Halloween for kids: turnip lanterns, soul cakes and apple bobbing

What is Halloween?

Halloween is on 31 October. Today, in most of Europe and North America, it is mainly a time for fun rather than religion: people dress up, carve jack-o’-lanterns, go trick-or-treating and have parties.

Its name is short for All Hallows’ Eve, the evening before All Hallows’ Day. “Hallow” is an old English word that means holy, and it was also used to mean a saint, so All Hallows’ Day is another name for All Saints’ Day.

The spelling Hallowe’en comes from Scotland. In the Lowland Scots language, “even” means evening, and it was shortened to “e’en”. So “All Hallows’ Even” became Hallowe’en, and then Halloween: “the saints’ evening”.

Halloween is the first of three days that Christians call Allhallowtide, a time for remembering the saints and everyone who has died:

• 31 OctoberAll Hallows’ EveHalloween
• 1 NovemberAll Saints’ Dayremembering all the saints
• 2 NovemberAll Souls’ Daypraying for everyone who has died

Samhain: the end of summer

Long before Halloween had its name, people in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man kept a festival called Samhain (say “sow-in”) on 31 October and 1 November. It marked the end of the harvest and the start of winter, the darker half of the year, when farm animals were brought in from the fields.

For the Celtic peoples, a new day began at sunset, so Samhain began on the evening of 31 October. In Wales, a festival like it was called Calan Gaeaf, which means “the first day of winter”.

People believed that at Samhain the boundary between our world and the world of spirits grew thin, so spirits and fairies could cross over more easily. They left out food and drink for them, lit bonfires on the hills, and sometimes wore masks or disguises so that any spirits would not recognise them.

Many books say Halloween grew out of Samhain. Other historians think it grew mainly from the Christian days of All Saints and All Souls. There is more about this for older children below.

All Saints and All Souls

On All Saints’ Day, 1 November, Christians remember all the saints, both famous ones and those nobody has heard of. By about the year 800, churches in Ireland and in Northumbria, in the north of England, were keeping a feast for all the saints on 1 November.

All Souls’ Day, on 2 November, became widespread about 900 years ago, in the 12th century. On this day people prayed for everyone who had died, and church bells were rung.

In some places people lit candles or lanterns on graves, or in their windows, on All Hallows’ Eve. They believed the lights would help to guide the souls of people who had died. On the evening before a big feast day, the Church also held a vigil, with prayers and fasting, and some Christians did not eat meat that day. That is one reason why apples, potato pancakes and soul cakes became Halloween foods.

Turnips before pumpkins

The first Halloween lanterns were not pumpkins. In parts of Ireland, the Scottish Highlands and Somerset, people hollowed out turnips (or other big root vegetables), carved faces in them and put a light inside. In Somerset the custom goes with Punkie Night, and in Scotland the lanterns are called neep or tumshie lanterns.

People carried them from door to door at Halloween. Some said the glowing faces would scare away spirits; others said they stood for the spirits themselves.

A folk tale from Ireland tells of a trickster called Stingy Jack, who tricked the Devil. He ended up wandering in the dark with only a glowing coal to light his way, which he carried in a hollowed-out turnip. That is where the name “Jack-o’-lantern” is said to come from.

In the 1800s, many Irish and Scottish people moved to North America. There they used pumpkins, which grew there and are much bigger and softer than turnips, so they are far easier to carve. Pumpkin carving in America is written about by 1837.

All about pumpkins

Is a pumpkin a fruit or a vegetable? Scientists call it a pepo, a kind of “false berry”. It grows from the flower, has a hard outer skin called a rind and is full of seeds, just like a cucumber or a watermelon, which are pepos too. In the kitchen, though, we cook it like a vegetable, in soups and stews or roasted.

An uncarved pumpkin kept somewhere cool, dry and airy can last for up to about 12 weeks. Once it is carved it only lasts a few days before it goes soft.

Don’t waste it! If your pumpkin is in good condition and hasn’t been sprayed or nibbled, the flesh inside can be roasted or made into soup or pie, and the seeds can be roasted too. What is left can be recycled in ways that are good for the garden.

Souling, guising and trick-or-treating

Children going from door to door at Halloween is not new. In souling, which goes back at least 600 years, poor people, often children, went from house to house around All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days. They offered to pray for the family’s loved ones who had died, and were given a soul cake: a small cake, often marked with a cross. Souling was found in parts of England and Wales, and elsewhere in Europe.

Mumming was another old custom: people in disguise went from house to house and performed for food and drink, sometimes with a blessing for the household.

In Scotland and Ireland, children go guising: they dress up and go from door to door, and perform a song, a joke or a poem in return for a treat, such as food or a coin. Their masks used to be called false faces. Until the 2000s, the usual thing for children in Ireland to call out at the door was “Help the Halloween Party!”

Irish and Scottish people took guising to North America. The words “trick or treat” were first printed in a Canadian newspaper in 1917, and by the middle of the 1900s trick-or-treating was common across the USA. From there it spread around the world again.

1. 1400sSouling, for soul cakes, is already a custom.
2. 1500sGuising and mumming at Halloween in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Wales.
3. 1800sIrish and Scottish people take Halloween to North America.
4. 1911A newspaper in Ontario, Canada, reports children out “guising”.
5. 1917The first known printing of the words “trick or treat”, also in Ontario.
6. Mid-1900sTrick-or-treating is common across the USA.

Halloween games

Halloween comes just after the apple harvest, so apples and nuts have long been part of the fun.

In apple bobbing, apples float in a tub of water and you try to pick one up using only your teeth: no hands allowed! In Scotland it is called dooking. Another old game is to hang treacle scones on strings and try to eat one without using your hands, which always ends in a very sticky face.

In Ireland, many families still have a barmbrack at Halloween: a light fruit loaf with a ring, a coin and other small charms baked inside. Finding one in your slice is meant to be lucky. Toffee apples are a Halloween treat too.

Black cats and bats

In the Middle Ages, some people in Europe believed that witches kept black cats as helpers, or could even turn into cats themselves. That is how the idea began that a black cat crossing your path brings bad luck. Old European stories also linked bats with witches, and seeing a bat at Halloween was once thought to be a bad sign.

These are only superstitions. Cats can’t bring bad luck, whatever colour they are. In Scotland and Japan, a black cat can even be a sign of good luck, and in ancient Egypt cats were special to the goddess Bastet.

Halloween’s colours are black and orange, and sometimes purple. The orange comes from pumpkins. Scarecrows are a Halloween decoration too: they stand for Halloween’s old links with farming and the harvest.

Halloween around the world

• IrelandBonfires are still lit in some places, with fireworks, guising, games and barmbrack. Schools close for a Halloween break.
• ScotlandChildren go guising and tell a joke or sing for their treats, and families go dooking for apples.
• WalesThe Welsh name for Halloween is Nos Galan Gaeaf, sometimes called “Winter’s Eve” in English.
• AustriaAll Souls Week runs from 30 October to 8 November. Families leave out bread and lamps for loved ones who have died, and church bells ring on 1 November.
• The PhilippinesIn Pangangaluluwa, children in the countryside drape themselves in white cloth and go from house to house, singing, in return for prayers and sweets.
• JapanHalloween is a big party, with parades, street parties and amazing costumes.

A greener Halloween

In 2019, two UK charities, Hubbub and the Fairyland Trust, worked out that Halloween costumes and decorations in the UK make about 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste every year. That is about as much plastic as 83 million plastic bottles.

Some ideas for a greener Halloween:

• Swap costumes with friends, look in charity shops, or make one from old clothes and cardboard.
• Keep your costume for next year, or give it to someone else.
• Make paper decorations instead of buying plastic ones.
• Eat your pumpkin (see above), so none of it goes to waste.

Fun facts

• Turnips firstBefore pumpkins, people in Ireland and Scotland carved lanterns out of turnips.
• A false berryA pumpkin is a pepo, a kind of “false berry”, like a cucumber or a watermelon.
• Sticky facesOne old game: eat a treacle scone hanging on a string, with no hands.
• DookingIn Scotland, apple bobbing is called “dooking”.
• Help the Halloween PartyUntil the 2000s, children in Ireland usually called out “Help the Halloween Party” at the door.
• First in printThe words “trick or treat” were first printed in a Canadian newspaper in 1917.
• Lucky catsIn Scotland, a black cat can be a sign of good luck.
• No pumpkinPumpkin spice usually has no pumpkin in it: it is cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.
• False facesIn Scotland and Ireland, Halloween masks used to be called “false faces”.
• 12 weeksAn uncarved pumpkin kept cool and dry can last up to about 12 weeks.

Key words

hallow

an old word meaning holy, or a saint

Allhallowtide

the three days from 31 October to 2 November

Samhain

a Celtic festival at the end of the harvest and the start of winter

jack-o’-lantern

a hollowed-out turnip or pumpkin with a face, lit from inside

souling

going door to door for soul cakes, in return for prayers

guising

dressing up and performing a song, joke or poem for a treat

pepo

a “false berry”, such as a pumpkin, cucumber or watermelon

superstition

a belief that something brings good or bad luck, with no proof

For older children and teens