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DRESS AS A HERO non-uniform day - Thursday 22 October 2009 The Children’s Society, in conjunction with the Church of England, is keen to encourage the celebration of the Eve of All Hallows (commonly known as Halloween) in a light and bright way. They want to celebrate the Heroes of the Christian faith, the saints who are remembered on 1st November each year, rather than encouraging children to dress up as ghouls and monsters.
Why take part? · a fun event to raise money for The Children’s Society · an opportunity to talk about saints as the heroes of the Christian faith · a chance to encourage children to go glad, not grim, at Halloween a great way to mark the 2009 Year of the Child. Visit www.yearofthechild2009.org.uk for more on this anniversary
How to do it? · have a non-uniform day in which pupils and staff are invited to ‘dress as a hero’ · ask for a 50p donation in aid of The Children’s Society per person. Visit www.childrenssociety.org.uk for details of the current campaigns the Society is involved in to find out how the money you donate will be spent. · have ‘heroes’ as the theme for the day’s collective worship. Again ideas for this can be found at www.childrenssociety.org.uk/all_about_us/who_we_are/our_church_partnership/halloween_choice/7839.html · invite your parish priest to share in the fun take some photographs to share with the local press
Ideas for dressing as a hero include: Heroes who are brave The Armed Forces Firefighters Police officers Ambulance crew Lifeguards
Everyday heroes Builders Carers Cleaners Doctors, nurses Parents Teachers
Super Heroes Batman Catwoman Elastigirl Spiderman
We also hope you will use the donation boxes and make a donation to the Children’s Society for Halloween.
Making the donation box fun You could make the donation box fun by downloading our donation box template and print onto card. Ask children to cut, fold and glue their box together and take home to fill with their treat (money) for The Children's Society. You can download donation boxes or order them, along with posters for free here
Free resources On this page you will find a suggested service for Church Schools, a sermon/talk, hymns and music suggestions, downloadable posters, graphics, donation box templates. To keep the theme going, buy lots of green apples as a thank you for any children attending your event and donating a treat, these can be used in games after the worship.
Click here for The Children's Society Halloween Choice site.
Some non-grim items (see costumes below) glow tubes balloons face paints coloured (felt) pens crayons coloured scoobies paints coloured paper and card bright clothes mozaic pieces fruit hair braids hair bands friendship bracelets books on party alternatives
Stores stocking HalloweenChoice costumes Good news, last year we ran a campaign that asked stores to consider offering parents a choice of costumes for Halloween parties. Some are now doing this. Asda and Sainsbury’s now offer choice in store in addition Woolworth's and the Disney Store also have online purchasing.
Games with apples Swing apple Apples are suspended by means of string from doorways, or ceiling, at a height that allows them to be caught between the teeth. Then, with hands at their sides, the first player who successfully takes a bite from the apple receives a prize.
Duck apple Large deep bowl of water with apples in it. Player has to try and remove the apple with their teeth.
Not all kids want to go grim this Halloween Last year a member of our team watched a frantic mum going up and down a supermarket isle. She was trying to find a Halloween costume for her little girl who was sitting in the trolley watching.
The mum had a choice of knives, killer masks, and a whole collection of body parts in various states of decay. She could find nothing for her little girl, no choice, nothing bright nothing that most kids would be seen dressed in. This is when we realised that not all parents wanted to dress their kids as murders or serial killers. But there was not choice. Now there is.
We are concerned that the trend in celebrating Halloween, and the associated activities, is not just innocent fun and that retailers have a responsibility to offer a range of goods to help people mark the occasion.
Not everything about Halloween is evil or bad or wrong but there is a sinister dimension to the festival that people are becoming more concerned about.
We want kids to have a great Halloween, and we want to spark a wider public debate about the nature of our way of celebrating the date.
20 years ago, who would have imagine fair-trade and organic good resting alongside standard products in the main supermarkets. We’re not trying to push for certain goods to be banned, but simply that a choice is available.
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