This year marked one of our best halloween celebrations yet, thanks to the amazing group of families in our weekly learning cooperative. The whole crew of us gathered in the forest, the kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes, and the parents ready with simple yet engaging activities. After sharing some warm apple cider, the kids made their way through the enchanted forest over to a giant pumpkin for some collaborative story-telling and pumpkin decorating, then ran over to what they dubbed the “pumpkin-snot-cano” station (baking soda, green food colouring, and vinegar). Some very careful estimations took place at the next station, followed by a story as they munched on honey-butter popcorn and chocolate.
As with almost every gathering of this group, there was a whirlwind of free play. Also, a quick experiment to see if they could wrap around the one giant old tree that stood in the centre of our gathering place. At the end of our time together, Milo said to me in a dreamy voice, “Mama, I love our homeschool co-op.”
The magic didn’t stop there – at home, we carved pumpkins, crafted costumes, and baked delicious pumpkin donut holes. To be honest, the pumpkin carving was done a bit reluctantly on my end, as I have reservations about using food for decorating. Thankfully, a local farmer is accepting jack-o-lanterns for her pumpkin-loving pigs to eat! We had a great time visiting with neighbours on halloween night and we’re all looking forward to next year, when we’d love to have a fire outside and share warm apple cider with visitors. We had the cider and donuts to share this year, but didn’t find a good balance between trick-or-treating and being home handing out candy!
