Halloween is a fun time full of candies, festivities, and mysteries. For younger children, the mystery associated with the holiday can be overwhelming, especially if they are surrounded by older kids who take great joy in trying to scare them. While it may be all fun to the older children, the younger ones can become quite frightened.
The following 8 tips will help you alleviate their fears and allow them to enjoy the holiday:
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Support the Little Ones if Afraid. Fears are real for small children. Making fun of them will only compound their fears making it harder to work through them.
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Encourage Family-Friendly Activities. Small children are often afraid of strangers, so making sure the event is family-friendly will help to provide them a certain level of comfort.
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Explain the Mystery. Telling children how something works or explaining what is “fake” and what is real can alleviate many of their fears.
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Include Age-Appropriate Activities. Activities should be available for children of all ages. Small children may be too afraid to participate in activities that older children will enjoy.
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Keep Lines of Communication Open. If your child asks questions, give them answers. Talk to them about what they see and how it makes them feel.
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Celebrate as a Family. Celebrate the holiday as a family. Go trick or treating together. Decorate the home.
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Avoid Scary Costumes. If you know your child is afraid of gruesome costumes, avoid them. Be creative. Make your own costume.
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Allow Children to Participate in the Decorating. Let the kids help you hang the spiders and cobwebs around your home. Let them help dig out the scary decorations.
Follow these tips to ensure your child also spends an enjoyable and happy Halloween!
What are your ways of alleviating your little one’s Halloween fears? Share with us in the comments section below.
About Pacific Preschool & Kindergarten
Pacific PreSchool & Kindergarten is one-of-a-kind preschool and child care center in San Marcos, California. Their goal is to provide an early childhood education program to little children so that it satisfies their physical, socio-emotional and child development needs in a progressive way. Lynda Way, the owner of Pacific PreSchool & Kindergarten, makes use of her 40 years of professional knowledge in childhood development and truly loves what she does.
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