Do your children like to include all of their friends for parties? If so, this is the activity for them! Some children with food allergies cannot fully participate in trick-or-treating because they cannot eat the candy due to their allergies. The Teal Pumpkin Project is a nationwide movement that wants to spread awareness about food allergies and advocate for homes to offer non-food items—such as bubbles, mini-notebooks, or bouncy balls—during neighborhood trick-or-treat celebrations. In this real-world exercise about the Teal Pumpkin Project, your child will create a persuasive poster to spread the word about the project in the hopes of convincing people to offer non-food trinkets this Halloween season.
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What You Need:
- Access to a poster creation tool, like Microsoft Word, Adobe Spark, or Canva
- Printer
- The Teal Pumpkin Project: Promoting Inclusivity worksheet (optional)
What You Do:
- Give your child an overview of the Teal Pumpkin Project. You can research the project online at Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), or review the informative worksheet The Teal Pumpkin Project: Promoting Inclusivity.
- Ask your child open-ended questions like, “What do you think about the project? Is the project a good idea? Why would or wouldn’t you be a part of the project?” If your child agrees to participate, then encourage your child to make a persuasive poster to advertise about the Teal Pumpkin Project.
- Share information about the Teal Pumpkin Project logo. Ask your child to sketch or brainstorm a poster design that incorporates the logo.
- Help your child navigate a poster-creation tool of your choice.
- Brainstorm persuasive words or phrases that may help convince people to offer non-food trinkets. For example, “Help create a safer Halloween for everyone!” or “Do you want a safe Halloween? Offer non-food treats this year!”
- Have your child create their poster and print out copies.
- Accompany your child to post them around the neighborhood.
- Feel free to encourage your learner to walk around the neighborhood and tell people about the posters as you hang them up together. These conversations will give your child a chance to practice pitching ideas and convince others to participate in the project!
Encouraging others to participate in making Halloween inclusive for all trick-or-treaters is a great way to teach your child the importance of helping others. With your participation in this program, you can help create a safer, more inclusive holiday season!