In our home, Halloween starts much sooner than October 31st because of our daughter's 3.5 year old imagination. She has been practicing trick-or-treating since September 30th.
Almost daily, she puts on last year's butterfly costume, grabs our plastic jack-o-lantern, and knocks "trick-or-treat" on doors throughout the hallway. My wife and I open with a "Happy Halloween" and drop small toys into her pretend collection of gummy dinosaurs, chocolate oxen, and licorice snakes.
"Let's pretend trick-or-treating again!" She smiles.
Mom and Dad switch places, knocking on her doors, and receiving her pretend candy, extending Halloween from a one night event to weeks of playtime.
Add Peppa Pig and Fancy Nancy Halloween books into the equation, and Halloween becomes a month-long tradition that builds family-emotional connections for a lifetime.
Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash