It was my first year at home with a new baby and I was missing the fall routine I was used to having with my classroom of second-graders.
Gv was beyond the "slug" baby stage, but not yet ambulatory, so it didn't make much sense to consider dressing her up and dragging her around the neighborhood for some trick-or-treating.
I still wanted to do something to mark the occasion, so I went through my "few" books and picked out all the Halloween/pumpkin/fall themed titles I could find. As I was reading through them with her, I thought about the tradition my school always had of holding a book character parade for Halloween, and decided to hold our own little one-baby version here at home.
So I dived back into my boxes of children's books, but this time I was searching for those having characters or themes I could dress Gv up to match using items I already had from around the house as costumes.
I was surprised at how many ideas I was able to come up with in just a few minutes:
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Seeing the contrast-filled board book Black on White made me think of a onesie she had |
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I knew we had enough pink to dress her in, so I just had to get creative with a headband, pipe cleaner, and two pieces of felt (that I safety-pinned to the headband) to have her match this adorable board book version of The Three Little Pigs |
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G had a bunch of these hats from an activity he did in one of his classrooms, which of course was perfect for the classic kid's staple The Cat in the Hat ! |
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Another pajama outfit that had me searching for a book to match - the feet of this outfit had ballet slippers stitched on, so I just added a tutu and she was all set for the sweet "God's Little Princess" book, The Pink Ballerina |
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These pirate pajamas had me searching for the perfect pirate book - the funny Pirates Don't Change Diapers - and a plastic sword and bandanna completed the look! |
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Another raid of G's classroom props uncovered these Minnie/Mickey gloves. I knew this dress was close enough to match Minnie's in the cool foam board book Minnie's Day Out |
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Duck footie pajamas were the perfect companion to Ten Little Ducklings ! |
So this wasn't so much a parade as it was a fashion show, but it was a fun, free activity that made me feel like we were somehow celebrating the holiday and creating memories (or at least pictures for Gv to look back on and have a memory from!)
If you have a child who is old enough to read (or at least choose a book as a favorite), then you could have them dress up to match it and parade around the neighborhood. You might even rope some neighbors into joining the fun and truly create an event to remember.
And if a parade doesn't quite seem your style, you could hold a book character fashion show. Have your child search for books with themes or stand-out characters and then spend the day creating matching costumes from whatever you already have around the house, then hold a photo shoot to capture the fun.
Does this sound like something your little boo or ghoul might enjoy? I'd love to see pictures and hear about it, if you try it yourself this year! Leave a comment or email me at lisahealy (at) outlook (dot) com.
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