Discover the Magic: Top 12 Spooktacular Halloween Fun Facts for Kids Unveiled!

1. The Great Jack-o'-Lantern Upgrade

Once upon a time in a land filled with Irish potatoes, there lived vegetables with faces so frightening they could spud the bejayzus out of you: jack-o-lanterns originally started as root vegetables, like turnips and potatoes, carved during the Gaelic celebration of Samhain in Ireland, and it wasn't until Irish immigrants arrived in America that they upgraded to pumpkins for easier carving and a larger surface to display their terrifying masterpieces.
Source => carnegiemnh.org

2. Halloween's Spiritual Side

Before the spooktacular shenanigans and frighteningly sweet treats took center stage, Halloween had a more, ahem, "spiritual" side to it: Originally celebrated as a Celtic tradition for warding off evil spirits, people would dress up as demons to avoid the real ones making mischief. Eventually, the night evolved into the Catholic holidays of All Hallows' Eve, All Soul's Day, and All Saints Day. As for trick-or-treating, it wasn't always about the sugar rush—kids and poor adults in the Middle Ages went door-to-door, offering songs and prayers in exchange for food or money. It wasn't until the 1920s and 1930s that America embraced this delightful extortion and turned it into the wordplay-filled, pumpkin-strewn extravaganza we know and love today.
Source => smithsonianmag.com

Did you know that over 35 million pounds of candy corn are consumed every year? Discover the sweet history of this polarizing treat, which even has its own dedicated holiday on October 30th! 🌽🍬

=> Fun Facts about Halloween-Candy

3. Anoka, the Halloween Capital

Once upon a midnight dreary, Anoka peeps hatched a scheme for Halloween quite cheery: Anoka, Minnesota, started the first known community-organized Halloween celebration in 1920 to curb pranks, complete with a costume parade, block party, and treats, and the tradition has persisted with participants from across the Midwest joining in on the spooktacular fun.
Source => anokahalloween.com

4. Pumpkins to the Rescue

When life handed the Irish immigrants pumpkins instead of potatoes, they wasted no time in making Jack-o'-Lanterns: Originally, our spooky carved friends were made using turnips and potatoes in Ireland, but upon arriving in America, pumpkins became the go-to canvas, starting a fun-filled Halloween tradition for children and adults alike!
Source => newgrange.com

5. Brooms: Witches or Farmers?

Well, sweep me off my feet: it turns out witches using broomsticks might be a case of mistaken identity! In reality, rural farmers leaped and danced over brooms under the moonlight to encourage crop growth, while some witches of the Middle Ages preferred applying hallucinogenic salves with brooms instead of ingesting them.
Source => history.com

6. The Ghoulish Origins

Hide your coins and guard your snacks, kids: the word "ghoul" actually comes from the Arabic term "ghūl," meaning a shapeshifting, desert-dwelling demon that loves to snack on human flesh, steal coins, and transform into a hyena or even the person it just devoured!
Source => en.wikipedia.org

7. Candy Corn's Clucking History

Before candy corn flew the coop and became Halloween's most iconic treat: This quirky tidbit came into existence in the 1880s when Wunderle Candy Company's George Renninger decided to hatch a plan called "chicken feed." Notorious for ruffling feathers among candy connoisseurs, the now legendary candy corn has been clucking along since its debut at Goelitz Confectionery Company in 1898. With Brach's Confections currently holding the pecking order and producing a whopping 7 billion pieces during Halloween season, it's safe to say that candy corn has truly ruled the roost!
Source => en.wikipedia.org

8. A Bewitching Blue Moon

Beware! Werewolves might need a calendar check this Halloween: a full moon on the spookiest night only arises about once every 18-19 years, the last instance being in 2020, and it doubles as a rare Blue Moon, being the second full moon of the month! For now, ghosts, ghouls, and goblins shall suffice to haunt the little ones in merrily terrifying fashion.
Source => almanac.com

9. Sugar Skulls: Life of the Party

When life gives you lemons, make sugar skulls! Flourishing in the Day of the Dead festivities throughout Central and Southern Mexico, these flashy, blinged-out, calaveras dulces are the life of the party: Created by skilled artisans in small batches within their homes, these colorful skulls represent departed souls and are made using a traditional sugar molding technique brought to Mexico by Italian missionaries during the 17th century.
Source => mexicansugarskull.com

10. Charlie Brown's Ghost Couture

In a hole lot of trouble with fashion, Charlie Brown certainly knew how to make a statement with his bedsheet couture and thrift store finds: His ghost costume from "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" was crafted by cutting eye holes all over a white bed sheet, attaching it to a white baseball cap, and decorating it with over 35 holes from a black velveteen maxi-skirt purchased at a thrift store, glued on in a chaotic manner.
Source => instructables.com

11. Parent Candy Thieves

Who needs a midnight refrigerator raid when there's a Halloween loot just begging to be plundered? The game's afoot, dear parents: A survey by TopCashback.com discovered that 78 percent of parents sneakily snatch candy from their children's Halloween treasure trove, with only 28 percent owning up to munching more candy than their pint-sized pirate counterparts.
Source => wbiw.com

12. Mighty Egyptian Kittens

"Beware the mighty kittens of Egypt, for they have nine lives and are not afraid to use them!": Black cats, often linked with Halloween and witchcraft, were actually regarded as symbols of the ancient Egyptian goddess Bastet, bringing good fortune and, in places like Scotland and Japan, representing prosperity. Their poor PR image only started when Europe's Middle Ages blamed them for the Bubonic plague, unleashing superstitions about bad luck befalling those crossed by the ebony felines.
Source => history.com