Serving Art Educators
and Students Since 1994
In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV created All Saints' Day on November 1 to celebrate all the saints who didn't have their own day of celebration. He probably moved it to this date to discourage Christians from celebrating Samhain. The Celtics used November 1 to celebrate the harvest by offering food to their gods.
The day before All Saints' Day was called All Hallows Eve (Hallow is an old English word for saint)- which means the evening before All Saints Day. All Hallows' Eve was later shortened to Halloween. Contrary to popular opinion, Halloween has its roots in Catholicism rather than Satanists and Wiccans. It was only centuries later that these groups adopted this day.
Bobbing For Apples: Early folk tales told of unmarried people attempting to take a bite out of an apple bobbing in a pail of water, or suspended on a string. The first person to do so was believed to be the next to marry. Peeling an apple in front of a candle-lit mirror was believed to produce the image of one's future spouse. 3 Attempting to produce a long unbroken apple peel was said to estimate the number of years you had to live. The longer the peel, the longer your life expectancy.
Trick or Treating: On All Souls' Day, early European Catholics had a tradition of going from home to home, asking for soul cakes, or currant buns. In return, they would pray for the souls of the homeowner's relatives.
Jack-o'-lantern: The term "Jack-o-lantern" (Archive) came from an Irish folk tale of the 18th century. Jack was an Irishman. He had tricked the Devil into climbing an apple tree. He then cut a cross symbol in the tree trunk, thus trapping the Devil in the branches. At his death, he was unable to again access to Heaven because of his meanness. The Devil, having a long memory, would not allow him into Hell. So he was forced to walk the earth endlessly. The devil took pity on him and gave him a piece of coal to light his path. Jack put it inside a hollowed-out turnip that he had been eating.
Los Dias de los Muertos (The Days of the Dead): The Aztecs believed that the Monarch butterflies were the reincarnated spirits of their dead ancestors. Hispanics celebrate this day to honor their dead ancestors.
Bonfire Night: In England, Halloween is called All Hallows Eve. A few days later on November 5, they have Bonfire Night. On this night, bonfires burn in every city and town in England. They do this to dishonor a rebel named Guy Fawkes. They believe that Guy Fawkes was sent by the Pope to burn the House of Commons in London. Some towns to this day in England burn effigies of the Pope and Guy Fawkes.
Edvard Munch's "The Scream" - Interdisciplinary Connections
You can't forget famous works of art for Halloween. One of the most popular is one by Edvard Munch. Says Edvard:
"I was walking along a road one evening- on one side lay the city, and below me was the fjord. The sun went down- the clouds were stained red, as if with blood. I felt as though the whole of nature was screaming- it seemed as though I could hear a scream. I painted that picture, painting the clouds like real blood. The colors screamed." ~ Edvard Munch
Hey art teachers, some days you got to "SCREAM" - jump up and down for joy -- and do some cartwheels too! (Silly me). Dan Cherney sent me this incredible CNN article that just SCREAMS Interdisciplinary. Make your lesson meaningful. Why the sky was red in Munch's 'The Scream.'
Science: Astronomy, volcanoes, weather (I know this is all middle school curriculum) - Physics for the older kids
Geography: Norway - Indonesia (Island of Krakatoa) - topographical maps - etc.
Social Studies: The people of Norway (form 1800's and today) and the people of Indonesia (World religions/ beliefs IS a part of social studies curriculum - help those teachers do their jobs. Read your county curriculum guides to be sure. I know I am right for all of Ohio - Your states may be different)
Math: The researchers determined the vantage point of where Munch must have been standing. I'm too "stupid" today to figure that out - but your math people might be intrigued. Tie in distance - physics (there is math in physics)- there's more but let the math people help.
ART: Lots and lots and lots you can do... I have too many ideas to list. We will start with parody. GOOD NEWS! Amazon now has "The Scream" - (24" x 36" (61 x 91 cm) poster)
Hint: Save the article to file now - do the research over the summer to make your unit really wonderful! Many of you like to do "the Scream" in the Fall (around Halloween). Check with core subjects to see when their units fall - it is easier to mesh with them - than to make them mesh with you (smile).
175 Easy-To-Do Halloween Crafts
- Children as well as their teachers will like this book, which is filled with homespun ideas well within the grasp of elementary-graders comfortable using scissors, tape, and glue.
Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Halloween
- An activity package which contains many Halloween drawing projects. It shows you how to draw jack-o-lanterns, skeletons, witches and cats, and uses Ed Emberley's "simple alphabet" method of drawing.
