Happy Halloween!

Don’t be scared! Today is a fun day in the United States for many children and adults. Halloween is a day when they can dress up as a funny, cute, or scary character.  Today we will see princesses, superheroes, famous people, ghosts, vampires, and witches. Many children will go Trick or Treating, adults will go to parties dressed as their favorite character, celebrity, or political personality, and we will see a lot of pumpkins, Jack O’Lanterns, black cats, spiderwebs, skulls, and bats on their front lawns. Some people like to watch scary movies to celebrate the day. Halloween always falls on October 31, but this year it falls on a Saturday, so it is an especially good day to have a party. In recent years, other countries have adopted some Halloween traditions, but it is a very popular holiday here, and no one celebrates Halloween quite like Americans![spacer height=”20px”]

Dress up (as): Phrasal verb that means to wear a costume. Example: This year, I’m dressing up as a zombie.  Note: There is another meaning of dress up that means to wear very nice or formal clothes. Example: This weekend there is a retirement party at our company, and I’ll have to dress up, so I need to go shopping.[spacer height=”20px”]

Trick or Treat: Children dress up and go to houses on Halloween and ring the doorbell. When someone answers the door, they say, “Trick or Treat!” and the people at the house put candy in their bags.  This activity is called “trick or treating.” The children who are participating in this activity are referred to as “trick or treaters.”[spacer height=”20px”]

Jack O’Lanterns: People buy pumpkins and carve funny or scary faces out of the pumpkin, and then they put candles inside to light it up.[spacer height=”20px”]

Every year the White House invites children to go Trick or Treating. You can watch a video below: