[mipom259]

Hello Parents of younger kids... under 6.

Has anyone experienced parts of this great night of Halloween scary for kids? We always told them it was a fun night where people dress in anything they want and it's all for fun. I even eased my kids a week prior by reading them spooky stories with background sounds like this one.
Halloween Storytime Background Scene and Sounds - on youtube. We played them all. then they start asking if ghosts are real and what happens when you die, ugh!

We have a neighbor who goes all out, and dresses like a real life demon, with smoke,and music. I was new to this area and when we knocked on the door, smoke came out of the house and this real life looking demon comes out. My kids went nuts and cried.

They still talk about that house 2 years later.

If any parents have advice please share. I guess we will just avoid the house and keep reinforcing this is a fun time and go out when it's still daylight.

 

[Frankie's Girl]

Welcome!

If your kids are the least bit afraid of a house, do skip it for the year. But in another year or two, they might just want to go to that "scary" house. I've been doing a display that is about being spooky but not outright scary... and we stay outside so we can see the kids coming up. If any are too afraid to come up the drive, we go to them to hand out candy.

On the few occasions that we have a jump scare (or the husband is dressed up in costume to scare the big kids/adults) I call out "littles coming!" and he stays put - no moving or jumping out so they don't get scared.

The one thing I've seen over the years is that the ones that were really scared of the decorations when they're 5 years old are the ones that come running up the drive when they're 7. But there are some kids that are too timid even at 9 or 10 sometimes. You know your kids best, so just keep checking in with them as you are walking around, remind them that it is all pretend stuff, and that they don't have to go up to any house if they don't want to.

 

[The Halloween Goblin]

 

[SewingPirate]

I work with young children and tend to find the tiny ones aren't that scared of the really gory stuff as it means nothing to them, it is not until they start to have an understanding of the gory stuff tht it becomes scarry, there is of course always the exception. My youngest son was terriefied of eyeballs from the age of two till he was about 8, he couldn't look in opticians if they had photos of eyes.

 

[LittleMy]

When we lived in the south, there was a couple that went all out on halloween -- their house was amazing. Most of the elementary school aged kids in the neighborhood were too scared to even go near their house, the kids would cross the street at the sight of it.

We get 200-300 TOTers here, most of them in the toddler to elementary range. I try to make my house a little spooky, but not so much that the littlest kids won't come up the walk. The older kids like it and take their pictures by my graveyard fence. With some of the littlest kids, I come down the stairs in my (not scary) costume and get down on their level to give them candy. I love seeing all of the littlest kids so I keep my haunt on the less spooky side. Some houses in out area are very scary but reward the kids who venture to the door with full size candies.

When my kids were little, we avoided any house that looked too scary for them. It's always hard when you move to a new area and you don't know which are the scary houses.

 

[mipom259]

Thank everyone. Glad I'm not the only one. Yes, this house went all out with large speakers in his yard with that rumbling bass sound. It must have been automatic, because as soon as you went up to the door, the smoke started, lights (like lighting) flashed, and thunder with that deep bass sound played. Then to top it off, he would come out with this real life demon mask. For us, it was very entertaining, to the kids I felt like saying "what the heck you doing". All the kids would run and cry. I kept telling them it was an actor in a custom like they had on, but with the audio and visual effects, it was burned into their minds. We will avoid the street this year. I have been finding kid spooky stories to read to them and on my laptop I have been playing this video in the background for background effects "Halloween Storytime Background Scene and Sounds" I found on youtube, plus I found more videos as well. At least they are getting use to the sounds of wind and last night after I posted, my 6 yrs old asked if we could go see that crazy house this year. Our development is packed with kids, some people from smaller areas bring kids on buses to go through our development, so it's a very fun evening. A few owners, setup coffee, and snacks for the parents at the end of their driveways. Very kid friendly community.

 

[SewingPirate]

Thank everyone. Glad I'm not the only one. Yes, this house went all out with large speakers in his yard with that rumbling bass sound. It must have been automatic, because as soon as you went up to the door, the smoke started, lights (like lighting) flashed, and thunder with that deep bass sound played. Then to top it off, he would come out with this real life demon mask. For us, it was very entertaining, to the kids I felt like saying "what the heck you doing". All the kids would run and cry. I kept telling them it was an actor in a custom like they had on, but with the audio and visual effects, it was burned into their minds. We will avoid the street this year. I have been finding kid spooky stories to read to them and on my laptop I have been playing this video in the background for background effects "Halloween Storytime Background Scene and Sounds" I found on youtube, plus I found more videos as well. At least they are getting use to the sounds of wind and last night after I posted, my 6 yrs old asked if we could go see that crazy house this year. Our development is packed with kids, some people from smaller areas bring kids on buses to go through our development, so it's a very fun evening. A few owners, setup coffee, and snacks for the parents at the end of their driveways. Very kid friendly community.

That is a bit much for tiny ones, maybe if you are going to that then a sign curbside stating that "this uses loud noises and lights and so may not be suitable for all"

 

[MegBill]

Well I think you can always start with a little less scarier and a bit more cute Halloween stuff. Younger children might be more comfortable with that.

 

[punkineater]

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