FamilyFun Tricks and Treats: 100 Wickedly Easy Costumes, Crafts, Games & Foods
- The book features wickedly easy costume designs, spooky crafts, and complete Halloween party plans.
Halloween School Parties... What Do I Do?
- With 60 games, more than 50 crafts, and 50 treats to choose from, this book will ensure a fun and exciting Halloween party.
Halloween Crafts: Eerily Elegant Decor
- Written by Louis Tate of the well known television show Bewitched, readers will find fifty beautiful, vintage looking Halloween crafts and party recipes and learn how to use them to create a special holiday.
Crayola Happy Halloween - Also see their Halloween Coloring Pages, Crafts and Lesson Plans.
Day of the Dead- Art of Mexico - A lesson on IAD using the art of José Guadalupe Posada.
El Dias de Los Muertes - A great unit by art teacher Teri Gragg. (You have to approve the Flash plug-in for it to work)
Free Halloween Kids Crafts - a great page with Halloween crafts.
Ghost Crafts - a collection of lessons dealing with ghosts
Ghosts, Ghouls, and Goblins - With Halloween activities, games, webquests, and more.
The House that Drac Built - a lesson for Preschool and Kindergarten
Halloween Activities [Archive]
Halloween Coloring Fun - (Archive) Free coloring pages
Halloween Crafts - (Archive) Make shrunken heads, ghosts, and more
Halloween Alternative Crafts and Activities - With Christian lessons
Halloween Craft Projects - With many craft lessons by Craftown.
Halloween Crafts - A K-3 themed page.
Halloween Crafts for Kids - (Archive) A page from Makingfriends.com.
Halloween Games & Puzzles - (Archive) A lesson page from Kaboose.
Halloween Lesson Plan Ideas - IAD's page with Halloween ideas from teachers.
Halloween Lesson Plans - A nice blog of lessons related to Halloween.
Halloween Lesson Plan Ideas - (Archive) By About.com
Halloween Lessons - by Teachervision
Halloween Resource Page - Created by Teacher Planet, this page includes many Halloween lessons.
Halloween Teacher Resources - A page full of resources by TeacherVision.
Haunted House Treat Carrier - by Education World
Jack-O-Lantern Portraits [Archive]
Jack-O-Lantern Sculptures - IAD's lesson on carving pumpkin sculptures. See also this carving lesson.
Kaboose's Halloween Page (Archive)
Mommy Maestra - With art lessons for the Day of the Dead from a Latina homeschooler.
Monster Art [Archive] - by the Educator's Reference Desk
Monster Exchange - (Archive) A site by Brian Maguire, a former third grade teacher.
Mrs. Jackson's Class - with many Halloween resources and lessons
Mrs. Jones Halloween Fun - With lessons and decorations
Resources 4 Teachers (Archive)
Virtual Jack-O-Lantern - (Archive) You can carve pumpkins online!
What I See on Halloween -
An eBook for emergent readers [pdf]
About.com's Halloween Clip Art (Archive)
Halloween Cavern of Clip Art [Archive] - The site is now Halloween Online and has a different flavor.
Halloween Movies.com - Download free things from Michael Myers, the evil character in the movie, Halloween.
Halloween Printables - (Archive) by Kaboose
Halloween Fonts - (Archive) By Fontenstein
Witches Brew - (Archive) Clip art by the Youth Online Club. Also see this page.
1Halloween - (Archive) A page with many online activities.
Ben & Jerry's Halloween Page - (Archive) Recipes, games, and crafts
Disney's Family Fun Fright Site (Archive) - They have a variety of kid-friendly items. They have a huge crafts page.
Famous Monsters of Filmland - This is their art gallery.
Ghoul School - (Archive) A fun interactive page. Take the Ghoul School quiz.
Halloween Activities - With activities, lessons, crafts, clipart, songs and more.
Halloween Corner [Archive] - Halloween games and wallpaper.
Halloween is Here - (Archive) This site has everything. See their haunted gallery (Archive).
Halloween on the Web - (Archive) Everything you wanted to know...
Halloween Magazine for the Classroom (Archive)
Haunted House.com - Find a haunt near you
The Munsters - The longest surviving Munsters website on the internet.
Ofrendas: Celebrating Day of the Dead - A free online book with activities, recipes. You'll love this one!
The Reel-Gillman - Join the Creature From the Black Lagoon
What about Halloween? - A Christian perspective.
Basil Gogos - He has now passed away but this was his site while he was alive. He illustrated monster magazines and other material.
My favorite family home - The Munsters Home!