As the leaves turn vibrant autumn shades, temperatures drop, and we start to pull out sweaters and jackets, it’s time for Halloween. As students said: back home in Asia, whenever Halloween is around the corner, there is usually little preparation or none at all, we don’t really celebrate Halloween. Halloween is just a western thing. Student Barry said:”my past Halloween experiences were pretty underwhelming, I didn’t go trick or treat, or wear costumes. The only reasonable thing that I did on Halloween was watch horror movies alone, but this year the students were hanging around the local neighborhood, asking for candy and taking part in games which we deliberately prepared.
Talking about the history, Kingsway students did research by themselves. The story began when legend has it that since the fifth century BC, people believed that the soul would come back to find life on this day, possess and be reborn, which is the only hope of rebirth after death. The living feared that the souls of the dead would take their lives, and they dressed as demons to scare the souls away.
Carving pumpkins is a classic Halloween activity. Pumpkins are also used to scare away spirits.
Decorating team volunteers decorated the school cafeteria one week before the event. Planning team volunteers designed games for the party. Three MCs worked together to write down their own script. Everything was on the right track. Starting from Halloween stories sharing, Doris, Barry and Mia also introduced the history of Halloween and the game rules. Students were divided into three groups. By designing and carving their own pumpkin, they built up their communication skills and friendships.
Following three groups had a competition game of “Halloween Pong”. Aiming at winning the pumpkin cushions, three teams had an intense battle. Game rules are: Each team member takes turns throwing the eyeballs into the front cups. Each one gets to throw one ball per turn. The goal is to throw the ball into a cup. When the ball lands in a cup, your team gets 1 point.If the ball is out, the one who throws the ball has to pick a “drink” randomly. (The drinks all have weird taste: extremely sour, extremely salty, extremely sweet and extremely spicy)
Team 3 won the game. Four girls got cushions. Congratulations!
It was a successful event. Students all had a great time. In the meantime, they improved their leadership, organization skills, communication skills, confidence and how to work properly as a team. We were so proud of them!