Did you know that Halloween was first celebrated 2000 years ago to the Celtic celebration of the dead. Celtic religion believed that the souls of the dead came back to earth on the night before November 1. The observance of Halloween spread across Europe in the seventh century. It began with "All Hallows Eve", also known as the "Night of the Dead". It is immediately followed by "All Souls Day", a Christian holy day.



The first lighted fruits were carved out of gourds and turnips. Scary faces were carved into the gourds and embers were inserted into the insides to light them so they would glow eerily. The scary faces were believed to ward off evil ghosts, especially those ghosts who haunted the roads and fields during All Hallows Eve or Halloween.

Nowadays we celebrate Halloween on 31 October. Traditional activites include trick-or-treating, dressing up in Halloween costumes and pumpkin carving. However, traditional pumpkin carving is difficult and risky, involving as it does, sharp knives and slippery pumpkin seeds. Traditionally teachers, scout troop leaders and parents alike have often wondered how to make the most of the prize pumpkin that was chosen by a child.

Pumpkin Painting is the perfect solution to this creative problem! Painting cartoon or scary faces or other designs is a fun, yet relatively easy activity for all family members to enjoy. Very young children can even participate in developing their own designs for their pumpkins. There's no way you can say that about carving pumpkins!

Painting pumpkins is a very cheap and easy craft as most of what you'll need are readily available (you probably already have some of these in your home)They include Washable markers, acrylic craft paints, newspaper,spray sealer and other items such as raffia, jewelry, hats, etc.

Once you or your kids have painted their first pumpkin, you'll probably want to paint a whole row of pumpkins to show off at your home, and a new family tradition will have started.