I shared my thoughts on Halloween and what God has called my family to do in the message posted here. And I invited other parents to share their thoughts.

I thought I would share some of the feedback I received:

These scriptures certainly give me something to think about.  I have always enjoyed Halloween, mainly because it means Fall is here, or on the way.  I love to decorate for Halloween, too.  Most of our decorations are pumpkins, leaves, etc.  The girls have enjoyed putting their school art projects on the windows as decorations.  Since they are attending a Church Preschool/PDO program, none of the art is Halloween (ghosts, witches, etc.) specific.  I may need to rethink my tablecloth that is covered with carved pumpkins.  Interestingly enough, the girls don’t consider these “Jack-O-Lanterns”, but simply carved pumpkins.

I certainly recognize that Halloween has very Pagan roots.  But then so does Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.  We are very careful to test the girls the true meanings of Christmas and Easter, but we do write letters to Santa and hunt eggs.  They haven’t started asking specific questions yet, but I can see how mixing in the Pagan characters with our celebrations of Jesus’s Birth and Resurrection can be confusing.  The main difference with Halloween is that is has NO religious significance.  Hmmm…

Our usual Halloween plans involve wearing “non-scary” costumes: Meagan will be “Stefanie” from LazyTown and Lauren will be dressed as a kitty-cat.  We also participate in a Halloween Parade sponsored by my Mom’s neighborhood.  After gathering for snacks and a costume contest, all parents and children walk down the parade route and folks sit in their front yards to view the costumes and give out candy.  It seems pretty harmless to me, but again, you’ve given me something to think about.  Thanks for the insight.

- Amy

“We don’t celebrate either. And as my daugther gets older the questions are more frequent.  But we may attend “Hallowed Be Thy Name” this year at church.  It’s an alternative to Halloween hosted by our Christian Education Ministry.  The kids get to dress as their favorite bible character, play games, and have fun.  It’s inside and kind of like a festival…the enitre community is invited.  So I think we’ll give it a try and see how it goes.

-Felicia

We do not participate in Halloween either.  When our daughter was 4, we decided to no longer participate in it.

Our conviction that participating = celebrating.  How can you celebrate a holiday as a Christian, that epitomizes, ghosts, witches, goblins and such.

We are fortunate that the schools where we live do not have Halloween parties, so that has not been an issue.  And  our daughter (who is now 11), has used the opportunity to explain to her friends, and classmates, exactly why, we choose not to participate in Halloween activities. 

We’ve never had a problem with the candy, we simply go to the store and buy a bunch all year long!

We have found it to be a great conversation starter, when people ask us, “what is your child dressing up as this year?”  We can then share our faith with them.

-Tamara

I used to be wishy washy when my oldest child was young.  I always felt convicted, but I took her trick or treating anyways.  Now that I’m older and wiser, we do not celebrate Halloween at all.  My children are in a Christian school, so I don’t have to worry about them participating there.  We also go to our church for a Harvest Festivle, so we are not home to pass out candy.

-Sharon

Hey Chanda,

Here’s the other side.

I believe trick or treating,hanging your stockings and hunting for Easter Eggs all fall under fun Americian tradition.  However, before I had children I was a Christian preschool teacher and I believed in acknowledging Halloween but not teaching scary and spooky. As a school we did not do costume parades and such. We celebrated all the wonders of the Harvest season. The days before Halloween we always had a photographer bring his pony for pictures and all the kids could dress up cowboy/girl pony pictures. I talked with children about trusting in God when you are afraid and letting your light shine for Jesus.

My fav book are Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs and Halloween Is it for Real? by Harold Myra. Now that I have two children 5 and 7. We decorate and dress up but not spooky or scary. My children have always loved to dress up I love to buy them costumes because they play in them all year. I believe dressing up is part of good childhood development. I know my time is coming that all of the innocence will change but I pray my honesty and example will make that road easier to follow. This year we will be inviting our friends and neighbors to a Halloween Carnival at our church.

-Carrie

We do celebrate Halloween…. Did as a child and do now with our children.  We believe that the holiday is what you make it.  Halloween is a time to get together with family to enjoy the outdoors and neighbors.  The kids know that some people celebrate in a way that is not pleasing to God… It’s a great way to pass out tracts too.

-Nancy

Yes, I do allow my kids to go “trick or treating”.  Halloween is so commercialized these days.  It’s all about wearing costumes and going out for candy. 

These are my thoughts.  Hope this helps!  Have a blessed Fall Season. :) 

-Dorina

It was so great to hear what other Christian parents think. I hope you enjoyed this topic too. You can add your opinion by clicking the comments button below.

Have a blessed day!

Chanda