Kids love Halloween and for very good reasons. There is plenty of fun going around, lots of sweets and candy as well as the thrill of being slightly scared. And obviously the icing on the cake (the best part for kids), getting dressed up. The only way to really begin to understand the thrill and emotion kids go through is to turn back into a kid – a lot of people would like to do this in reality, but the best we can do is use our imagination and remember a great Halloween We had when young.
The idea here is not just to remember it, but to bring forth all the emotions you felt and to relive it through the eyes of the child you once were.
Here is a little exercise, which is also quite fun. Close your eyes and go back as many years as necessary. It is Halloween and your mum has a costume for you to wear. Even though you do not know what it is, you are feeling excitation in anticipation. Do you have it? Do you have that memory?
Now, do not rush ahead but think of yourself in your room, perhaps a brother or sister is with you. Look through that child's eyes. Really look around you. Remember children live each moment with all their senses and this means they feel everything. If you have gotten this far then you will have noticed that not only do you see as you once saw, no longer the adult, but that the things you see, the chair, the bed, the door, are all much bigger than they are Now, and the top of the chair is at eye level. You no longer see things from your current height, but with the eyes of a child and from a child's body. Now just let the feelings flow and especially the thrill of knowing you are getting a new costume, and maybe it is the outfit you want.
Why all the above? Kids love Halloween and it should be a memorable experience for them. How great a time they will have will have a direct relationship to the intensity of their feelings – obviously positive ones, as it does work the other way as well. You can now truly sympathize with them.
Now that you remember what it was like and how you felt, it is much easier to put yourself in your kids shoes. The costume choice should be based on this, and the type of character he or she loves. This could be from a movie, sometimes Iron Man or the Transformers, a cartoon character, a pirate, a vampire, a witch, a ghost. Knowing what he likes is not that difficult just spend a little time and allow your child to tell his best movie or best story. The key here is spending a little time.
Finally, for that memorable experience use those feeling you unearthed again and build up the moment from preparation to execution which is presenting the costume, adding ghoulish make-up, the Trick or Treating and the party. Your goal for the night is to finally lay him down to sleep, exhausted but happy.