I have a class of 5 year old Persian students,what do I tell them about Halloween?

Question

taking in to account that they have never heard about halloween and they won't have any idea what It is,how should I explain it to them?

Answer 1

Teach the American tradition of trick-or-treating and dressing up and keep it simple!

Julie J~ Iranians are Persians and prefer to be called Persian. They are very proud people that honor their Persian culture.

Answer 2

Hi Azita,

There has not been a "Persia" in many many years. I believe you mean those children are "Iranian." That's the proper name now. They come from Iran. And they do not celebrate Halloween there. If they live here, I'm sure they have seen costumes & heard other children talking about trick-or-treating. If not, you can tell them that's the day you dress up & get candy door-to-door. I'm sure they will love it if they are anything like Western children.

I would suggest visiting your school library and checking out some Halloween themed children's books to read to them.

Oh- you also might want to demonstrate carving a pumpkin into a face for them, that's another Halloween tradition. The children could practice by drawing faces on paper first. Maybe let them vote on the best one to use for your class pumpkin. Pumpkin seeds make a tasty, healthy snack too.

Good luck.

Lynn- Is your boyfriend gay? Then why does he have a husband? (just curious)

Answer 3

tell them the facts.........

Halloween is a tradition celebrated on the night of October 31, most notably by children dressing in costumes and going door-to-door collecting sweets. It is celebrated in parts of the Western world, though most commonly in the United States, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Puerto Rico, with increasing popularity in Australia and New Zealand. Halloween originated among the Celts in Ireland, Britain and France[1] as the Pagan Celtic harvest festival, Samhain. Irish, Scots, Calan Gaeaf in Welsh and other immigrants brought versions of the traditions to North America in the 19th century. Most other Western countries have embraced Halloween as a part of American pop culture in the late 20th century.

The term Halloween, and its older spelling Hallowe'en, is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the evening before "All Hallows' Day"[2] (also known as "All Saints' Day"). In Ireland, the name was All Hallows' Eve (often shortened to Hallow Eve), and though seldom used today, it is still a well-accepted label. The holiday was a day of religious festivities in various northern European Pagan traditions, until Pope Gregory III moved the old Christian feast of All Saints Day to November 1 to give Halloween a Christian interpretation . Halloween is also called Pooky Night in some parts of Ireland, presumably named after the púca, a mischievous spirit.

Halloween is often associated with the occult. Many European cultural traditions hold that Halloween is one of the liminal times of the year when the spiritual world can make contact with the physical world and when magic is most potent (e.g. Catalan mythology about witches, Irish tales of the Sídhe).