Halloween is the time of year that is fun for all ages. The leaves are changing colors and the air turns brisk. Imaginations run wild and there’s a sense of excitement that can be felt throughout the entire month. It is the beginning of the holiday streak and there are decorations galore. During this time, you can feel the sense of community strengthen as party invitations are sent out, events are happening throughout town and school Halloween parades take their place. This is the time of year when you can make fun shapes out of pumpkins and enjoy the smell and taste of roasted pumpkin seeds. You can officially go full force with all things pumpkin and no one will blink an eye. Score. Your nightly walks are lined with rows of Jack O lanterns and spooky houses. And there are exciting things around every corner.
While it is exciting and fun, there are some things that come along with it, such as scary costumes and haunted houses. Which some children are terrified of. So since this might be the case for some kids, it is a good thing there are many not-so-scary ways to celebrate as well. Balance! After all, it really is about the kids having a fun time. So when the sun starts to set, this is an activity that can be done during the weeks leading up the Halloween itself. Although it’s a bit sneaky, and you still get to hide, no one jumps out to scare the kids. That’s pretty impressive considering it does involve, “Boo!”
As you may already know, this is a fun new way to amplify the sense of fun and community during Halloween. And while those comfy, caring senses are already on the rise, this is a perfect way to jump on in the Halloween season. And if you don’t already know, it is time you find out.
Last October my daughter’s opened the front door one morning to find two little bags and a clever little letter, informing them they had been “Booed!” They had the happiest, yet slightly confused looks on their faces. As they opened up their goodie bags of little fruit snacks and stickers, we read that it was now their turn to surprise someone else and with their own special treats. I had never seen this before and thought it was such a fun thing to do. They went to school with an extra big smile that day and tried to figure out who left this special surprise at their doorstep… and how they didn’t hear them. Later that day when I picked them up from school, they still wore those big smiles and were still completely stumped.
They did, however, have ideas of who they wanted to “Boo” next, and what they wanted to gift them. We lived in a really fun, family saturated neighborhood at the time, so we ended up making extra bags. It was just so hard to pick two people and I’m a total sucker for these kinds of fun activities. We grabbed our freshly made up Boo bags and headed out on our bikes. As we passed the streets lined with Jack O Lanterns and took in the smell of roasting pumpkin seeds, my girls started giggling with excitement the closer we got to their friend’s house. They hid their bikes behind a bush and did the best they could to quiet down their muffled chuckling. As they placed the Boo bags down, they ran like lighting, hopped on their bikes and were filled with laughter the entire ride back home. As we passed colorful leaves, and spooky decorations their voices were filled with joy. You could tell they were thrilled and couldn’t wait to see if their friends could guess who left them their bag.
We had one last stop as the sun took its final bow. This was the trickiest one of all because they lived directly across the street from us. The girls giggled in the creeping darkness, placed their last bags down and roared with laughter. The porch light flashed on and the front door swung open. They were busted mid-street. All you could hear were their two friends, giggling with excitement as they saw they’d been Boo-ed. And even though they knew who did it, it was still a surprise in itself. And at that moment I thought, “Yes, this is exactly what this season is all about.”
So whether scary, silly or full-blown pumpkin-everything is your style for Halloween season. Surprising someone with a friendly “Boo” is a heart warming and fun way to celebrate for any age range. To get your Boo signs, here is a link for you to choose from.
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