elements: photographs of the deceased, candles, flowers, objects, food, and drink.
The "pan de muerto" (bread of the dead) is a distinctive feature of this celebration. Sharing the "pan de muerto" as a family strengthens the bonds between the living and those who have passed away. The Día de Muertos bears witness to Mexico's rich cultural heritage and the deep connection families have with their ancestors.
Why Celebrate Halloween with Family
As we've seen, despite different customs during these dates, they all have a common link with family. Halloween provides a unique opportunity to come together around stories and anecdotes, as well as creative and enjoyable activities.
Celebrating Halloween with the family is much more than a simple tradition. It's a chance to strengthen the emotional bonds that unite us.
Transmitting Values Through Family Creativity
Celebrating Halloween provides parents with an opportunity to teach fundamental values to their children. By participating in crafting and team projects, collaboration, creativity, and mutual enjoyment are fostered. These moments are ideal for demonstrating the importance of working together towards a common goal, as well as instilling the value of family fun without screens.
Managing Fear and Emotions
Celebrating Halloween with family is an excellent opportunity to discuss fear and learn to manage emotions. Through age-appropriate books and stories, parents can help their children understand their fears and learn to face them positively and empathetically. This provides them with fundamental emotional tools for their development.
Sharing Stories and Beliefs
Halloween is also the perfect time to discover and share stories, beliefs, and legends about spirits, paranormal phenomena, and folklore. This interaction promotes respect for diverse cultural perspectives and enriches our understanding of the world around us.
Exploring Death and Honouring Ancestors
Celebrating Halloween with family also offers the possibility to address deeper themes, such as death and the celebration of our ancestors. With activities and conversations tailored to the children's age, we help them understand and accept the inevitable nature of life and death. This allows children to have a healthier and more balanced view of these concepts.
Halloween Craft Ideas for Kids
Crafts are an excellent way to involve children in celebrating Halloween with the family and to foster their creativity. Here are some ideas for fun and easy projects to do together at home:
Pumpkin Lollipop
A simple way to present treats in a fun way. It is ideal for gifting to the kids in your neighbourhood who come knocking for trick-or-treating.
Bat Friend Craft
All you need is a cardboard roll and pieces of black construction paper. You'll have a decoration piece that can be as spooky or as cute as you make it. You can make several and string them together in a garland by passing a needle and thread through each one.
DIY Spider Web
Another decoration idea, because Halloween wouldn't be complete without spiders. This spider web, at least, is easy to see and won't get tangled up with everything.
Decorated Pumpkins
Carved pumpkins are a Halloween classic. Let the kids choose their design and give them total freedom to express their creativity.
Additionally, to avoid wasting food, you can use the pumpkin flesh to prepare a tasty soup or pie.
Recycled Costumes
Kids love dressing up, and Halloween is the perfect day for it. It doesn't have to be expensive, though. By using recycled materials like cardboard, paper, old fabrics, and everyday objects, children can use their creativity to create unique and original costumes.
This activity is not only fun but also a way to teach kids about the importance of recycling and reusing.
Halloween and Castañada Recipes to Make with Kids
In addition to crafts, thematic recipes for Halloween and Castañada are another fun way to involve kids in the celebration. Here are some easy and delicious recipes you can prepare as a family:
Halloween Cookies
Decorated cookies are a fun and creative activity to do with kids. Choose your favourite cookie recipe and prepare them with the kids. If the recipe allows, use pumpkin, ghost, or bat-shaped cookie cutters.
Then, let the kids decorate them with coloured icing and sprinkles. This is a way to combine cooking and crafts, and the kids will be proud to see their edible creations.
Panellets (Recipe) for All Saints' Day
With sugar, egg yolk, and almonds, you have the base for panellets, these typical round Catalan sweets for All Saints' Day. Some also contain potato, sweet potato, chocolate, pine nuts, coconut, pistachios, coffee, and more. We propose a traditional panellets recipe with pine nuts to make with kids:
For 30-40 panellets:
- 300g of ground almonds (raw)
- 150g of sugar
- 100g of roasted sweet potato
- 1 egg
- Lemon zest
- 200g of pine nuts
Panellets recipe:
First, you need to roast the sweet potato if it's not already done. This can be done in the oven for about 30 minutes at 180ºC.
Mash the roasted sweet potato thoroughly to obtain a homogeneous puree.
Add the ground almonds, sugar, egg yolk, and lemon zest, and mix well, either using a food processor or by hand.
With the resulting dough, shape it into balls of equal size, roughly the size of a ping pong ball. You can refrigerate the dough for an hour beforehand to make it easier to handle.
To "attach" the pine nuts, pour them onto a plate. Then, brush the surface of our marzipan balls with the egg white. Gently press this side into the pine nuts and arrange the panellets, pine nut side up, on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
In the preheated oven at 180ºC, let the panellets bake for about 7-8 minutes. This is a very short baking time, and it may vary depending on your oven. Therefore, we recommend keeping an eye on them to prevent them from burning or becoming too hard. The pine nuts should be golden brown, and the marzipan should form a crust but remain soft on the inside.
Roasted Chestnuts
For La Castañada, roasted chestnuts are a must. You can roast the chestnuts in the oven or in a pan, and then enjoy them hot while telling spooky stories by the fireplace.
Roasted Sweet Potato
Se suele comer también boniato asado, de plato, de merienda o de postre. Les suele gustar hasta a los más pequeños, con su textura suave y su sabor dulce. Puedes aprovechar la preparación de las castañas para asar los boniatos, que sea en el hogar de tu chimenea o en el horno.
Pumpkin Soup (Recipe) for Autumn
Pumpkin is in season, and you might have already used some to decorate your home. So, let's use the flesh to prepare an ideal soup for cool autumn evenings.
For 4 servings:
- 800g of pumpkin (already peeled and chopped)
- 100g of potato
- 50g of onion
- Olive oil
- 200 mL of water or vegetable broth
- Salt
Pumpkin soup recipe:
Peel and dice the onion into large pieces. Let them sauté for 5 minutes on low heat in a pot with a spoonful of hot olive oil.
Meanwhile, wash, peel, and chop the pumpkin and potato into large cubes.
When the onion turns translucent, add the potato and pumpkin with a pinch of salt. Sauté for a few minutes and add the water or vegetable broth.
Allow it to cook for about 20 minutes, until the pumpkin and potato are tender.
Blend the mixture using a blender. It's possible to set aside some of the liquid before blending and gradually incorporate it back to control the texture of our soup.
We love it with a bit of pepper and nutmeg. Some also add grated ginger, fresh coriander, or soft cheese portions.
Conclusion: Embracing Creativity and Togetherness During Halloween Celebrations
As you've seen, both due to its origins and its current form, Halloween is a perfect opportunity to spend quality time with family. By engaging in crafts or recipes together, we are not only creating lasting memories but also strengthening family bonds.
Furthermore, participating in Halloween activities as a family stimulates imagination and promotes the development of motor and cognitive skills in children. The little ones learn to follow instructions, collaborate, and explore their creative side. It's a perfect opportunity to let imagination run wild, impart essential values, address important issues constructively, and thus, enjoy the magic of Halloween with the family.
