Pumpkin Spice

It’s Halloween time on The Children’s Hour! In this episode, we celebrate pumpkins, jack-o’-lanterns, costumes, and trick-or-treating. Our Kids Crew shares their own traditions, from trunk-or-treat clothing drives to festive parades in northern New Mexico. We’ll find out why some houses put teal pumpkins outside their doors, and learn how this helps kids with food allergies have a safe and fun holiday.

Find the learning guide and activities at https://childrenshour.org/pumpkin-spice

Corbit uncovers the spooky story of Stingy Jack and how jack-o’-lanterns began, while Isaac explores the history, varieties, and surprising facts about pumpkins. We even discover why pumpkins are considered a fruit, how Native Americans first used them, and the many shapes, colors, and flavors they come in today.

One of the strangest traditions in Halloween is trick or treating. Why do we go door to door and bother our neighbors, banging on their doors and asking for candy or other treats? The tradition is not as old as you might think, according to our host Katie Stone.

We also hear from Charlotte Joseph of the Anaphylactic Food Allergy Support New Mexico Network, who explains the Teal Pumpkin Project and how we can all make Halloween more inclusive. Plus, there are lots of Halloween songs throughout the show to keep the fun rolling!

From all of us at The Children’s Hour, we wish you a happy and safe Halloween! Bring a flashlight if you trick or treat, and remember if the porch lights are out, skip that house.


This episode was written and produced by Katie Stone, with production help from Christina Stella, Sarah Gabrielli, and Thaniel Lentz. Learning materials were created by Amber Shiel. Our theme music is by C.K. Barlow. The Children’s Hour is distributed by Native Voice One, the Native American Radio Network.

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