Halloween

The different ways to celebrate Halloween in China:

1. Craving a watermelon (when we couldn’t find a pumpkin) and then a pumpkin with some of our students.

2. Decorating the room and doing Halloween crafts with the kids.

3. Dressing up. We didn't have a lot to work with, but with some costumes and crafts we were each able to make something up. I dressed up a a penguin, Whitney as a pirate, Alysa as a man, Leah as a fairy, Shayne as a cat, Mandy as a hot dog, and Kiera as a famous Chinese cartoon goat.

4. We had a Halloween party for the kids. First the kids were welcomed into the classroom by trick or treating; then we each had an activity and rotated the kids through them. Leah did masks, Alysa did bobbing for apples, Whitney did a pumpkin walk, Mandy and Shayne did a fishing activity, and I did face painting. At the end we had piñatas, which the kids made in crafts, that they each had a chance to knock down.

5. Trick or Treating. We came up with this idea that we should tell students that if they knock on our door at a certain time and say “Trick or Treat” then we will give them candy. Great idea right? Wrong. Very wrong. We had a ton of students show up at once, they lied about who got candy, and they basically went crazy and started a mosh pit outside our door. We locked the doors to try and debate what to do—then the students started banging on the door and trying to break in through the windows! Finally I made a mad dash out the door to the second floor where I tossed them the candy (which also turned into a bad idea). We actually got into a little trouble for all the fights we caused…

6. We finished off the day with a scary movie and caramel apples .