Some gentle Halloween ideas

Author Sandra Wilson
Sep 30
2 min read

Halloween is my favourite holiday - mainly because of the costumes! It's the time of year when you can buy the best costumes, and when you look normal wearing one! (I wear them all year round for my Youtube Channel and book markets).

Visit the Kindness Kangaroo Library Channel where I read children's books aloud, while dressed in a fun costume!

Currently, the real Dinosaur Twins are only 7 so our scares and frights are gentler. But they like this season too and so they want the next book in the Dinosaur Twins series to be about it. We will be addressing some of the feelings that kids can have this time of year - it is exciting but can also create some fear.

Stay tuned to hear about the 2026 release of The Dinosaur Twins Trick or Treat.

It is important to acknowledge fears kids have and gently work through some ideas that might help them deal with some of those fears. Also, be careful what you are asking them to do this time of year, haunted houses, scary costume stores, frightening movies are everywhere this month - not all kids want to participate or be exposed to these big scares.

Conversation is always very important so you can understand their feelings. It is important to cover what is real and what is imagined, and have a slow introduction to some more scary characters (show a decoration in daylight, maybe wearing a funny hat to ease some of the scare)

I created a Stories and Scribbles activity book for Halloween. It offers a finish the picture activity along with a writing prompt on each page which follows an alphabet of spooky things - colouring the pictures and finishing the drawings with a child's own ideas can help them work through some of the concerns they have about Halloween subject matter.

You can download this activity book here

Of course reading books together is always a great way to get the conversation started, and gently expose kids to things they may not be quite as sure about.

For some gentle Halloween stories there is A Bakon Wrapped Halloween by Janine Masi Landreth and Leigh Ann Thompson. The real Dinosaur Twins could totally relate to Bakon's problem of deciding which costume to wear for Halloween. They loved the antics of the little black cat and all the costume choices! It was fun to read aloud and the illustrations make for great storytelling (for those that aren't able to read on their own yet).

Check out this read aloud in the Kindness Kangaroo Library - and look for the link in the description to order the book for yourself!

Cutest Pumpkin in the Patch by Carli Valentine is another gentle way to address emotions connected to Halloween. The crazy pumpkin faces not only help you talk about emotions, but they can give you some carving ideas too!

Watch the read aloud in the Kindness Kangaroo Library - and check the description for the link to order the book for yourself.