Non-Scary Halloween Crafts, Cards, Games to Print

Hey all you homeschoolers, with Halloween approaching you might find kids a tad restless. Even if you don't celebrate. There's just something in the air! How about this? Print some Halloween crafts free and let kids practice cutting and math skills in hands-on ways? These printables are not scary and very cute. I'd call them vintage. Use preschool, elementary, even middle school or high school. Use for special needs to boost perceptual and scissors skills. Use for interactive math measurement. Read on.  Free Printable Halloween Crafts, Cards, Games, Toys

Why I Am Dressing Up in Spooky Costume this Halloween

For the first time in a long time, I'll be dressing up in a scary costume for Halloween. I'm doing our local history "Haunted Museum" day for which I'll need a vintage-spooky costume. I wouldn't normally participate in a haunted event. I'm not convinced frightening children is healthy. And I'm not sure it fits with Christian Catholic teaching.

My costume will be historical--Boadicea, Warrior Queen of the Iceni. So it has historical merit. I'm also down-playing the gruesome. Just a simple belly wound or noose to indicate that she killed herself. I will arm myself with information about my character so I can explain that she's not just a ghoul but a martyr.

As Catholic homeschoolers, we always did All Saints Day parties and costumes instead of Halloween. My kids never wanted to be anything really creepy. But I was thinking, that if your kids did want to do a scary costume, you could compromise and let them do martyr, saint or Bible character who was killed. Church history is full of those. You could help them emphasize the story behind the macabre. I always had kids research the person they were dressing as. They'd write bios and present character sketches. This is educational and helps them connect and empathize. Maybe this sounds like a cop-out. But I think it's a good way to teach kids, help them explore their theatrical creativity and get inside the lives of these people we read about. Picture is public domain-- Boadicea.  Why I Am Dressing Up in Spooky Costume this Halloween

Engage Kids in Home Maintenance and Build Self-Reliance Skills

We're minimalist parents and homeschooled our four children in a small mobile then an old fixer-upper house. We also try to live like the American transcendentalists of the 1800s--DIY and self-reliant. Home maintenance and repair was integral to our homeschooling. Often schools teach impractical disciplines, like algebra, that students will never use. They don't teach applications and real-world connections. Kids promptly forget material that has no bearing in their lives. I taught practical skills interactively. Now our kids are self-reliant, productive and sensible. They budget, save and care for themselves. Here are ways to teach these skills to kids. Involve Kids in Home Maintenance, Repairs--Teach Self-Reliance