Scary monsters, freaky ghosts, creepy goblins… For the longest time, Halloween has been associated with gory inanimate beings and frightening stories that leave many paranoid people (like me) crouching frighteningly under the covers, and wishing for the sun to shine. As a child, I also fell victim to many sleepless November 1 nights- thanks to the chilling movies and TV specials that are in-demand during these times. However in Brightwoods School, children strangely anticipate Halloween. They enjoy making scary art works and eagerly talk about the costumes they will be wearing on our Costume Parade. Yes, it is indeed one of the most awaited programs in our school! The highlights of the parade include: the parade of costumes, the trick-or-treat, and of course, the awarding of the best costume award!
When my daughter was in preschool, my husband and me really clamored to get that award for her! We’d really spent long hours conceptualizing and making a costume that would allow her to bag the most coveted Best Costume Award! Thankfully, she was able to win for three consecutive years! Here are her award-winning ensembles:
October 2003: Pauline was in Nursery when she got her first Best Costume Award. She was just 3 years old here. As you can see, she was the Vampire Girl. Her costume is basically simple. What made it extra-ordinary was that it is something that we crafted from garbage bags. Also, her vampire wings were made of paper mache, painted in black. I believe my husband made them special so Pauline can move them at will. The garbage bag idea was kind-of unique during that time that’s why winning was easy!
October 2004: When Pauline was in Kinder, we did not have much time available to prepare for a really superb costume. Our house was under construction then and so we had little work space to help us out. However, one afternoon, we noticed plenty of construction scraps lying around and so we had a brilliant idea. My husband got all the unused insulators (from afar, they looked like shiny metal) and turned them into a warrior costume for my daughter. We did not actually think she would win here but thank God she did!
October 2005: Because Pauline would soon be graduating from preschool, we thought that this time, we should give it our best shot! My daughter developed a fascination with the movie The Corpse Bride and we thought, why not? We had a longer time to prepare and so 4 weeks prior, my husband started to make a paper mache wedding gown for her. It took him a week to finalize the mold and another week to paint it. My job was to make it look as gown-like as possible and so I did the ‘embroidery’- putting glitters, sequins and other shiny materials here and there. I also took charge of the other props such as her black roses, veil, etc.
When Costume Parade came, a lot of children arrived with really gorgeous and creative costumes! Her last Costume Parade turned out to be a tough competition! But I think, ingenuity has its advantage and so she won again!
Since Pauline is now in grade school, there are no more costume parades to look out for. However, we are now awaiting my second daughter’s entry into the preschool world. And right about now, we are already cooking up some wonderful ideas as to what her costumes would be!
