Christian Alternative Ideas to Halloween
As the rest of the world gears up for Halloween, you might be wondering how your Christian family will spend the day. Even if the dark nature of Halloween makes you uncomfortable, you and your kids can still have a festive evening on Oct. 31. Investigate some Christian Halloween alternatives and find exciting, wholesome and worthwhile ways to spend the last day of October.
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Harvest Festivals
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Many churches host Halloween alternative parties called "harvest festivals." If the weather is appropriate, hold your festival outdoors and set up moon bounces, dunking booths and games for kids and their families. Invite participants to dress in non-scary costumes and decorate with pumpkins, haystacks and colorful leaves. For a trick-or-treat alternative, have church volunteers dress up as Bible characters and hand out candy to kids who say "Jesus loves me!" instead of "trick-or-treat." When they distribute the treats, have volunteers remind children that God's love is sweeter than candy.
Family Film Festival
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Instead of sending kids out trick-or-treating on Halloween, invite entire families to your home or church for a night of movies. Choose a few favorite films with strong moral messages and themes and give guests the option of dressing as their favorite movie character. Set up chairs for adults and line the floor with pillows and blankets for kids. If your television screen isn't quite big enough for your crowd, rent or borrow a film projector for the night. Provide plenty of popcorn for your movie-goers and ask guests to bring a snack or beverage to share.
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Service Day
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Devote Oct. 31 to serving others and helping the needy. Bake a few batches of cookies, cupcakes or pumpkin bread with your family and deliver the homemade goodies to a family in need, your neighbors, or a nursing home. Bring Christian tracts or pocket Bibles to hand out with the treats. You could also devote the day to doing volunteer work at your church, a hospital, soup kitchen or other place that nerves the needy in your community.
Jesus Lantern Party
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Put a Christian spin on the customary Halloween jack-o-lantern by combining pumpkin carving with a Bible lesson. Invite kids to attend the party dressed as their favorite Bible character. Give them each a small pumpkin to carve or have them bring their own. Explain to kids how Jesus is the light of the world and read from the ninth chapter of the Gospel of John. Help kids carve crosses or the name "Jesus" into their hollowed-out pumpkins and fill each one with an electric candle. Tell kids to place their "Jesus-lanterns" on their doorstep to show others the light of Christ.
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References
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