Halloween Traditions

Halloween is a historical holiday that dates back to several thousand years ago. When I think of Halloween some things that come to mind are decorations, pumpkins, costumes, and parties. Although, some Halloween traditions have come and gone, there are many that we still celebrate today in the United States. There are several traditions that Americans take part in before actual Halloween day comes on October 31st. Most families today decorate their houses inside and out for Halloween, some more in depth than others. Many people will put out fall decorations including pumpkins, gourds, hay bales, and Indian corn. Some Americans go all out with the typical fall decorations, but also add in some Halloween symbols. Common Halloween symbols that

People of all ages dress up in costumes on Halloween. I believe that the little children and kids are the most common to dress up and really get into their character. Some parents even dress up with their children. Kids get all dressed up in their costumes to go trick or treating. Trick or treating is a Halloween tradition that little kids really enjoy. They go door to door in their costumes saying, “trick or treat” to get candy from the home owners. Kids also often dress up in their costumes for Halloween parties at school. They get to see their friend’s costumes, play games, and eat food and candy. There are also many adult parties around Halloween time. The adult parties usually consist of different activities than the kid’s parties though. Adult parties usually have costume contests, some costumes being very scandalous, games, and usually consist of adult beverages. After all the kids are home and the parties are over, there are sometimes young kids, like teenagers, that commit acts of mischief. If there is a house that did not participate in trick or treating they are often egged or get their pumpkins

We had trick or treating at the Peru mall from 5-7 pm on the 30th of October, so I observed Halloween there. When I pulled into the parking lot a little before five, I could already tell that the mall was going to be crazy. This was the busiest I have ever seen the mall. It was filled with little kids in their costumes and their parents, some of which were dressed up in costumes too and some who were not. I was dressed up as a pirate and my coworker was dressed up as a ladybug to pass out candy. Some of the kids were very excited to see us and say trick or treat to get some candy. Other kids were very shy and would not say trick or treat, but we gave them some candy anyway. There were so many kids there to trick or treat that we ran out of candy after 40 minutes. Half of the kids that came up to our store we had to tell them that we ran all out. I felt terrible telling the little kids that we didn’t have any candy because they were so excited for it. The mall was filled with joy and happiness as the only worry in the world was getting some